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	Children and families facing unprecedented humanitarian situations need urgent support by UNICEF, Office for Humanitarian Affairs   Jan. 2024   The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross have announced cuts in responses to the 2024 global humanitarian appeals. (The Lancet).   The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have announced vastly reduced funds in response to their separate humanitarian appeals to help people affected by conflict, climate disasters, and health epidemics in 2024. The scale of the projected reductions, attributed to the funding crisis, has taken charities working in global emergencies aback.   “The necessary support from the international community is not keeping up with the needs”, said Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, at the launch of the 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview appeal in December, 2023. He said the appeal is calling for a total of US$46·4 billion from donors (compared with $57 billion in 2023) to assist nearly 181 million people (from a total of 300 million people in need) in 72 countries, and underscored the need to prioritise life-saving needs.   Griffiths stated “we have so far received...just over one-third of the $57 billion required in 2023, making this the worst funding shortfall in years...For the first time since 2010, we will have received less funding than in the previous year.”   Speaking to The Lancet, Michael Ryan, WHO's Executive Director for the Health Emergencies Programme, stressed the consequences of the cutbacks for humanitarians in the field.   “What it means is that the agencies are trying to calculate what's possible to get, donors are under pressure, and there's less determination, and interest, to deal with these issues.”   The projected 2024 budget for the ICRC is 2·1 billion Swiss Francs (approximately $2·4 billion), down from 2·8 billion Swiss Francs ($3·2 billion) in 2023.   “The simple fact is more people need help because of the horrors of war than we are able to respond to. We are now working as hard as we can to make the greatest positive impact possible with the budget that we have, but reduced funding means less assistance for those in need, and fewer ICRC personnel to help provide that assistance. And that's a painful reality”, Robert Mardini, ICRC's Director-General, told The Lancet.   “The last 6 months of 2023 showed how badly this support is needed. New fighting broke out in Sudan. A broken dam wiped out entire communities in Libya. A massive earthquake destroyed villages in war-scarred Afghanistan. And then came a full-blown armed conflict in Israel and Gaza, deepening by the day, with unspeakable suffering and unparalleled human costs for the civilians on both sides, as well as devastating humanitarian consequences, including doctors, nurses, and entire medical facilities that are overwhelmed with injured patients”, he added.   The cutbacks, say ICRC officials, come amid a trend of reduced humanitarian budgets, although humanitarian needs have never been higher. “Across the ICRC's global operations, approximately 4000 positions are being cut in 2023 and 2024, resulting in a workforce of approximately 18 500 people”, Jason Straziuso, ICRC's Media Team Leader. ICRC delegations that will see contracted spending in 2024 include Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine.   Eloi Fillion, until recently the ICRC's Head of Delegation in Afghanistan, told reporters that the ICRC had more than tripled its operations from 2021 to 2022 to compensate for the drastic suspension of international funding. This effort included supporting the health services and bringing in funds to support the 33 biggest hospitals in Afghanistan. The ICRC tried to maintain the same level of operation in 2023, but did not receive the same amount of funding because of the large contraction of humanitarian funding available for Afghanistan.   Fillion added that, in 2024, the main focus will remain on protection activities and assistance programmes in the health sector, including the running of seven orthopaedic centres serving 250 000 patients with disabilities. He said the budget for the ICRC operations in Afghanistan in 2024 will be approximately 100 million Swiss Francs, down from 220 million Swiss Francs in 2022.   The UN appeal, which represents more than 1900 humanitarian partners worldwide, is a comprehensive assessment of global humanitarian needs and includes many country-based programmes with high needs such as Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.   Griffiths said that in 2023 humanitarian agencies had to make increasingly painful decisions, including cutting life-saving food, water, and health programmes.   In the UN appeal for 2023, $5·40 billion were requested for health, of which $1·88 billion were funded, leaving unmet requirements totalling $3·52 billion. Humanitarian funding has also fallen substantially short of the funds requested for food security, water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, emergency shelter, and protection against child violence and gender-based violence.   