Yesterday, under the chairmanship of the head of the donor support team of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Kingdom’s representative in the team, Assistant Director General of the Center for Assistance to King Salman and Humanitarian Work Planning and Development Dr. Akil bin Jamaan Al Ghamdi, and in the presence of representatives of 30 Member States.
The agenda for the meeting included three areas: emerging humanitarian needs and challenges for 2023, the strategic plan for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the overall OCHA budget for 2023.
At the start of the meeting, the head of the team, Dr. Aqil Al Ghamdi, provided a perspective on global humanitarian needs in line with the Global Human Needs Survey 2023 AD report, which was released by the OCHA office in early December, which was launched from the capital Riyadh. near Geneva and Addis Ababa, where he touched on the issue of food security and the consequences of its absence, pointing out that one in 23 people in the world needs humanitarian assistance, and that the number of people in need of assistance is expected to reach 339 million in 2023 , with an estimated percentage increase of 25% over 2022, and this work is expected to require humanitarian assistance to nearly $52 billion in 2023. ; Help 230 million people in 68 countries.
He added: “There are more people who will be affected by the high cost of food, energy and fertilizer,” referring to the strategic plan of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the period 2023-2026, which was well received. members of the panel, as the panellists’ interventions highlighted the importance of a more efficient and effective humanitarian system for responding to humanitarian needs, as well as the need to work with local organizations, revitalize their role and build their capacity to enable them to respond at the right time and in the right way.
Regarding OCHA’s overall budget for 2023 AD, the team leader explained that OCHA’s failure to increase the percentage of financial support in the 2023 AD budget is a positive indicator, but may face some challenges, especially in light of the expected increase in global humanitarian needs next year. It should be noted that tomorrow the donor team will hold a high-level meeting with senior officials of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to review the outcome of the previous meeting.
