'Record' Humanitarian Aid Isn't Enough. This is What Struggling Countries Really Need

'Record' Humanitarian Aid Isn't Enough. This is What Struggling Countries Really Need
SANLIURFA, TURKEY - JUNE 15: Turkish aid workers carry bottles of water to the the Syrian refugees in Akcakale, on June 15, 2015 in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Syrians cut through a border fence and crossed over into Turkey on Sunday, fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and jihadis. The flow of refugees came as Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of a strategic Islamic State-held town on the Turkish border, Kurdish officials and an activist group said, potentially cutting off a key supply line for the extremists' nearby de facto capital. According to Turkish security officials 10,000 people to come across from Syria in last two days. (Photo by Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images)
SANLIURFA, TURKEY - JUNE 15: Turkish aid workers carry bottles of water to the the Syrian refugees in Akcakale, on June 15, 2015 in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Syrians cut through a border fence and crossed over into Turkey on Sunday, fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and jihadis. The flow of refugees came as Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of a strategic Islamic State-held town on the Turkish border, Kurdish officials and an activist group said, potentially cutting off a key supply line for the extremists' nearby de facto capital. According to Turkish security officials 10,000 people to come across from Syria in last two days. (Photo by Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images)

International humanitarian assistance reached record levels in 2014, totalling $24.5bn (£15.5bn), according to the recently released Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) report.

Despite this unprecedented level of support, however, UN coordinated appeals fell short by 38%, or $7.5bn. This trend looks set to continue: six months into the year, the UN’s current humanitarian appeal is only 26% funded.

To put it simply, growing funding is not keeping pace with demand.

There has been much discussion about “closing the gap”, an objective that the high-level panel on humanitarian financing – announced by the UN secretary general Ban Ki‑moon last month – will be looking at very closely.

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