When asked about the effects of the declines in donor funding, Alistair Dutton, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, told The Lancet that “shortages in food aid are forcing humanitarians to make inhumane choices: we are having to take food from the hungry to feed the starving”.   Marta Valdés Garcia, Humanitarian Director at Oxfam International, told The Lancet that, because of the cuts in the UN funding response, “we have already experienced a severe funding shortfall in East and Horn of Africa...Unfortunately, funding gaps in an important number of crises have become the norm.” The prospects of further cuts in 2024, she noted, will put all of Oxfam's operations in the East and the Horn of Africa “under immense pressure”.   Similarly, Rez Gardi, Co-Managing Director at Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table, an advocacy group, told The Lancet that “the shortfall in UN humanitarian funding arrives at a particularly critical time. The increasing number of people on the move underscores the urgency of finding sustainable solutions. For refugees, reduced funding means more than just a lack of resources—it signifies a potential collapse in systems vital for their wellbeing. This includes access to essential services such as health care, education, and legal assistance.”   Given the scale of the funding crisis, humanitarian leaders argue for a radical re-think. Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told The Lancet that the funding crisis represents “a collapse in international solidarity with the most vulnerable communities on our planet. I think the ambition level we had was the right one. But not anymore. We are now going to choose a proportion of those in great need. A function of too few of the world's big economies being part of the responsibility sharing for helping the most needy. It's a tough time for global compassion.”   Egeland said there is a solution for the predicament: that all major economies in the world provide funding to the assessed humanitarian needs through the UN consolidated appeals, according to their assessed fee and as part of their UN membership, so that part of their contribution to the UN is provided for humanitarian relief. He observed, “why is peacekeeping and running the UN Secretariat funded by assessed contributions, whereas the feeding, the health care, the shelter, and the education of children is an afterthought… only ten of the world's economies are serious donors. Most of the G20 economies are not top ten donors for saving children's lives.”   Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General said that the 2024 UN appeal is substantial, but noted “it's a fraction of what the world spends on weapons and war. The nations of the world can easily mobilize that kind of money if they want to. It's just a question of what we value most.”   Dec. 2023   300 million people caught up in humanitarian crises will need urgent support in 2024 - CARE International & 14 International Non-Government organizations   The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched the Global Humanitarian Overview for 2024, which outlines the most pressing humanitarian needs around the globe and what will it take to respond to them. Some 300 million individuals face unbelievable suffering next year.   To ensure all people will receive the support they need and deserve, CARE International along with other 14 NGOs urges the international community to fully fund the response to all humanitarian crises and address the root causes that perpetuate them.   Joint NGO Statement:   Despite years of preventable suffering, human casualties and violence on a catastrophic scale, millions of forcibly displaced, massive and often deliberate destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and other critical civilian infrastructure, and increasingly, climate emergencies, there are no real and clear political resolutions to put an end to numerous crises.   As diverse NGOs delivering aid across multiple crises, in accordance with humanitarian principles, we bear witness to growing humanitarian needs and the tremendous suffering of millions of people. We also witness the incredible resilience and courage of communities to withstand shocks and rebuild their lives, if adequately, timely and equitably supported.   Despite donor generosity, the funding of global appeals in 2023 amounted to only 35%, leaving millions exposed to hunger, diseases, and pervasive protection risks, bereft of essential services. In such scenarios, women and children are disproportionately affected, and hard-won development gains reversed.   Although we see ever escalating needs, the total number of People in Need outlined in the 2024 GHO was reduced by almost 64 million compared to 2023. This reduction is a result of “boundary setting” prioritisation that will effectively provide aid to some while denying it to others.   As the lifeline for many will be cut or reduced, protection risks, including the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, will skyrocket. We warn of the risk of making People in Need invisible and recall our collective commitment to leave no one behind.   We value OCHA’s and various Humanitarian Country Teams efforts to prepare evidence-based appeals. But we also recognise constraints to conduct needs assessment in specific contexts and call for upholding an impartial needs based targeting approach, informed by age, gender, and disability disaggregated data, as well as by the views and priorities of affected people.   The international community must not let people down twice. It is already failing to address the root causes of conflicts, climate change, and other drivers of humanitarian needs.   Existing and new donors must fully fund the 2024 GHO, including the work of international, national and local NGOs who have demonstrated to be best placed to reach affected people.   We also urge development actors to play a more active role to bring in substantive and sustainable additional resources to work in strategic collaboration with humanitarian actors to reduce needs over time.   http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2024/ http://www.wfp.org/stories/2023-pictures-ration-cuts-threaten-catastrophe-millions-facing-hunger http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/global-hunger-funding-gap-hit-65-percent-for-neediest-countries/ http://www.care-international.org/news/300-million-people-caught-humanitarian-crises-will-need-urgent-support-2024 http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-update-9-november-2023 http://www.savethechildren.net/news/2023-review-nearly-16000-children-day-plunged-hunger-top-10-worsening-food-crises http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/13-emergencies-need-more-attention-support-2024 http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/2024-looms-increasingly-bleak-children-affected-armed-conflicts-and-disasters-unicef http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/launch-2024-humanitarian-appeal http://www.icrc.org/en   Dec. 2023 (OCHA)   Conflicts, climate emergencies and collapsing economies are wreaking havoc in communities around the world. Nearly 181 million people in 72 countries are targeted to receive humanitarian aid and protection next year.   128 million people received life-saving assistance in 2023, but a growing funding gap meant that support was cut back and millions of people were not reached.   On behalf of more than 1,900 humanitarian partners worldwide, the United Nations today launched its global appeal for 2024, calling for US$46.4 billion to help 180.5 million people with life-saving assistance and protection.   Armed conflicts, the climate emergency and collapsing economies are taking a devastating toll on the most vulnerable communities on all continents, resulting in catastrophic hunger, massive displacement and disease outbreaks.   One child in every five lives in, or has fled from, conflict zones in 2023. Some 258 million people face acute hunger. One in 73 people worldwide is displaced – a doubling in 10 years. And disease outbreaks are causing preventable deaths in all corners of the world.   “Humanitarians are saving lives, fighting hunger, protecting children, pushing back epidemics, and providing shelter and sanitation in many of the world’s most inhumane contexts. But the necessary support from the international community is not keeping pace with the needs,” said Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.   “We thank all donors for their contributions this year - but it was just a third of what was needed. If we cannot provide more help in 2024, people will pay for it with their lives.”   Funding shortfalls in 2023 meant that humanitarian organizations reached less than two thirds of the people they aimed to assist.   The consequences are tragic: In Afghanistan, 10 million people lost access to food assistance between May and November. In Myanmar, more than half a million people were left in inadequate living conditions. In Yemen, more than 80 per cent of people targeted for assistance do not have proper water and sanitation. And in Nigeria, only 2 per cent of the women expecting sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence prevention received it.   Aid organizations have addressed this needs-and-resources gap in their 2024 response plans, which will have a more disciplined focus on the most urgent needs and will target fewer people: nearly 181 million next year compared to 245 million at the end of 2023. Organizations are also appealing for less money: $46.4 billion for 2024 compared to $56.7 billion at the end of the 2023 global appeal.   However, the ambition to reach all people in need has not changed, and the call to donors to fully fund all the response plans is as urgent as ever.   http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2024/   Dec. 2023   Working with partners, UNICEF aims to reach 94 million children with life-saving assistance.   Across the globe, children and families are facing unprecedented humanitarian crises. Around 300 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection as devastating earthquakes, climate-related disasters, disease outbreaks and new and surging conflicts have left tens of millions of children and their families reeling.   But despite the record needs, the situation isn’t hopeless. We know how to reach the children at greatest risk. Decisive and timely humanitarian action combined with flexible funding and close work with local partners can save children’s lives now, while also sowing the seeds of future development.   