UN outlines 2013 humanitarian funding needs

The United Nations is requesting $8.5 billion in voluntary contributions to fund its responses to crises in 16 countries in 2013.

The overall consolidated appeal of U.N. agencies and their partners was unveiled Dec. 5 by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It includes appeals released earlier this month for Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, which together account for $3.44 billion of the overall appeal.

The rest of the appeal covers funding requests for humanitarian programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Yemen, Chad, Afghanistan, Niger, the Palestinian territories, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and the Philippines.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations expects humanitarian needs in Congo to increase in 2013 as a result of continuing crises in the country, particularly in the eastern region. To address anticipated needs, the global body and its partners are requesting $893 million. This is 13 percent higher than the $791.3 million appeal made in 2012.

Within the appeal for Congo, the largest request is for food security programs ($252.03 million), followed by water, sanitation and hygiene ($89.36 million) and nonfood items and emergency shelter ($86.26 million).

Kenya

This year’s consolidated appeal for Kenya is $743 million for 116 projects of more than 50 organizations. This is a slight decrease from the 2012 appeal of $796 million. The United Nations explained that despite humanitarian emergencies prompted by drought, floods and conflicts, the overall number of Kenyans in need of assistance is expected to go down next year.

More than half of the request for 2013 is for anticipated needs of refugees living in camps in Dadaab, Kakuma and Nairobi. The United Nations and its partners are seeking $433.3 million for programs in the sector. The appeal also includes requests for the following sectors: food assistance ($136.12 million), nutrition ($50.7 million), water, sanitation and hygiene ($29.3 million) and agriculture ($25.9 million).

Yemen

The U.N. and its partners have identified $716.3 million worth of funding requirements to reach 8.1 million beneficiaries in this Middle Eastern country, where humanitarian needs are expected to increase next year due to deepening food and nutrition crises.

Of the appeal, $303.1 million is for the food and agriculture cluster, $96.2 million for nutrition, $58.6 million for health, and $50.4 million for multisector services for refugees.

Mali

The2013 funding request for humanitarian programs in Mali is $370 million, which is 73 percent higher than the $214.3 million appeal for 2012. The increase is in response to what the United Nations described as “an unprecedented political, security and humanitarian crisis.”

The appeal would fund 139 projects to be implemented by 54 U.N. agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Like in many of the other country appeals, most of these projects are under the food security, nutrition and water, hygiene and sanitation clusters.

Due to the predicted deterioration of the crisis in Mali, the United Nations also increased its appeal for nearby Mauritania, where Malian refugees are expected to go to escape the conflict in their country. The 2013 appeal for Mauritania is $180 million — up 91 percent from the 2012 appeal of $94.2 million.

Afghanistan

The consolidated appeal for Afghanistan is at $477 million, a 7 percent increase from the 2012 appeal of $448.3 million. Priority beneficiaries of the appeal are internally displaced people, returnees and those caught in conflict or affected by natural disasters.

Regionwise, the bulk of the U.N. appeal is for programs in the provinces of Kandahar, Ghazni, Helmand, Khost and Kunar. Most of these programs are for refugee services and protection, food security and agriculture development.

Other requests

The United Nations also made the following appeals for 2013: $501 million for Chad, $380 million for Niger, $374 million for the Palestinian territories, $136 million for Burkina Faso, $131 million for Zimbabwe, $129 million for the Central African Republic and $35 million for the Philippines.

An appeal for programs within Syria and for refugees in neighboring countries is set to be released this month.

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