This year, the challenges will continue in full force, according to an annual report from UNOCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, called World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018.
That’s because the root causes are increasingly a messy mix of conflict, climate shocks, poverty and social inequalities.
Humanitarian resources must be stretched even further for more and longer-lasting crises.
More than 80 percent of the funding required that year was for just eight "mega-crises," as the report calls them, that have lasted five years or more, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Traditional disaster response isn’t cut out for long crises.
In many cases, people lost their supply of water.
And in some conflicts, cutting off access to water was used as a weapon.
For example, the report found that in Yemen there were 28 conflict events in 2017 in which water set off fighting or was a casualty of hostilities.
Even though the cost of humanitarian assistance has increased, people are getting higher quality and better aid, she notes.
Internal displacement is notoriously under-reported, leaving many without the aid they need.

This year, the challenges will continue in full force, according to an annual report from UNOCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, called World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018.
That’s because the root causes are increasingly a messy mix of conflict, climate shocks, poverty and social inequalities.
Humanitarian resources must be stretched even further for more and longer-lasting crises.
More than 80 percent of the funding required that year was for just eight "mega-crises," as the report calls them, that have lasted five years or more, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Traditional disaster response isn’t cut out for long crises.
In many cases, people lost their supply of water.
And in some conflicts, cutting off access to water was used as a weapon.
For example, the report found that in Yemen there were 28 conflict events in 2017 in which water set off fighting or was a casualty of hostilities.
Even though the cost of humanitarian assistance has increased, people are getting higher quality and better aid, she notes.
Internal displacement is notoriously under-reported, leaving many without the aid they need.

By the end of 2017, 6.2 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance and over 1 million people internally displaced.
DINA, or Drought Impact and Needs Assessment It was within this context that the Somali Government—with the support of the United Nations (UN), the World Bank and the European Union (EU)—carried out an assessment (DINA, as above) of the impact of the 2017 drought on the lives and livelihoods of Somali people.
With government leadership, 180 sector experts from the Somali Government, the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank collected data across 18 sectors, incorporating existing data from the Somalia Humanitarian Needs Overview.
With damages amounting to $1.02 billion, and losses estimated at $2.23 billion, the DINA estimates that the total effect of the most recent drought in Somalia is expected to exceed $3.25 billion.
Total recovery needs are estimated at $1.77 billion.
Agriculture (irrigated and rain-fed crops) and urban development and municipal services are the most affected sectors, representing 28% and 17% of the total needs.
The EU, UN, and World Bank have worked on similar needs analysis and recovery frameworks since 2013, and their support complements both Somalia’s national priorities (through its National Development Plan and National Disaster Management Policy) and the Humanitarian Response Plan.
The RFF allows Somali institutions to build on existing efforts to strengthen their resilience to recurrent disaster.
The government also adopted the Somali National Disaster Management Policy that provides the legislative framework for disaster management within relevant government institutions, and improves disaster risk governance at federal and regional state levels.
Continuing humanitarian assistance and livelihood support to Somalia is vital in 2018, paralleled by development solutions that focus on job creation, access to finance, and support to public service delivery, to ensure that drought never turns to famine again.

To date, a large number of people are still reported missing and an estimated 6,000 altogether have been affected by the destruction.
Following a needs assessments coordinated by the government of Sierra Leone, Action Against Hunger and key partners[1] quickly mobilized resources and launched a response to the emergency.
“The most urgent and immediate needs of people affected by these massive floods are safe drinking water, access to sanitation facilities, shelter, medication, blankets and psychological support.
Disease outbreaks, especially cholera, are a big threat that will require joint efforts from all of us to protect the health of those at risk,” said Action Against Hunger Country Director for Sierra Leone, Abdelgadir Ahmed.
To respond to people’s most urgent needs for daily supplies of safe drinking water, the government and Action Against Hunger’s partners are installing eight water tanks of 5,000 liters in the affected communities.
In parallel, Action Against Hunger has already delivered emergency hygiene kits to 200 families to improve sanitation and health.
Action Against Hunger also delivered supplies of bottled water to 74 families to meet their urgent daily needs while the water kiosks are being installed.
Action Against Hunger is also conducting hygiene promotion sessions with families affected by the floods to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera.
Ensuring that communities at risk have access to safe water, soap, and information about the importance of handwashing to prevent disease can help reduce the risk of outbreaks and illness enormously.
[1] Action Against Hunger is a partner of the Sierra Leone WASH Consortium, which is comprised of four humanitarian organizations with expertise in water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions.

