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The third edition of the European Humanitarian Forum is taking place from March 18-19, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. The Forum, co-hosted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and Belgium during its Presidency of the Council of the EU gathers policymakers, local and international NGOs, UN agencies, along with private sector representatives. The aim of this year’s forum is to draw attention to the most urgent and overlooked humanitarian crises and to highlight the severity of the funding crisis.
According to SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL, urgent action is needed: the current system is failing to meet the needs of a growing number of people caught in conflicts, climate disasters, and economic shocks.
In 2024, the number of People in Need decreased for the first time from 363 million people identified as needing support in 2023 to 299 million in 2024. This is not progress – it’s a sign of a failing system. Due to funding constraints, this reduction reflects a prioritization of the most critical needs, potentially leaving many with unmet basic needs. The HRPs are targeting 60% of the people in need in 2024 (180,5 million out of 299 million). This is the lowest ever percentage of people targeted vs people in need.
Every year, based on needs assessments, the United Nations and its partners develop national and regional humanitarian response plans called HRPs to respond to specific humanitarian crises. These plans outline the specific humanitarian needs (food, shelter, WASH, etc.) and the number of people who require assistance.
In humanitarian response plans, there’s a crucial difference between “people in need” and “people targeted”. People in Need refers to the total population affected by a crisis and requiring some form of humanitarian assistance. People Targeted refers to the specific number of people that the plans coordinated by the United Nations realistically plan to reach with their programs and resources. It’s a more focused group within the larger “people in need” category.
The funding gap is wider than ever. The UN’s 2023 coordinated response plans are only 40% funded, the lowest ever. The contexts that are chronically underfunded are the majority and not the exception.
As an illustration:
| The 6th first countries in terms of people in need in 2024 | The coverage of funding of the national HRP in 2023 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 40% |
| Sudan | 43,1% |
| Afghanistan | 45,9% |
| Ethiopia | 34,1% |
| Myanmar | 37,1% |
| Yemen | 39,7% |
We cannot accept this as the new normal. This is a collective challenge to build a more sustainable and responsive humanitarian system that leaves no one behind.
The European Humanitarian Forum provides a forum for collective conversations. Policy makers, humanitarian organisations and other stakeholders need to think about more effective accountable systems to support people in conflict zones, disaster areas, and under economic strain.
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL :
- remind EU Member States to step up their contributions and to allocate at least 10% of their ODA (Official Development Assistance) to humanitarian action as recommended in the conclusions of the Council of the European Union on addressing the humanitarian funding gap ;
- encourage development and climate donors who are reluctant to invest in fragile and conflict-prone contexts to engage more. While emergency aid is crucial, a sustainable solution requires tackling underlying vulnerabilities. Investing in climate change adaptation, access to essential services, infrastructure and economic recovery reduces aid dependency and builds resilience to crises ;
- supports the initiative to highlight the neglected and under-funded humanitarian crises that make up the majority of our areas of operation. Referred to as “forgotten crises”, these situations refer to protracted conflicts and crises, recurrent natural disasters, which are sources of forced displacement, most often within the country itself, and for which there is little or no sufficient aid or political commitment ;
- undertakes to promote approaches that are reshaping the humanitarian system, such as anticipatory action, funding local partners, sharing risks and pooling support costs.
What will SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL be doing on site?
- We are co-organising a Humanitarian Talk on Northwest Nigeria taking place on March 18 at 2 pm CET time. Join us if you are registered at the EHF or watch the conversation online [pre-registration is required].
- We are organising a photo exhibition on our food security and livelihoods activities in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- We will attend the European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation (InnovAid) award ceremony on March 19 where our cooperative, hulo, is a finalist.