The Guardian: ‘Alarming’ shortfall in foreign aid for world’s biggest crises
“The head of one of the world’s leading aid agencies has issued a stark warning over the ‘alarming lack of funding’ for global humanitarian crises. Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, noted that halfway through the current funding year, humanitarian organizations had received less than a third of money — 27% — needed to provide relief to people affected by crises worldwide. ‘The current lack of funding is alarming. Despite increasing needs, substantially less money is available for humanitarian assistance compared with the same period last year,’ he said. … ‘It is a question of priorities. The world’s total military expenditure has increased to a whopping $1.8tn. The cost of closing the humanitarian funding gap and providing people with basic support equals to just about 1% of this,’ said Egeland…” (Beaumont, 7/16).