Humanitarian aid
The UN refugee agency is counting on Germany
“The world needs humanitarian organizations more than ever, considering all the unresolved crises,” says Filippo Grandi. photo
© Angelos Tzortzinis/dpa
Given the many crises and conflicts in the world, the need for humanitarian aid is great – the UN is therefore warning donor countries to save on it.
With numerous crises and conflicts in the world, the need for humanitarian aid is growing, but the contribution of donor countries has decreased at the UN 2023 – this prepares the United Nations concern.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is counting on Germany, as the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, told the German Press Agency in Geneva. “The world needs humanitarian organizations more than ever, considering all the unresolved crises,” said Grandi.
“I know that there is a complex discussion about the budget in Germany at the moment,” he said. “I assume that Germany has no intention of cutting funding for humanitarian aid.” The Bundestag and Bundesrat are scheduled to finally vote on the draft budget for 2024, which was adjusted this week, at the beginning of February. “I hope that the discussion will have a positive outcome for humanitarian aid,” said Grandi. The USA is by far the largest donor to the UNHCR, followed by the EU Commission and Germany.
Pressure on governments to save money
Last year, the humanitarian crisis budgets coordinated by the UN emergency relief office OCHA only collected just under 40 percent of the required funds. This is by far the worst result since at least 2016. This is mainly because the need has increased so rapidly: to almost 57 billion dollars (around 52 billion euros) in 2023, almost three times as much as in 2016. For the OCHA crisis budget Only $22.3 billion was raised in 2023, after $30.3 billion the year before. The UNHCR alone was missing a billion dollars last year, said Grandi.
Pressure on governments to save money could backfire, says Grandi. “If humanitarian aid is cut, it will cause even more migration, especially towards rich countries.” Populists who rail against refugees, for example, will not be taken out of their sails by cutting humanitarian aid.
Appeal from Grandi
Some political groups are using the arrival of many refugees to manipulate the local population, for example by making them afraid of people, Grandi said. “The answer (to populists) is to have an efficient system that accepts refugees, examines their applications and sends back those who are not refugees.”
Too little is being done in the countries of origin to combat the causes of flight and end conflicts. The reason is, among other things, the disagreement in the United Nations Security Council. The council could decide on military operations, but has been paralyzed for years in the geopolitical tug of war between the veto powers USA, Russia and China. “In the meantime, governments must take responsibility and provide more money for humanitarian aid,” Grandi said.