LONDON: The UK has committed to donate an additional £47m ($64m) in humanitarian aid during 2021, following warnings that the coming year will see dramatic rises in food insecurity, malnutrition and starvation.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on Wednesday that the additional money would be divided between 11 countries facing acute crises, including Syria and Yemen.
“This extra emergency UK aid will mean people can feed their families and prevent these crises from escalating into widespread famine. We hope to see other donors step up to the plate with some extra funding to prevent these global crises getting worse,” said British foreign secretary Dominic Raab.
The pandemic, complicating already vulnerable lives 2 minutes read
By Noemí Jabois
Beirut, Dec 19 (efe-epa).- The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated some of the most acute humanitarian crises on the planet, from the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, food shortages in the central Sahel and southern Africa to terror activity in the Chad Basin.
It is not the virus itself wreaking havoc in these vulnerable corners of the world but rather the measures enforced to contain the disease and the diversion of resources that accompanies them.
At the end of 2019, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that, in 2020, there would 169 million people in need of humanitarian aid and that it would cost some $29 billion to reach 109 million of those in need.
Thank you.
Thanks to Special Envoy Pedersen for his briefing today and for his ongoing efforts to facilitate a sustainable resolution to the conflict through the full implementation of resolution 2254. You have the UK’s full support, Special Envoy.
We take note of the meeting of the Constitutional Committee. Any UN-facilitated meeting is an important opportunity for dialogue and building trust between the parties. However, almost five years after the adoption of resolution 2254 and after four meetings of the Committee, it is past time to start addressing the substance and the drafting of a new constitution. We urge the parties to engage constructively on substantive issues during the next meeting in January.
Encouraging parties to engage with UN-led political process to achieve a peaceful end to conflict in Syria miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
General Assembly Adopts 4 Humanitarian Aid Resolutions, as Delegates Brace for COVID-19’s Broader Impact amid Threat of Famine, Economic Hardship
Format
SEVENTY-FIFTH SESSION, 42ND & 43RD MEETINGS (AM & PM)
The General Assembly adopted four humanitarian-focused resolutions today, with delegates warning of ever-growing challenges in 2021 as the broader effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic including prolonged economic hardship and threat of major famine begin to take hold.
Volkan Bozkir (Turkey), President of the General Assembly, in opening remarks, cited the Global Humanitarian Overview 2021, released earlier this month by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, saying that 235 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2021. As the pandemic continues, he added, the international community must also urgently prepare for the possibility of famine.