UN allocates 125 mln USD in relief for 14 countries in Africa, Asia, Americas, Mideast

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Tuesday they allocated 125 million U.S. dollars for underfunded relief operations in 14 countries worldwide.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, who is also the UN's relief chief, authorized the allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for operations in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

This year's global humanitarian funding requirements have shot past 55 billion dollars and is less than 30 percent funded, according to OCHA.

"It is a cruel reality that in many humanitarian operations, aid agencies are scraping along with very little funding right at a time when people's needs compel them to scale up," Griffiths said. "Thanks to the generosity of a vast range of donors, we can count on CERF to fill some of the gaps. Lives are saved as a result. But we need individual donors to step up as well -- this is a fund by all and for all."

OCHA said the funding supports 250 million people affected by conflict, the climate impact, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, displacement and other crises.

"With this additional funding, CERF has allocated a record 270 million dollars so far this year through its Underfunded Emergencies window," OCHA said. "This is the largest annual amount ever allocated, to the highest number of countries, a reflection of skyrocketing humanitarian needs."

The CERF allocation, OCHA said, will help scale up humanitarian assistance in some of the world's most protracted and neglected crises: Afghanistan and Yemen (20 million dollars each), Burkina Faso and Myanmar (9 million dollars each), Haiti and Mali (8 million dollars each) and will also support refugee operations in Bangladesh (8 million dollars) and Uganda (6 million dollars).

OCHA said funds also will go to Venezuela (8 million dollars), the Central African Republic and Mozambique (6.5 million dollars each), Cameroon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (6 million dollars each), and Malawi (4 million dollars).