According to the Global Humanitarian Overview – a UN-coordinated annual assessment of global need – 324 million people needed humanitarian assistance by December 2022, up from 274 million in January. Boosted by the generosity of donors, who provided a record US$30 billion to our humanitarian appeals, OCHA reached 157 million people across 69 countries in 2022. This was 79 per cent of the people identified to receive aid.

Throughout this challenging year, I was buoyed by the indefatigable response of the humanitarian community and its supporters. I was particularly inspired by the resilience, expertise and resourcefulness of OCHA’s national staff, local non-governmental organizations and local communities. Despite losing family, friends and homes to conflict, drought and other emergencies, national staff selflessly and tirelessly braved active hostilities and harsh conditions to reach those most in need. They not only showed up to work but even volunteered to support people in other crises. It was a significant reminder that effective emergency responses rely on the empowerment of local people and organizations.

Here are just 10 highlights of the year:

1. The speed of the humanitarian scale-up in Ukraine was inspiring, as was the outpouring of support for the country’s people. As OCHA coordinated the surge to meet the sudden needs of nearly 18 million people, donors responded with almost $3.7 billion – the year’s highest-funded global humanitarian appeal.
2. The situation in the Horn of Africa remained alarming, but with funding and humanitarian support, communities again managed to stave off famine. Getting assistance to some 7.3 million of the 7.6 million most vulnerable drought-affected people – 96 per cent of the target – was a real achievement.
3. The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) once again proved its enormous benefit, with $735 million disbursed to provide swift life-saving support to nearly 33 million people in 42 countries. It enabled us to respond quickly in Ukraine, address global food insecurity, react to extreme weather events in Cuba and Pakistan, and provide urgent resources to underfunded appeals.
4. Record donor contributions to the Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) allowed them to disburse a record $1.2 billion in support of rapid life-saving assistance and protection to more than 47 million people worldwide.
5. OCHA made significant progress on pursuing localization goals. The CBPFs directly funded 610 local and national organizations in 2022, representing 42 per cent of all recipients of CBPFs during the year. These organizations directly received $344 million, or 28 per cent of the total amount allocated by all CBPFs, thereby exceeding the 25 per cent global benchmark set at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit.
6. OCHA continued to scale up and mainstream anticipatory approaches to humanitarian action. I endorsed four new anticipatory action frameworks for drought in Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger, and for cholera in DRC. We successfully triggered anticipatory responses for flooding in Nepal and South Sudan, and drought in Niger.
7. There was meaningful progress against OCHA’s objectives to advance gender equality. In 2022, 82 per cent of all CERF-funded projects worldwide, including in Mali, had a specific focus to protect people against gender-based violence. The CBPFs allocated $840 million – 73.8 per cent of total allocations – to projects that contribute to gender equality. As Chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), OCHA was instrumental in UN Women becoming a full member, a significant step in ensuring a gender perspective in emergency responses.
8. OCHA scaled up its engagement and partnership with regional entities, notably the African Union, the Gulf Coordination Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
9. The IASC reaffirmed its commitment to an accountable humanitarian system with decision-making power in the hands of those affected by crisis. OCHA will lead the IASC in putting this into action in 2023.
10. The effects of the climate crisis and extreme weather events continued to play an increasingly prominent role in humanitarian crises in 2022 – nearly one third of all CERF funding went to more than 17 million people in 23 countries caught up in extreme weather events. In 2022, OCHA expanded its efforts on preventative action in Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger.

Finally, I want to express my deep gratitude to our donors yet again. The life-saving work detailed in this report would not have been possible without your generosity. We thank you for your continued commitment to humanitarian action, and to OCHA.