Thursday, July 23, 2009

Humanitarian Funding FAIL

According to commondreams.org, on Tuesday, the UN reported a large gap in their humanitarian funding. A $4.8 billion gap, which is less than half of what it had asked for. The areas most impacted by this shortfall include Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and Pakistan.

This gap in funding comes from an increased need for help in Pakistan and economic problems in many countries. While there seems to be less money available, there is an increasing need for relief to help people find clean water, food, shelter, and the other basic needs for survival.

Women desperately need aid because of their role in the family and their direct connection to their environment. Women are often the people who go to get water for their families, and so they are often the first hit by water-bourne infections and diseases. There's also a great need for improved maternal and women's healthcare in the world.

In order to help these women, and their families, there needs to be an increased focus on the important issues in their lives and a corresponding change in policy and funding. These are the lives of millions of real people.
Photo courtesy of www.flickr/lukeredmond

1 comment:

akau said...

Off topic?? Please listen. Getting hurt bad, sleep deprived... please help. This is very dangerous group of people that operates above the law and are doing bad things to me.. If you could read what's going on and maybe you'll understand what I'm going through. The story can be found here: http://pastie.org/559120. If there is anything you can do I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you.