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UN launch plan to alleviate suffering in 2022 as humanitarian needs continue to rise
A total of 274 million people worldwide will need emergency aid and protection in 2022, a 17 per cent increase compared to this year, UN Humanitarians said on Thursday. The amount is equivalent to “the world’s forth most populous country,” Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian chief said at the launch of the 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) in Geneva. The document, published annually by the United Nations and partners’ includes 37 response plans covering 63 countries. It estimates that $41 billion is required to provide relief and protection to the 183 million people most in need.
“The climate crisis is hitting the world’s most vulnerable people first and worst. Protracted conflicts grind on, and instability has worsened in several parts of the world, notably Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Afghanistan,” Mr. Griffiths said, “and of course the Covid pandemic, which we have recently been reminded has not gone away” with poor countries deprived of vaccines. “My goal is that this global appeal can go some way to restoring a glimmer of hope for millions of people who desperately need it”.
According to the report, more than 1 per cent of the world’s population is displaced and extreme poverty is rising again. In most crises, women and girls suffer the most, as gender inequalities and protection risks are heightened. There are also 45 million people in 43 countries at risk of famine, Mr. Griffiths noted. To prevent famine globally and to address the major threats driving food insecurity: conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and economic shocks, some 120 civil-society organizations – nearly 100 of them based in countries hard hit by hunger – have issued a joint letter urging world leaders to fully fund the response.
In 2021 “thanks to generous donors” the humanitarian system “rose to the challenge” and delivered food, medicines, health care and other essential assistance to 107 million people this year – 70 per cent of the target. Mr. Griffiths noted that in South Sudan, over half a million people were brought back from the brink of famine. Heath care was delivered to 10 million people in Yemen, “so kept famine at bay”. He also pointed out that aid agencies “never left Afghanistan. We have a programe for 2022, three times the size of programme for 2021 because of the needs”.
The humanitarian chief thanked international donors and member states who, so far in 2021, have provided more than $17 billion for projects included in the GHO, even during the Covid crisis. But he reiterated that it is “not a lot of money in comparison to the need”. Funding remains less than half of what the UN and partner organizations requested, the report noted. “Aid matters and can make a difference,” Mr Griffiths said, but emphasized “it’s no solution, as we see in Afghanistan. Assistance is not a remedy, it isn't a way to stabilize societies. It doesn’t replace development assistance, the funding of society and economy. It’s an extra, a life saver. We are aware we won’t get 41 billion, but we will try and get what we can” he added.
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- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flags flying.
- Medium-wide shot, inside the press conference room, showing speakers and participants, a moderator walking near them with a microphone.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “We estimate for 2022 that there will be 274 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. That’s up by 17% from 2021. And to give it a different look, it’s equivalent to the world’s fourth most populous country. We aim through this program to help 183 million the most vulnerable. Again, an increase from last year and for this we are looking for a record 41 billion dollars for the world’s humanitarian needs of the most needy in 2022.”
- Medium shot, a photographer taking a picture, Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Laerke, captured from a low angle.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “The drivers of need are ones which are familiar to all of us, tragically. It includes protracted conflicts, political instability, failing economies which is something which has been very much to the forefront of our thinking in the last months, the climate crisis – not a new crisis – but one which urges more attention and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic of which we have been recently been reminded that it is not gone away.”
- Medium shot, two cameramen filming the press conference.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “One percent of humanity is displaced. That is a new figure like all these - dreadful achievements - that tell us so much about our world and it would be no surprise to any of us that women and girls continue to suffer the most just as civilians continue to suffer the most in war.”
- Close shot, a journalist taking notes of the briefing while Mr. Griffiths is delivering his speech.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “Aid does save lives, it can and it can do it here and now. It’s no solution and we see in many countries, Afghanistan is just one most recent example. Humanitarian assistance is not a remedy for the people of Afghanistan. It's ideally and we hope and we believe and we count on being able to deliver for the people of Afghanistan now in the first emergency term. But it isn't a way to stabilize societies.”
- Close shot, a journalist taking notes of the briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “Humanitarian aid can work, it has its own place. It doesn't replace development assistance, it doesn't replace the funding of the society and the economy which most governments do every day all over the world. It's an extra, it's important. It's an addition. It's a lifesaver we hope.”
- Medium shot, cameramen filming the press conference, while a technician supervises the briefing on Zoom.
- Medium shot, journalists attending the meeting, a cameraman and a photographer taking footage.
- Close shot, Mr. Griffiths answering a question, while a technician supervises the briefing on Zoom.
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