Asia and the Pacific - 2024
Asia and the Pacific is the world’s most disaster-prone region. The increasing impacts of climate change and natural hazards continue to be the main drivers of humanitarian needs, exacerbated by the increasing number of complex and protracted conflicts, and economic, political and social crises. Protracted humanitarian situations in countries such as Afghanistan and Myanmar are affecting millions of people who need humanitarian assistance and protection.
Humanitarian needs in the Asia and the Pacific region remain high in 2024. Between 2019 and 2024, requirements increased from $1.74 billion in 2019 to $5.60 billion in 2024. The peak of requirements in 2022 was largely due to the 411 per cent increase in the Afghanistan appeals: the HRP increased from $868 million in 2021 to $4.44 billion in 2022, and a regional refugee response plan for $623.4 million was added. The Myanmar HRP also increased by 199 per cent in 2022 ($865.2 million) compared to 2021 ($276.4 million).
In 2024, five countries have response plans for a total of $5.60 billion to assist 32.5 million of the 53.8 million people in need in the region.
The largest plan is the Afghanistan HRP that requires $3.1 billion to assist 17.3 million people, and it is 24 per cent funded as of end July 2024. The Afghanistan Refugee Regional Response Plan requires $620.4 million to assist 7.3 million people and is seven per cent funded.
The $79.8 million Bangladesh Flash Appeal to assist 1.2 million people is currently covered at 18 per cent. The Myanmar HRP requires $993.5 million to assist 5.3 million people and is currently 19 per cent funded. The Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya requires $852.4 million to assist 1.4 million people and is 32 per cent funded.
Funding to the region peaked in 2022 with $4.77 billion, an increase of 54 per cent compared to 2023, largely due to an increase in funding for Afghanistan, by 293 per cent (or $2.4 billion) The funding to Afghanistan alone accounted for 69 per cent of total funding to the region. Funding to Myanmar also increased by 57 per cent from 2021 to 2022. On a smaller scale, funding to the HRP for Pakistan increased by five per cent between 2021 and 2022. The funding gap was the smallest in 2021 and has since increased to the current $4.34 billion.
Asia and the Pacific - Requirements and funding trend (2019 - 2024)
Asia and the Pacific - People in need and targeted (2019 - 2024)
The number of people in need in the region increased nine-fold between 2019 and 2023 (from 8.4 billion in 2019 to 76.8 billion in 2023). In 2024, the number of people in need decreased by 30 per cent compared to 2023; from 76.8 million to 53.8 million people. The largest decrease is due to the discontinuation of the Pakistan HRP in 2023 which covered 20.6 million people. Due to the prioritization exercise in 2024 for the whole GHO, in 2024 and 2025, Pakistan will focus more on capacity-building for Government partners, humanitarian access, and protection. Furthermore, the number of people in need has decreased in Afghanistan, with 19 per cent less people in need in 2024 compared to 2023 (minus 5.5 million people). The number of people targeted for assistance by the coordinated plans in the region decreased by 28 per cent between 2023 and 2024, also largely due to changes in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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