The United Nations needs billions more to support the poorest people in the world who have been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. You have more than tripled the amount you need since calling for donations in March. To save millions of people from starvation, new calculations now require $ 6.7 billion (€ 6.2 billion).
Emergency aid to save the poorest from famine is in the interest of all countries, said UN emergency aid coordinator Mark Lowcock of the dpa. There are already signs of growing terrorist activity in the Middle East and the Sahel in Africa, he said.
Pandemic „prepares ground for bigger problems“
„It is difficult to clearly identify the cause and effect, but the coronavirus crisis is preparing the ground for bigger problems.“ Poverty drives people into the arms of armed terror groups who may promise family help. Poverty is also a driver of migration. „If people cannot survive, they will make their way.“ The best way to prevent this is to contribute to the stability in the countries.
63 countries need UN aid
Lowcock estimates the total need to protect the most needy from the worst consequences of the coronavirus pandemic at $ 90 billion. A total of 63 countries are to be supported. The UN suspects that the number of people who would not survive without food aid will double to 250 million this year.
At the end of March, the UN asked for two billion dollars in emergency aid. Almost half of it came together. The emergency aid agency helped, among other things, to protect fields in East Africa from the locust plague so that people could harvest and feed themselves.
