The United Nations said on Monday, December 11, that it requires $46.4 billion for the next year to provide life-saving assistance to around 180 million of the world’s neediest people, including $3 billion specifically for Afghanistan.
While global attention remains focused on the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, the UN has highlighted the wider Middle East, Sudan, and Afghanistan as additional hotspots requiring major international aid interventions. However, both the size of the annual appeal and the number of people it aims to reach have been scaled back compared to 2023 following a decline in donations.
“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,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement. “But the necessary support from the international community is not keeping pace with the needs,” he added.
The UN has identified the five countries in direst need of humanitarian aid in 2024: Syria ($4.4 billion), Ukraine ($3.1 billion), Afghanistan ($3 billion), Ethiopia ($2.9 billion), and Yemen ($2.8 billion). Millions in each country face food insecurity, conflict, displacement, and disease outbreaks.
In 2023, the UN launched a record-breaking $51.5 billion appeal for humanitarian assistance but only received 35% of the requested amount. This severe funding shortfall, one of the worst in recent years, significantly hampered the organization’s ability to provide aid to the most vulnerable people. Despite this challenge, the UN says it allowed the organization agencies to deliver assistance and protection to 128 million people around the world.
Launching the 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview, the UN aid chief acknowledged the substantial challenge of raising the $46.4 billion requested. He described the sum as a “massive ask,” particularly considering the cost-of-living crises facing many donor countries. “Without adequate funding, we cannot provide life-saving assistance. And if we cannot provide that assistance, people will pay with their lives,” he said.
Last year, the UN launched a record-breaking $4.6 billion appeal for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, aiming to support millions of people with essential needs like food, shelter, medical care, and more. However, due to evolving circumstances, the appeal was revised down to $3.2 billion in early June. As of November, only 39.6% of the revised amount has been funded. The World Food Program (WFP) reported that 10 million people in Afghanistan lost access to vital food assistance between May and November 2023 due to a critical funding shortfall.
Afghanistan has been grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis for years, even before the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. The situation has only worsened since then, with over 29 million people now in need of lifesaving aid. The humanitarian crisis in the country was compounded in October when four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes struck western Herat province, killing and injuring thousands of people and causing widespread destruction.
Humanitarian needs in Afghanistan have also worsened following the Pakistani government’s announcement that it planned to repatriate all undocumented foreign nationals after November 1, a move widely perceived as targeting the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghanistan nationals living in the country. According to Radio Pakistan, more than 420,000 people have deported to Afghanistan since the announcement, with the number of people arriving at border crossings exhausted and in need of emergency assistance continuing to grow. The forcible and sudden return of hundreds of thousands of Afghanistan nationals shortly before winter is expected to worsen the country’s already severe humanitarian crisis.
