The United Nations called on donor nations on Monday to pledge 3.8 billion U.S. dollars to provide humanitarian aid next year to some 25 million people worldwide affected by war and natural disasters.
U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Sir John Holmes, presiding in Geneva over the launch of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) Humanitarian Appeal for 2008, said the amount that they were asking for was "about the price of two cups of coffee for each citizen of the wealthy countries of the world."
Holmes said that the 2008 CAP comprises 10 consolidated appeals to fund projects involving almost 200 U.N. agencies and aid organizations working together to provide humanitarian aid in a strategic, effective and prioritized way.
The appeal contains a higher proportion of NGO projects than ever before.
"Humanitarian funds are not going into endless and bottomless pits," Holmes stressed, while noting that timely, well-coordinated aid has made a difference in many countries.
He urged countries to make early pledges and to be more generous, noting that donors have stumped up 66 percent of this year's CAP. "We could do much better," he added.
Some 3.3 billion U.S. dollars has been committed to date for CAP humanitarian programs in 2007. The European Commission, the Netherlands, Sweden, Britain and the United States top the list in contributing emergency relief funding through these consolidated appeals.
CAP, which is managed by the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, has become the humanitarian sector's main tool for coordination, strategic planning and programming, the United Nations said.
As a coordination mechanism, CAP has fostered closer cooperation between governments, donors, aid agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movements and non-governmental organizations.
Source: Xinhua
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