Underfunded appeals: Understanding the consequences, improving the system

The UN-coordinated appeals represent the largest combined request for humanitarian aid, and a central pillar of the humanitarian response architecture. They bring together UN and nongovernmental agencies to assess needs, develop strategic plans and present financial asks. In 2017, these appeals set out a record total requirement of US$25.2 billion. This was nearly double that of five years previously, but the financial shortfall has grown at an even greater rate. At the end of 2018, the contribution gap for that year stood at a high of US$10.9 billion. Funding is under pressure – failing to keep up with increasing demands, concentrated to a few large appeals, distributed unequally between crises.