Skip to main content

Humanitarian Funding Update January 2018 - United Nations Coordinated Appeals

Countries
World
+ 26 more
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

Total requirements: $23.18 B

People in need: 137.0 M

People to receive aid: 94.0 M

Countries affected: 26

  • In January, five humanitarian response plans outlined in the GHO 2018 were officially launched: these were for the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia and Yemen. A special alert announcing immediate humanitarian requirements for Ethiopia was also issued to complement the Government-UN Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD), as was a plan highlighting the humanitarian needs due to drought in Mauritania.

  • As at 1 February 2018, UN-coordinated Humanitarian Response Plans (HRP) and the Syria 3RP Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan aim to meet the humanitarian needs of 94 million crisis-affected people in 26 countries. The number of people to receive aid has risen from 90.9 million in December 2017 to 94 million at the end of January 2018. This is mainly because needs are higher than anticipated in Haiti, Yemen and the Syria region.

  • The HRPs and Syria 3RP require US$23.18 billion to meet these humanitarian needs. The $655 million increase in requirements since publication of the GHO on 1 December 2017 can chiefly be attributed to the 3RP Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan for Syria and the HRP for Yemen. On the other hand, financial requirements for Cameroon, Chad, DRC, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan are now lower than anticipated.

  • According to FTS, appeals were funded at $377.8 million or 2.2% of requirements on 1 February 2018. The substantial shortfall against requirements of $16.56 billion are due to limited reporting to FTS so early in the year. For real time updates on incoming funds, see https://fts.unocha.org/

  • The deteriorating humanitarian situation in the DRC over the last year has left 13.1 million people in need of humanitarian protection and assistance, more than double the number for 2017. In the past year more than 1.9 million people have been displaced in the country, bringing the total number of IDPs to 4.3 million. Some 7.7 million people are severely food insecure and the country is host to more than 500,000 refugees from neighbouring countries.

  • Since April 2017, internal Palestinian dynamics have contributed to a decline in the situation in the Gaza Strip, occupied Palestinian territory. The signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement in October 2017 has not led to an improved humanitarian situation. At the heart of the decline is an aggravation of Gaza’s longstanding electricity crisis, which is affecting all of Gaza’s two million residents. The acting HC for the oPt has warned that emergency fuel for critical facilities in Gaza will become exhausted by mid-February, and has called for urgent donor support to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe driven by the energy crisis. In 2018, $6.5 million is required for the UN to provide 7.7 million litres of fuel to run backup generators and vehicles that would ensure a minimum level of life-saving health, water and sanitation services.

  • The Somalia HRP is once again driven by the imperative of famine prevention. The threat of famine has declined but needs remain high: some 2.7 million of the 5.4 million people in need require life-saving support. Since the beginning of January 2017, over 1.2 million people have been displaced, bringing the overall number of displaced people to above 2.1 million. Malnutrition rates remain among the highest in the world with nearly 301,000 children under the age of five acutely malnourished and 48,000 children struggling with life-threatening, severe malnutrition. Life-saving assistance will be vital to sustain last year’s important gains and accomplish ground work for investment in longer-term development.

  • In January, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) provided the largest-ever single allocation of $50 million to scale up urgent life-saving assistance in Yemen. This allocation will complement the Yemen Humanitarian Fund based on the prioritization of activities led by the Humanitarian Coordinator. In addition, CERF allocated $4.2 million to Myanmar to cover life-saving interventions for 94,611 crisis-affected people in the northern part of Rakhine State over six months, and $6.5 million to assist 25,000 highly vulnerable people with critical needs and ensure safe transit to the new refugee settlement site in Mantapala, Zambia. Thus far, ten donors have contributed a total of $7.2 million to CERF for 2018, and 28 other donors have pledged an additional $379 million.

  • Country-based pooled funds (CBPF) received over $100 million in contributions in December 2017, another $10 million in January 2018 and a further $114 million in pledges, ensuring continuity at the beginning of the year. Early availability of funds enabled the Afghanistan CBPF to launch a $20 million allocation to kick-start implementation of the country’s new HRP and position supplies in advance of the flooding season. Meanwhile, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund has made $3 million available to partners for the refugee response in White Nile state, and for the prevention of acute watery diarrhea outbreaks.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.