“We are seeing the consequences spread faster than we can respond,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaking to reporters in Geneva on Wednesday. “This is a moment of grave peril, and without additional support, millions of people will die.”

Fletcher said the UN’s $23 billion global humanitarian appeal for 2026, launched in December to assist 87 million of the world’s most vulnerable people, remains two‑thirds underfunded. More than $14 billion is still urgently needed. He stressed that the 87 million prioritised in the plan represent only those in greatest need, with the true number requiring assistance far higher.

“Even just $1 billion would allow us to save millions of lives,” he said, noting the contrast with the daily cost of the Middle East war. Fletcher also raised alarm over the closure, on March 2, of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route carrying around 20% of global oil. The shutdown has already driven up food, energy and fertiliser prices worldwide, with severe consequences for economies and households.

“I am worried that further escalation will damage other supply routes,” he said. “All of this has a direct impact on humanitarian supplies, including in key areas of need in sub‑Saharan Africa.” He identified Gaza and Sudan as the crises most in need of immediate financial support.

Fletcher called for stronger protections for civilians and humanitarian workers, following recent deaths of aid personnel in Sudan, Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He warned that aid workers are facing unprecedented levels of violence. “Human ingenuity is being applied to find ever more sinister ways to kill at scale,” he said.

Last year, 90%of those killed in drone attacks were civilians, many of them humanitarian workers.

“This is a tough moment for humanitarian action,” Fletcher said. “We are overstretched, under attack and under‑resourced, but we refuse to retreat from our principles, and we refuse to retreat from our mission.”

–UN/ChannelAfrica–