Dubai launches Humanitarian Accelerators to find technology-driven solutions for education, water and refugee poverty.
World / Technology / Innovation / Technology The Humanitarian Accelerators are launched in collaboration with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative and Dubai Future Accelerators.
The Dubai government launched Humanitarian Accelerators to bring together skilled and innovative professionals in the cause of aiding the humanitarian sector.
The DFA programme was launched in July 2016 to bring together government entities in Dubai and companies working on cutting-edge technologies, to accelerate the building of a relationship between companies and government.
Till date 65 international companies have participated in the Dubai Future Accelerators programme, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed with 47 others.
The Humanitarian Accelerators will address four key challenges, in the areas of education, clean water, economic opportunities for refugees and quality of online reading material and content in Arabic.
The Accelerators aim to provide quality education to all children, including refugees, through e-learning tools and innovative mechanisms, such as accessible websites, that enable young students to access interactive educational platforms regardless of where they are located.
There are overwhelming obstacles facing young students, especially those living as refugees, in gaining a formal education.
MBRGI has utilised conventional solutions to provide clean drinking water to over 10 million people.
Harnessing technology to expand this reach is the next step.

Suqia launches water projects in Somalia.
Dubai: The UAE Water Aid Foundation, Suqia, under the umbrella of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has implemented two projects to provide drinking water to over 90,000 people in Somalia.
Suqia has implemented these projects in cooperation with the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Establishment.
This is one of Suqia’s humanitarian projects to support international efforts to combat poverty and disease by finding sustainable and innovative solutions to water scarcity around the world.
The projects also support the ‘For You, Somalia’ campaign.
One project, in Ufayn in the eastern region of Somalia, included the building of a 300-cubic-metre water collection point near water springs at the foot of a mountain and 600 cubic metre water reservoirs.
The project also included repairing and replacing the three-kilometre pipeline network.
Solar-powered pumps will be provided to pump water from the ground reservoir to an elevated water tank in the town.
The project will make it easier for residents to access potable water, reducing the distance they have to travel to obtain water.
The project will benefit about 50,000 people in the town and neighbouring villages.

A look at the conflict in Yemen as donors pledge $1B in aid.
SANAA, Yemen – For more than two years, Yemen has been in the grip of a conflict between a Saudi-led military coalition and Shiite rebels that has driven the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
Doctors Without Borders, known by the French acronym MSF, says it has treated 66,000 people.
Here is a look at the crisis and the pledged response.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says around 17 million people in Yemen are food insecure, "making this the world’s largest hunger crisis."
The United Nations says some 18.8 million people — more than half of Yemen’s total population of 27 million — need humanitarian or protection assistance.
Nearly 14 million lack access to drinking water.
Of the 12 million children in the country, 80 percent suffer daily from acute humanitarian needs.
Fewer than 45 percent of health facilities are now fully functioning, and the flow of "essential medicines" has fallen by nearly 70 percent, it said.
The United States, which supports the Saudi-led coalition, said it was committing nearly $94 million in additional humanitarian assistance, bringing its total to $526 million since the 2016 fiscal year.

UN agencies supporting Kenyans in drought-hit areas.
3 March 2017 – The United Nations humanitarian chief today urged international support for the estimated 2.7 million people in parts of Kenya who urgently need food and water following the onset of a severe drought.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, saw the devastating impact of drought on rural communities in northern Kenya.
“Crops are failing, food prices are rising, and families are going hungry.
The spectre of hunger and disease is haunting East Africa again.
We need to put a stop to this,” Mr. O’Brien said.
The office he heads, OCHA, is working with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and other partners to save lives in the region, according to a press release.
“Our efforts should not only alleviate the current suffering brought about by this emergency, but should also aim to build the resilience of families and the capacity of local governments to deal with future droughts and other calamities,” the Representative of UNICEF in Kenya, Werner Schultink said.
UN efforts of support include dispatching 12,000 cartons of ready to use therapeutic foods for the severely-malnourished children, for example.
The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, recently declared the drought a national disaster and has called for international support.