Humanitarian action: 2023 mid-year snapshot
The first half of 2023 has seen humanitarian crises driven by conflict, climate shocks and food insecurity.
About
The UNICEF 2023 Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal was launched in December 2022 with a total financial requirement of $10.26 billion and by the end of June 2023, the total humanitarian requirements had risen to $10.94 billion.
Despite needs growing exponentially, funding is struggling to keep pace. In the first half of 2023, unequal funding across emergencies and sectors is once again challenging humanitarian actors’ ability to respond to the growing needs.
As of the middle of 2023, UNICEF had identified 12 emergencies that require additional attention based on current fundraising needs as well as criteria such as scale and scope of the crisis, urgency, complexity and the capacity of UNICEF’s regional and country offices to respond. These emergencies account for 54 per cent of the 362 million people identified as in need of humanitarian assistance:
Sudan
Funding requirement: $837.6 million. Funding gap: 93 per cent
Sudan is faced with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis driven by brutal fighting. Humanitarian needs are at an all-time high with 13.6 million children in need. Nearly 700,000 people have crossed to neighbouring countries, in particular to Egypt, Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Many communities receiving them are already affected by multiple emergencies and extremely vulnerable.
Burkina Faso
Funding requirement: $226.7 million. Funding gap: 91 per cent
Burkina Faso is affected by a multidimensional humanitarian crisis, driven by armed violence/insecurity, demographic pressures, climate change, and health crises. 3.2 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Funding requirement: $862.4 million. Funding gap: 90 per cent
An escalation in armed conflict and recurrent diseases outbreaks are taking a heavy toll on millions of children. The country hosts the second-highest number of internally displaced people in the world and had the highest number of verified grave violations of children’s rights in 2022 as per the Secretary General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.
Myanmar
Funding requirement: $217.9 million. Funding gap: 88 per cent
Deepening civil conflict and the devastation of Cyclone Mocha continues to impact children and their families, with some 5.6 million children in need of humanitarian assistance. Attacks on schools and hospitals continue at alarming levels, while other grave violations of child rights in armed conflict have been reported.
Haiti
Funding requirement: $245.9 million. Funding gap: 84 per cent
More than half of Haiti’s children are likely to depend on humanitarian aid to survive 2023 as political turmoil, an upsurge in armed violence, a resurgence of cholera, malnutrition and skyrocketing inflation create a devastating combination of threats.
Ethiopia
Funding requirement: $674.3 million. Funding gap: 83 per cent
The consequences of conflict in northern Ethiopia (in the Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions) and the severe drought in the Afar, Oromia, Somali, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regions have resulted in 31.4 million people in need, including 16.5 million children.
Yemen
Funding requirement: $484.4 million. Funding gap 78 per cent
Yemen remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world with 21.6 million people – three quarters of the population – in need of humanitarian assistance due to armed conflict, ongoing economic crisis, recurrent natural hazards and disrupted public services.
Somalia
Funding requirement: $272.3 million. Funding gap: 75 per cent
Somalia experienced a historic dry spell and the consequences of decades of conflict. While recent rains brought some respite, flash July 2023 floods have displaced families and much more rainfall will be required to substantially reduce the extended effects of the drought.
South Sudan
Funding requirement: $217.2 million. Funding gap: 74 per cent
The country has experienced an influx of refugees and returnees since the start of the conflict in Sudan in April 2023, which is also affecting its struggling economy. South Sudan remains extremely vulnerable to climate change and is affected by multiple diseases outbreaks. 5 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Bangladesh
Funding requirement: $173.8 million. Funding gap: 71 per cent
Five years into the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh hosts 943,529 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar District, including 490,635 children. Millions of people across the country are also affected every year by devastating floods and cyclones. 3 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Afghanistan
Funding requirement: $1.65 billion. Funding gap: 58 per cent
Afghanistan is experiencing unprecedented and rising humanitarian needs, with 64 per cent of households unable to meet their basic needs. Afghan women and girls are facing a systematic rights crisis. 15.3 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Syrian Arab Republic
Funding requirement: $328.5 million. Funding gap: 41 per cent
Two thirds of the population require assistance due to a worsening economic crisis, localized hostilities, mass displacement and destroyed public infrastructure, a situation compounded by the earthquakes that devastated the north-east of the country.
