December 1, 2022: The estimated cost of the UN humanitarian response going into 2023 is USD 51.5 billion, a 25 per cent increase compared to the beginning of this year, the United Nations and partner organizations said on Thursday.

2023 will set another record for humanitarian relief requirements, with 339 million people in need of assistance in 69 countries, an increase of 65 million people compared to the same time last year, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The 2023 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), launched today by the UN in collaboration with nongovernmental organizations and other humanitarian partners, paints a stark picture of what lies ahead.

This gargantuan UN appeal comes as at least 222 million people in 53 countries will face acute food insecurity by the end of 2022. According to OCHA, forty-five million people in 37 countries risk starvation.

Public health is under pressure due to COVID-19, monkeypox, vectorborne diseases, and outbreaks of Ebola and cholera. Climate change is driving up risks and vulnerability. By the end of the century, extreme heat could claim as many lives as cancer. OCHA said it will take four generations – 132 years – to achieve global gender parity. Notably, 388 million women and girls live in extreme poverty around the world.

The UN agency said donors have provided a generous USD 24 billion in funding as of mid-November 2022, but needs are raising faster than the financial support. The funding gap has never been greater, currently at 53 per cent. Humanitarian organizations are therefore forced to decide who to target with the funds available.