UN predicts record 235M people will need relief in 2021 because of pandemic

UN has estimated that 235 million people in the world will need some kind of emergency assistance in 2021, an increase of 40 percent compared to 2020, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

1 December, 2020 07:47

NEWS DESK

On Tuesday, the United Nations launched an appeal to collect $ 35 billion in aid in 2021 to address the repercussions of the coronavirus, which affected tens of millions of people, while a threat of several famines loomed on the horizon.

The United Nations World Emergency Situations Report 2021 estimated that 235 million people in the world will need some kind of emergency assistance next year, an increase of 40 percent compared to 2020.

The increase is almost entirely due to Covid-19," Mark Lowcock, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs and Relief told reporters. He explained that "the picture we are presenting is the most catastrophic and darkest ever about the humanitarian needs in the coming period."

According to the report, next year will be one in every 33 people in need of assistance, and the report stressed that if all of these people lived in one country, it would be the fifth largest country in the world.

T/S

ANHA