The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) fears it will lose up to a quarter of its budget in 2023 and have to cut some of its programs, director-general Robert Mardini told the Swiss press.
Due to a lack of donations, CHF 500 to 700 million (between 502 million and 704 million euros) could be missing from the ICRC’s planned budget of 2.79 billion euros for this year, Mardini told Le Temps newspaper on Tuesday. “If this is confirmed, we will no longer have the resources to help the population in the hardest to reach places, where our presence is most important”warned. “In general, of course, there are fewer donations for humanitarian aid. This trend is now accentuated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine”he added to public radio RTS. “Communities affected by these crises are forgotten by the international community, which does not count”he claimed.
Of the organization’s 10 major operations, which is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, only Ukraine has positive funding prospects. All other programs (Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria) are underfunded, the humanitarian officer explained.
This phenomenon does not only affect the ICRC. Other UN agencies responsible for humanitarian action have already noticed this trend. Besides Ukraine, which monopolizes resources, other factors explain the reduction in donations, including a certain wear and tear due to conflicts lasting many years, such as in Yemen.
Source: DN
