'Asia-Pacific region, including Pakistan, needs $2.8bn for humanitarian plans in 2021'

ISLAMABAD: The Asia-Pacific region, including Pakistan, needs total funding requirements for their humanitarian response plans amounts to more than $2.8 billion to address the needs of over 21 million people in 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) said.

OCHA’s ‘Global Humanitarian Overview’ for 2021 includes Humanitarian Response Plans for Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan, and a refugee response plan for Bangladesh.

According to OCHA’s ‘Outlook for 2021’ the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to affect public health and exacerbate humanitarian needs across Asia and the Pacific next year. 

A number of countries are at high risk of being affected by La Nina in early 2021 and the combined effect of the pandemic and climate shocks is likely to increase food insecurity in several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Myanmar.

In addition, a number of existing response plans will carry into next year, including the cyclone and flood response plans in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines as well as emergency appeals by the International Federation of the Red Cross.

This brings the projected humanitarian caseload for Asia and the Pacific in 2021 to a minimum of 37 million people with funding requirements of $3.3 billion. These figures are expected to significantly rise over 2021, starting with the impacts of the Pacific cyclone season which began when Tropical Cyclone Yasa struck Fiji in mid-December 2020.

OCHA says the year 2020 has been defined by the human cost of the global COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on public health systems and national economies. Humanitarian needs globally have surged to unprecedented levels.

At the beginning of the year, four countries in Asia and the Pacific had active response plans for protracted humanitarian crises. By the end of 2020, a total of 28 countries have response plans due to the impacts of the pandemic and to respond to natural disasters that have affected the region.

This is the highest number of active response plans in Asia and the Pacific since the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. As well as exacerbating humanitarian needs, the pandemic has also increased challenges for responders, including travel and access restrictions, and has reinforced the need for new approaches to better support local and national humanitarian action, the UN humanitarian agency said.

Natural disasters continued to affect a number of countries across Asia and the Pacific in 2020. It is expected that due to climate change, the frequency, severity, and impact of weather phenomena will continue to be exacerbated.

Humanitarian responses to natural disasters were complicated by access and logistical challenges, including travel restrictions and the implementation of health protocols.