As the United Nations launch the Global Humanitarian Overview, indicating an exponential rise in humanitarian needs, LWF joins the call of humanitarian agencies to invest more into humanitarian response, and to put more emphasis on the support of women and girls.
Borgop refugee camp in Cameroon. The camp hosts people displaced by the conflict in the Central African Republic, one of the emergencies which rarely make headlines. Photo: LWF Cameroon
Global Humanitarian Overview: 339 million people in need of assistance
(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has joined a call by humanitarian non-government organizations to more seriously address humanitarian needs around the globe, especially with a focus on women and girls.
“The LWF experiences the enormous and widening gap in the needs and available resources to respond to humanitarian crises globally, on a daily basis,” says Maria Immonen, Director of LWF World Service. “The entire humanitarian sector is worried about the human price of the lack of attention to the most vulnerable populations today”
The statement is published 1 December, on the same day as the United Nations Humanitarian Overview. It addresses the governments and aid agencies that signed the "Grand Bargain" at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. Today’s statement has been signed by leading humanitarian organizations such as Oxfam and Care.
"Just a taste of what is to come"
The "Grand Bargain" was a commitment to reform the humanitarian system and make sure more money reached people in need. It consisted of 51 pledges by 48 governments and aid agencies in 2016. The initial signatories controlled about 95 percent of the humanitarian spending worldwide.
Since its inception, however, humanitarian needs worldwide have multiplied. The Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) 2022 states that 339 million people need humanitarian assistance, an increase of 24 percent compared to 2022.
The 2023 GHO size is just a taste of what is to come as the effects of COVID-19 and climate change continue to magnify other drivers of humanitarian needs.
Joint NGO statement
"The 2023 GHO size is just a taste of what is to come as the effects of COVID-19 and climate change continue to magnify other drivers of humanitarian needs in years to come", the statement reads.
At the same time, NGOs state that "the impact of the Grand Bargain has not sufficiently been felt at the country levels." They call upon the initial Grand Bargain signatories to connect to agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for a renewed commitment to tackle humanitarian needs, commit more resources, and invest in gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.
