Launched on 5 June, the (OCHA) covers another gruelling year for millions of people 每 and one that stretched the humanitarian system to its limits.
2023 began with devastating earthquakes in T邦rkiye and Syria, followed by the eruption of brutal conflicts in Sudan and Gaza.
Long-running crises, insecurity, instability and economic hardship have translated into millions of people needing humanitarian assistance 每 in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Horn of Africa, Myanmar, Ukraine, Yemen and beyond.
Meanwhile, global warming broke all records in 2023, and the climate crisis deepened. Cyclone Freddy, one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones ever, battered Malawi and Mozambique. Cyclone Mocha affected more than 3 million people in Bangladesh and Myanmar, while Storm Daniel caused monumental flooding in Libya.
By year＊s end, a staggering 363 million people needed humanitarian assistance 每 30 million more people than when the year began.
Thanks to donors＊ generous support, the UN and our partners reached 128 million people with some form of assistance, 62 per cent of those whom OCHA aimed to reach.
※That so many people still received humanitarian support underlines the incredible determination, dedication and ingenuity of people across the humanitarian community,§ said Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
※I am immensely proud of their efforts, particularly those of our national staff and local humanitarian workers who fearlessly served their countries and communities at great sacrifice and risk to themselves.§
As humanitarian needs soar exponentially around the world, OCHA laid out six transformational priorities to address the challenges in its Strategic Plan for 2023-2026. The latest Annual Report is the first to outline progress made in these areas.
At the heart of these priorities is a simple objective: putting people affected by crises 每 particularly the most marginalized people 每 back at the centre of the design and delivery of humanitarian responses.
A highlight this year was OCHA＊s??每 a three-year pilot project in Colombia, Niger, the Philippines and South Sudan 每 which aims to transform humanitarian assistance, ensuring it is driven by the priorities of the people OCHA serves and increases their self-sufficiency.
The report includes the contributions of Member States and other UN and civil-society partners in ensuring the most vulnerable people in crises received timely and quality humanitarian assistance.
?
