UN, NGO and General News Round-Up

Aid agencies must expect a drop in funding in the year ahead as the economic crisis takes its toll on private, corporate and governmental donors, the Red Cross warned Nov. 18. "2009 is probably going to be tough for us and many of the humanitarian agencies," said Encho Gospodinov, director of the Policy and Communications division at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). …Private individuals and corporations are already cutting back on the amount they give to charities, according to national Red Cross societies which have already launched their pre-Christmas appeals, he said.