Through its 2024 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal, UNICEF is appealing for $9.3 billion to reach 94 million children with life-saving assistance – whenever and wherever it is needed.   “Millions of children continue to be caught in humanitarian crises that are growing in complexity and scale, and that are increasingly stretching our resources to respond,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.   The unpredictability, volatility, and protracted nature of emergencies today is taking a heavy toll on children and families. From earthquakes in Afghanistan, Syria and Turkiye, to conflict and violence in Ukraine, Sudan, the State of Palestine and Haiti, to massive displacement in Democratic Republic of the Congo, emergencies can strike or escalate with little or no warning.   In conflict zones, children endure the harsh realities of violence and displacement, facing the daily threats of physical harm, emotional trauma, and the disruption of their education and essential services. At the same time, children in areas affected by violence contend with the pervasive impact on their well-being, grappling with the psychological toll of instability, and the heightened risk of exploitation and abuse.   "Around the world, war continues to upend the lives of children. We estimate that today, 460 million children are living in, or fleeing from conflict zones. And wherever violence occurs – in places like Burkina Faso, Haiti, Sudan – children suffer first, and they suffer most.   "Many children living in areas affected by conflict are injured or killed. They may lose family members or friends. With many displaced multiple times, risking separation from their families, losing critical years of education, and fraying ties to their communities. I have seen firsthand too much of the horrible toll that conflict exacts on children.   Climate change is worsening the scale and intensity of emergencies. Wreaking havoc on young lives by causing severe droughts, heatwaves and more intense storms. In regions struggling with its impacts, children bear the brunt of environmental challenges, jeopardizing their health, creating food and water insecurity.   Food insecurity like that experienced in the Horn of Africa. Or the 2.4 million children in South Sudan and the central Sahel who suffered from severe wasting in 2023 because of drought linked to climate change.   It’s critical that UNICEF and local partners have support, so that children living through an emergency can have the life-saving aid and protection they need, where and when they need it. Timely and flexible funding can help save lives today, while also allowing UNICEF and partners to respond effectively to new and emerging risks before it’s too late or even more costly.   The 2024 appeal includes support for major crises in Afghanistan, Syrian Refugees, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine. Critically underfunded emergencies include Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Haiti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Bangladesh.   “UNICEF and partners are committed to providing a comprehensive response to the many humanitarian crises affecting children, including the impacts of conflicts, climate change and natural disasters,” said Russell. “Children should not be paying with their lives and their futures. They need continued access to essential services, like health care, safe water, basic sanitation and education".   "Working together through principled humanitarian action, we can reach the most vulnerable children, offering them the support they need for a brighter future".   http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/launch-2024-humanitarian-appeal http://www.unicef.org/reports/unicef-annual-report-2023 Visit the related web page
	Compliance with International Humanitarian Law in armed conflicts is not optional by Laetitia Courtois International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)   (Statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered by Laetitia Courtois, Permanent Observer and Head of Delegation to the UN, to the United Nations General Assembly, 78th session, meeting on the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations).   We meet this year at a time of significant humanitarian challenges, and armed conflict is at the heart of these challenges. Thousands of our colleagues are mobilized in contexts around the world to reach out to those in need and uphold the principle of humanity.   The provision of humanitarian relief by impartial humanitarian organizations is essential to reduce the suffering in armed conflict. This year, we wish to highlight three important issues that continue to affect our operations.   First, compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in armed conflicts is not optional.   We have heard many States echoing this as a political priority: it is now imperative to make it an operational reality.   IHL seeks to limit the humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts. Better respect for IHL means making sure that civilians are never directly targeted, that loss of civilian life and damage to civilian infrastructure are minimized. It means also that violence to life and person, the taking of hostages, and outrages upon personal dignity are prohibited.   