Trends in Humanitarian Funding

by Michael Bear

category: Humanitarian Relief

Published October 05, 2008 @ 07:47PM PT

Humanitarian funding has increased steadily since the early 1990s. The total amount spent on humanitarian assistance by the twenty-two major donors that comprise the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has grown from $3 billion in 1990 to approximately $9 billion in 2006, the last year for which full figures are available. This represents slightly less than 9% of the $102 billion spent by DAC donors that year.

Geographically, Africa received 46% of all humanitarian funding in 2006, up from 29% in 2000.

Asia’s share of humanitarian funding increased from 29% to 34% over that time, while the amount allocated to the Middle East (15 - 14%) and the Americas (4 – 5%) remained constant. On the other hand, the percentage of humanitarian funding for emergencies in Europe declined from 23% in 2000 to 1% in 2006.

The largest humanitarian donors in absolute terms in 2006 were the US ($3 billion), the EC ($1.2 billion), the UK ($1.1 billion), Germany ($594 million) and the Netherlands ($537 million). Percentage-wise, Luxembourg allocated 15% of its total ODA to humanitarian assistance. Finland, Norway and the US each allocated 13%, while Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland allocated 12%. At the other end of the spectrum, France and Japan each allocated only around 2% of total ODA for humanitarian funding.

Overall, these figures represent the culmination of a long-term trend. Whereas in 1986 the average DAC donor earmarked 2.1% of all bilateral commitments for humanitarian activities, by 2006 that percentage had more than tripled to 7.5%. (For complete figures, see Table 18.)

Non-DAC donors such as Korea, Taiwan and Poland spent an additional $435 million on humanitarian activities in 2006. Other sources of humanitarian funding included voluntary contributions to NGOs ($1.84 billion) and voluntary contributions to the Red Cross / Red Crescent societies and the UN ($470 million).

According to the Global Humanitarian Assistance Program at Development Initiatives, total humanitarian funding from all sources in 2006 totaled $11.9 billion. If you include related activities like landmine clearance and post-conflict peace activities, the figure rises to $14.2 billion.

It's also important to note that over the past two years the United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has increased significantly. Launched in March 2006, it received contributions of $432 million dollars in 2008 alone. From January through September 2008, it contributed a total of $315.8 million to over 300 humanitarian projects.

Where does humanitarian funding go?

More humanitarian funding goes to food aid than to any other sector. In 2006, approximately 26% of all OECD DAC bilateral humanitarian funding went to food aid.

One gauge of how humanitarian spending is distributed is to look at funding for the UN Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP), which brings together the UN, NGOs, and others to present coordinated funding appeals for specific emergencies. Food aid tended to receive the most CAP funding, while shelter and non-food items received the least. From 2000 to 2008, the average percentage of needs met by sector was:

Ø Food: 81%

Ø Multi-sector: 72%

Ø Coordination and support services: 64%

Ø Mine action: 46%

Ø Security: 40%

Ø Agriculture: 39%

Ø Health: 38%

Ø Water and Sanitation: 37%

Ø Education: 36%

Ø Protection / Human Rights / Rule of Law: 34%

Ø Economic recovery and infrastructure: 29%

Ø Shelter and NFIs: 29%

Overall, Sudan received 18% of all humanitarian funding ($1.2 billion) in 2007-2008, making it the largest recipient of humanitarian assistance. The West Bank and Gaza / Occupied Palestinian Territory received 10% ($701 million), followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo ($374 million), Pakistan ($370 million), Indonesia ($367 million), Lebanon ($346 million) and Ethiopia ($314 million).

(A list of the largest recipients of non-food humanitarian aid is available here.)

Main sources:

Ø Global Humanitarian Assistance Report, 2007-2008

Ø Figures from the OECD DAC website

Ø UN CERF website

Image: US Government Photo