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Global Humanitarian Overview 2018 - June Status Report [EN/AR/ES/FR]

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Global Humanitarian Overview 2018: six months on

As of 15 June 2018, 21 Humanitarian Response Plans (HRP) and the Syria Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan (3RP) require US$25.39 billion to assist 96.2 million highly vulnerable people.

Through the generosity of a wide and geographically diverse group of donors, as of 15 June 2018 the 21 HRPs and the Syria 3RP are funded at $8.25 billion, or 33% of the full sum required - $2 billion more than this time in 2017. This is explained by several factors, including a large contribution to the crisis in Yemen and gradual improvements in reporting of carry-over and unearmarked and multi-year funding.

Humanitarian organizations urgently need another $17.14 billion to cover the activities and projects outlined in these response plans. Regional refugee response plans for Burundi, DRC, Nigeria, and South Sudan, together require $2.58 billion to respond to the needs of 4.6 million people. Other appeals drawn up by the UN and partners – the Rohingya Refugee Crisis Joint Response Plan, the Pakistan Transition Plan (humanitarian component), the DPRK Needs and Priorities Plan and the Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Senegal chapters of the Sahel Overview – call for $1.41 billion to assist 10.2 million people.

HRPs funded at under 20 per cent as of mid-June 2018 are those for Burundi,
DRC, Haiti, oPt and Ukraine. Of these, the appeals for Haiti, DRC and Ukraine were also all funded at under 20 per cent this time last year, along with HRPs for Sudan, Chad and Libya. As at mid-year 2018 the regional refugee response plans (except the Syria 3RP) are all under 20 per cent funded, which is less than at this time last year.

Significant planning changes occurred in several countries in the first half of this year. The number of people to receive aid in Afghanistan rose in May from 2.8 million to 4.2 million due to persistent drought, with a concurrent increase in requirements from $430 million to $546 million. The Rohingya Refugee Crisis Joint Refugee Response Plan drawn up in March 2018, in close cooperation with the Government of Bangladesh, outlines operations to assist 1.3 million Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh and local host communities. The plan requires $950.8 million in funding. This is significantly higher than the $434.1 million required by the previous plan, but that spanned a much shorter period of only five months.

Concerted efforts have been made in 2018 to diversify funding sources for humanitarian response. Partners and donors have organized and attended high-level events designed to draw funding towards specific crises and discuss crucial policy issues in DRC, Somalia, Syria and the region and Yemen. These events mobilized $7.26 billion for 2018 and $3.44 billion for 2019 and beyond.

In 2018, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has responded to the needs of people affected by natural disasters, drought, displacement, conflict and internal strife in 25 countries. Allocations have been made towards prevention and response to Ebola, Lassa Fever and measles in health emergencies in the DRC, Nigeria and Lebanon. The largest allocation in CERF’s history of $50 million was made early this year in response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen. CERF has allocated $30 million to prevent famine and malnutrition in the Sahel this year, and $49.8 million to the DRC, including to improve accountability to affected people. Since January 2018,
CERF has received $256.4 million in contributions and allocated $192.2 million through the rapid response window and $99.7 million through the underfunded emergencies window. CERF is currently in the process of analysis for its second underfunded round in July and discussions continue about introducing an early action approach for CERF, linking early warning information, early action plans and anticipatory finance schemes

Twenty-five donors have contributed and pledged $390.2 million this year to seventeen operational country-based pooled funds (CBPF) and altogether 467 projects have received funding. Almost three quarters of CBPF allocations this year have been disbursed to NGOs, including 27 per cent ($52.5 million) directly to national and local NGOs. Another quarter was allocated to UN agencies and a smaller portion to Red Cross/Red Crescent organizations. The CBPF has begun measuring timeliness, inclusiveness, accountability, flexibility and efficiency of the funds against a common performance framework. All eighteen CBPF reports for 2017 were synchronized and published simultaneously in line with donor and Grand Bargain commitments. The Grant Management System has been upgraded this year to ensure complete, end-to-end management of pooled fund processes, and a business intelligence public website has been launched.

The mid-2018 INFORM risk index classifies 14 countries with HRPs as very high risk and another six are categorized as high-risk. The situation in Gaza is worsening week by week and the humanitarian ramifications of the crisis in oPt show no sign of letting up in the coming months. The HRP for Sudan will shortly be revised upwards as inflation has slowed national efforts to revitalize the economy and usher in social and economic development. A multi-stakeholder event focusing on the Lake Chad Region is being organized in September to promote humanitarian action, resilience, crisis prevention and stabilization initiatives to meet the longer-term needs of those affected by the crisis.

Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad are all struggling to stave off malnutrition and food insecurity. Finally, the flow of refugees from Venezuela is causing increasing concern. No Flash Appeals for any crises have been issued so far this year, but humanitarian responders including donors should prepare for the likelihood of a turbulent hurricane season in the Caribbean.

Donors wishing to match multi-year appeals with multi-year funding will note that the following appeals are currently multi-year: Afghanistan, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, DRC, oPt, Somalia, Sudan Haiti and the Syria 3RP

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