On 2 December 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) launched the 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) with the theme "Climate Change and Humanitarian Action". The GHO is the world’s most comprehensive, authoritative and evidence-based overview of the current state and future trends in humanitarian action.
A total of 274 million people worldwide will need emergency aid and protection in 2022, a 17 per cent increase compared to last year’s GHO. The 2022 GHO estimates that US$41 billion is required to provide relief and protection to the 183 million people most in need and covered by the plans. The GHO 2022 includes 37 response plans.
COVID-19 is severely impacting health systems worldwide. Testing, diagnosis and treatment have decreased for HIV, TB and malaria. Antenatal-care visits have fallen by 43 per cent and 23 million children worldwide missed basic childhood vaccines in 2021. COVID-19 continues to exacerbate the political and socioeconomic conditions that increase humanitarian need and fuel conflicts. Economies and livelihoods have been devastated.
Full financing of the GHO remains the best way to mitigate the secondary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on humanitarian populations. However, these are not short-term challenges. Without an urgent and dramatically scaled-up response from the international community, the health, economic, development and security situation will worsen in the coming years.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said: “The climate crisis is hitting the world’s most vulnerable people first and worst. Protracted conflicts grind on, and instability has worsened in several parts of the world, notably Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. The pandemic is not over, and poor countries are deprived of vaccines. My goal is that this global appeal can go some way to restoring a glimmer of hope for millions of people who desperately need it.”
Read more about the launch of the 2022 GHO
Listen to Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme at the global launch (minute 31.46-40.16)