Humanitarian needs – inter-agency appeals, funding and visibility

In 2016, appeal funding requirements increased by 2 per cent compared with 2015 requirements. This represented a slowdown from the growth rate in appeal funding requirements between 2014 and 2015, which was 7 per cent. Globally, the average amount of funding received per person slightly increased to $100 in 2016, with a significant range in the amount received per person for each country. For example, Gambia received $2 per person and South Sudan received $239 per person. There were four level-three (L3) emergencies in 2016: Iraq, South Sudan (which ceased to be an L3 in May 2016), Syria and Yemen. Four inter-agency appeals surpassed the billion-dollar mark (South Sudan, the Syria Regional Refugee Response Plan, the Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan and Yemen) and the majority of funding requested and provided went to these mega-crises. Appeal funding requirements for Libya and Nigeria experienced the greatest percentage increase compared with their 2015 requirements. In 2014, this report introduced a metric to understand the level of public attention for different crises by calculating the ratio of reports on ReliefWeb to web page visits. This metric was proposed as a proxy measure of fatigue with humanitarian crises, albeit largely representative of users already affiliated with the humanitarian community. In 2016, the global average ratio of reports to web page visits dropped again (1:10 in 2016 compared with 1:12 and 1:14 in 2015 and 2014, respectively), potentially indicating public fatigue with humanitarian crises. Somalia and South Sudan continued to receive the highest levels of attention. Yemen continued to receive increased attention in 2016. Its ratio experienced a marked increase from 2015, during which it was the only crisis to experience an increase in its ratio.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Zero Hunger

Gender Equality

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions