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UN launches Humanitarian Appeal 2011

01 December 2010 00:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A senior UN official launched here on Tuesday an appeal for 7.4 billion U.S. dollars to provide urgent aid to 50 million people located in 28 countries, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Valerie Amos, chaired in Geneva the launch of the Humanitarian Appeal 2011, and urged the international community to provide urgent aid to the 50 million people.

This is the largest amount that has ever been requested since the creation of the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) in 1991.

Amos stated that the 2011 humanitarian appeal is asking for the resources needed to give that help. United Nations agencies, non- governmental aid organizations and other humanitarian stakeholders have come together to analyze the needs, and they have developed action plans aimed at saving lives and giving access to basic services.

Meeting the emergency needs of the 50 million people in these crisis situations will require 7.4 billion U.S. dollars. A total of 425 aid organizations are aiming to help the 50 million people.

This appeal reflects the scale, depth, frequency and complexity of crisis situations around the world, covering Haiti, Niger and Djibouti, Chad, West Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Part of the context for the 2011 global appeal is the fact that vulnerabilities remain high, and people’s ability to withstand shocks is weakened even in countries without a major crisis, said Amos.

Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), also encouraged on Tuesday in Geneva the international community to contribute more aid for the humanitarian crisis.

She particularly introduced the ongoing efforts of the international community in the fight against the spread of cholera in Haiti.