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A father gives water to his severely malnourished daughter at a feeding center in Hodeida, Yemen, in September 2018. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)A father gives water to his severely malnourished daughter at a feeding center in Hodeida, Yemen, in September 2018. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

Humanitarian crises are becoming more frequent and are lasting longer, according to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released in December. As a result, more than 1 percent of the worldwide population are caught up in major crises, write the authors of the Global Humanitarian Overview 2019. Between 2005 and 2017, according to OCHA, the number of crises receiving an internationally led response almost doubled, from 16 to 30, and the average length of humanitarian response plans increased from 5.2 years in 2014 to 9.3 years in 2018.

Ten percent of the world’s people are still living in extreme poverty, and this year nearly 132 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection, mostly because of the effects of armed conflict. The United Nations and partner organizations aim to assist nearly 94 million of them in 2019.

The international humanitarian system is more effective than ever at meeting their needs, but global trends including continued population growth and climate change are leaving more people than ever vulnerable to the devastating impacts of conflicts and natural disasters. Listed below are some of the challenges highlighted by OCHA.

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JR Cosgrove
5 years 3 months ago

If you read the statistics presented in this article, one would think nothing positive is going on. But poverty is disappearing from the world. Not part of the graphics, I wonder why?

Dionys Murphy
5 years 3 months ago

Because poverty and starvation still exist in every place in the world. No need to be a polly anna and pretend it doesn't simply because you're self-absorbed.

Phillip Stone
5 years 3 months ago

Notice the highlighted areas of greatest "need"
Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan and "DR"Congo.
Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the recently divided Sudan are all in chaos because of Islam.
Politically incorrect as the assertion may be, it is just simply true.
Totally unworthy of a single cent being wasted unless and until the root cause is being addressed. I wish the Pope would call a new Crusade.

The Congo is a different matter.
Belgian colonialism, Cold War Communism and naked tribal power conflicts are issues which the inheritors of Christendom and European colonialism and missionary Marxism have significant blame to atone for.
It is huge and extremely rich in natural resources so as far as I can see, if the "international community" spent the time and money and effort which it wastes on the recalcitrant Moslems calling themselves Palestinians, great strides could be made with the distinct possibility of making a beneficial difference.

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