On December 1, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), led by Martin Griffiths, presented its new Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) for 2023. OCHA estimates that 339 million people will need humanitarian assistance in the upcoming year, an increase of around 20% compared to the beginning of 2022. This is 1/23 people worldwide. To reach the 230 million in 69 countries who are at the sharpest edge of suffering, $51.1 billion will be needed, $10.5 billion or 25% more than the year before. In the last 5 years alone, the number of people in need has doubled. While the amount of money needed has risen accordingly, the number of donor countries has remained relatively small (the US provides nearly half of the funds to date, Germany is by far the second largest donor, and the EU Commission is in third place). Hence, there is a huge funding gap: in 2022, only 47% of the funds required were actually received. 10 country situations alone, most of them war and conflict situations, require around USD 30 billion. In addition, climate change and the secondary consequences of the Ukraine are considered reasons for the sharp increase.
The "Map of the Month", a new series of the Multilateral Dialogue Geneva of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, uses maps to illustrate global trends and the role of Germany and Europe in the world on a monthly basis.