UNITED NATIONS – Martin Griffiths, the top United Nations humanitarian official, reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to providing impartial humanitarian aid to the growing number of people affected by armed conflict, natural disasters, and other emergencies during an interactive session with developing countries.
Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, was briefing Pakistan’s Group of 77 (developing countries) and China.
On Thursday, Ambassador Aamir Khan, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, presided over the session.
The G-77/China Group now has 134 members and is the United Nations‘ largest intergovernmental group of developing countries.
Griffiths, who was dealing with the current humanitarian landscape’s challenges and opportunities, stated that ongoing conflicts and other emergencies exposed millions of girls and boys to violence, exploitation, neglect, and abuse.
He predicted that by 2021, approximately 25.2 million of the internally displaced would be under the age of 18, and that the negative consequences of their displacement would last for years.
According to the UN Under Secretary-General, over 27 million people have been displaced in Africa alone as a result of conflict, violence, and natural disasters, the highest figure ever recorded for the region and nearly half of the global figure.
Many of those displaced have been forced to flee multiple times in search of safety, he said, moving from one location to another and further away from home.
“Unless we assist these people in finding long-term solutions, many will be trapped in displacement for years, if not decades.”