The United Nations issued a humanitarian appeal yesterday to raise about $ 29 billion, as the number of people in need of assistance due to the prolonged conflict and climate change reached a record level.
The United Nations, in a report entitled "Overview of the humanitarian situation in the world", estimated at 168 million people the number of people who will need emergency assistance next year in the world.
Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said this was a "record in modern times" since World War II.
He explained that one of the reasons for the increasing humanitarian needs that «conflicts become longer and more severe».
Climate change, with floods and droughts, is adding to the humanitarian burden, he said. "The bitter truth is that 2020 will be harder for millions of people," he said.
The United Nations intends to focus in particular on the 109 million people most in need of assistance.
Yemen and Syria remain the two countries that need the most assistance, and the United Nations will allocate more than $ 3 billion.
But Venezuela is the country with the largest increase in humanitarian needs.
At the end of 2018, the United Nations estimated the amount of aid needed for the country in 2019 at $ 740 million, but as the economic and social crisis worsened, the United Nations nearly doubled the amount of aid needed for 2020 by $ 1.35 billion.
• 168 million people worldwide will need emergency assistance next year.