Those obligations may not be conditioned on the behavior of one of the parties; IHL must be respected in all circumstances, even if it is violated by the adversary.   Better respect for IHL also leads to better humanitarian outcomes, limits suffering on all sides and preserves a pathway beyond the conflict.   When rhetoric dehumanizing the civilian population associated with the opposing side is amplified, we see significant humanitarian impacts and long-term risks.   Disinformation and misinformation campaigns against humanitarian actors put those trying to help and those who need this help, at direct risk.   In light of the dangerous consequences of dehumanizing language in armed conflict, we urge political and military actors not to resort to or endorse such practices.   Member states have a critical role in the preservation of the humanitarian space, and we ask your support to ensure it is upheld, even in the most polarized crises.   Secondly, ensure better humanitarian access, in particular in urban areas.   The International Committee of the Red Cross has been carrying out neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action since 1863 – for 160 years.   In 1992, the General Assembly adopted a resolution outlining similar ways of working for the United Nations and its implementing partners.   These modalities are key to gain the confidence of the parties to an armed conflict. Assistance must be provided, and solely on the basis of need.   Access and space for impartial humanitarian organizations and their personnel, including experts able to repair essential services and infrastructure may not be unlawfully denied by warring parties.   Today, we are losing precious time in negotiations around the modalities of humanitarian responses, yet it is particularly as crises become more acute that needs are most desperate and thus timely access most critical.   Respecting IHL means ensuring that humanitarian assistance is provided to the civilian population. The parties to a conflict have the primary responsibility to meet the basic needs of the population in areas under their control.   But where they are unable to do so, impartial humanitarian organizations must be able to do their work, including throughout the hostilities, and not just when those have ceased. Without this immediate access, humanitarian consequences will be far greater and more difficult to address.   Under IHL, civilians and civilian objects must be protected against direct attack, including in urban settings. When an attack against a military objective is expected to cause civilian losses greater than the anticipated military advantage, it must be suspended or cancelled. And the parties to an armed conflict must do everything they can to minimize civilian harm.   It is critical that the Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas, the EWIPA Declaration, signed by 83 States, is implemented, in order to see a change in warring behavior.   And we would ask Member States who have not signed it to consider doing so. It is also more essential than ever that states with influence do what they can to ensure better respect by their partners and allies, fulfilling their obligations to both respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions.   Thirdly, understand the limits of humanitarian action.   Humanitarian action is vital, but it cannot be the only answer. We encourage political actors to engage towards political pathways that will ensure life with dignity and development for their peoples. Without that, humanitarian responses quickly reach their limit. Three years ago, we highlighted the fact that we had been in our 10 largest operations an average of 36 years.   We therefore also encourage political and development actors to prevent development reversals, especially when a crisis hits, and find a way to stay engaged in fragile settings.   Ensuring that populations affected by conflict can meet their needs and rebuild their lives in the long run cannot be done solely by humanitarians. Essential public services and systems of entire countries need to be maintained no matter the circumstances.   As conflicts continue to be increasingly protracted and affect a variety of countries, the resources and capacities of the entire aid ecosystem must be harnessed into wider systemic responses to increasingly complex needs in crises.   This is a humanitarian imperative for affected populations which requires action by a variety of actors – and above all a political commitment from states.   Now is the time to redouble diplomatic efforts to put our shared humanitarian values at the center of international cooperation.   Multilateralism matters. International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian principles matter. It is through renewed collective action that we will preserve our common humanity and make a difference in the lives of millions of people affected by armed conflicts and other humanitarian emergencies.   http://www.icrc.org/en/unga78-annual-statement-ihl http://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-president-spoljaric-destruction-despair-should-not-let-us-forget-wars-have-limits http://reliefweb.int/report/world/2024-statement-members-ngo-working-group-protection-civilians Visit the related web page
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