Speaking to reporters in Geneva, the UN’s top humanitarian aid official said “this is a moment of grave danger” and warned that without additional support “millions of people will die.”
More than 14 billion dollars are needed
The $23 billion appeal announced last December by the UN aid coordinator to help 87 million of the world’s most vulnerable people remains two-thirds underfunded.
Although the number of people needing assistance globally far exceeds the identified 87 million, Fletcher explained that these were the people “most in need.”
“We still need more than $14 billion to execute this plan, and this comes at a time when the conflict in the Middle East costs $1 billion a day,” he said. “Even just a billion dollars would allow us to save millions of lives.”
Noting the urgent need to adapt humanitarian aid as crises escalate around the world, Fletcher added that Gaza and Sudan are “at the top of that list” in terms of funding needs.
Impacts of the Strait of Hormuz
His comments come amid growing concern about the impact that the March 2 closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor is having on civilians in the worst affected areas.
With the corridor responsible for 20 per cent of the world’s oil, Mr Fletcher emphasized the impact on global food, energy and fertilizer costs.
“I am concerned that further escalation will damage other supply routes. All of this has a direct impact on our humanitarian supplies, including delivery to key areas of need in sub-Saharan Africa.”
‘We refuse to retreat from our mission’
He said the global community’s priority should be to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
He also urged Member States to help protect humanitarian efforts in the region, following the recent deaths of aid workers in Sudan, Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher (second left) speaks with a displaced woman living in a camp in Malakal, South Sudan.
“Aid workers are increasingly under attack,” Fletcher added. “Human ingenuity is being applied to find increasingly sinister ways to kill on a large scale.”
Last year, 90 percent of those killed in drone strikes were civilians, many of them aid workers.
“This is a difficult time for humanitarian action. We are overstretched, under sustained attack and short on resources, but we refuse to retreat from our principles and we refuse to retreat from our mission.”