Record $22.2B need

Photo: The Canadian Press

The United Nations' humanitarian aid co-ordination agency says it and partners require a record $22.2 billion next year to help people hit by conflict and disasters around the world, a 10 per cent increase from this year.

The appeal announced Monday from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs seeks to help nearly 93 million people in 33 countries — nearly two-thirds of them in Africa. More than one-third of the total appeal — $8.1 billion — aims to help people in Syria and refugees from it, and another $4.4 billion would support people inside or fleeing war-torn Yemen and South Sudan.

It is the highest amount the agency has ever requested, said OCHA chief Stephen O'Brien.

"This is a reflection of a state of humanitarian need in the world not witnessed since the Second World War — more than 128 million people urgently need our support and solidarity to survive and live in safety and dignity," he said. The 93 million among them targeted by the appeal are some of the most desperate, he added.

"More than 80 per cent of the needs stem from man-made conflicts, many of which are now protracted and push up demand for relief year after year," O'Brien told reporters in Geneva.

The single highest amount in the appeal is for $4.7 billion destined for a Syria "Regional Response Plan." That would support countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt that have taken in some 4.7 million Syrian refugees who face deteriorating conditions after more than five years of war.