World Disasters Report 2018

Millions of people living in crisis may not be receiving the humanitarian assistance they desperately need, a new report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned today.

The 2018 World Disasters Report – titled “Leaving millions NO-ONE behind: The international humanitarian sector must do more to respond to the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people” – shows that a lack of money is not the only issue limiting how many people in need are identified, reached, and supported. It argues that even if all humanitarian appeals were fully funded, many people would still be left behind because of the choices made by donors, humanitarian actors, and the governments of affected States.

Red Cross EU Office Director, Denis Haveaux said:

“This is a wake-up call for the entire international humanitarian sector.

“We are all trying to do more with less, and the resources available will never grow at the same rate as the humanitarian needs. We will have to make better choices. The World Disasters Report lays out clear recommendations for how to achieve this, and National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are looking closely at how to implement these in their countries.”

The 2018 World Disasters Report highlights five ways that the international humanitarian system leaves people behind. These are a lack of money, a lack of physical access, a lack of understanding of who is in need and how best to help them, and a lack of flexibility in expanding humanitarian assistance to people outside the traditional areas of conflict, disaster, displacement or disease.

The report calls for a major shift in how resources are allocated, so that more money and more trust is put in the hands of local and national humanitarian organisations.

Despite many international commitments to support local and national actors, progress has been slow. Only 2.9% (603 million US dollars) of international humanitarian assistance was provided directly to local and national responders in 2017.

In many cases, people who are isolated and unreached could be better supported if local and national humanitarian actors were fully empowered and resourced to do more within their countries. Local actors are often the only ones able to reach people in remote or insecure areas and can bring a unique understanding about populations whose suffering may be hidden.

Read the World Disasters Report 2018.