The Philippine government estimates Typhoon Haiyan displaced nearly 4.1 million people. Photograph: Dondi Tawatao/Getty ImagesNearly 800,000 refugees in Africa are receiving severely reduced food rations because of a shortage of funds in the World Food Programme and in the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. At least half of them are children for whom poor nutrition can have life-long negative consequences.This is happening despite the increase of humanitarian funding globally. Between 2006 and 2011, the world provided just over $2bn to help victims of humanitarian emergencies through the Central Emergency Response Fund. Since then, humanitarian funding has continued to rise. The average annual humanitarian spending doubled from $7.6bn in 2000-2009 to more than $14.3bn a year between 2010-2013, and already surpasses $10bn in just the first half of 2014.
But needs are expanding much faster than funds. We live in exceptionally troubling times, with the humanitarian community facing multiple massive crises simultaneously. It is highly unusual to have any overlapping "level three" disasters – the highest category to be declared by the UN – yet in recent months we have had to contend with four of them simultaneously: the situation in Syria and nearby (now compounded by events in Iraq), civil war in South Sudan, sectarian violence in the Central African Republic and the consequences in the Philippines of the strongest typhoon ever recorded to make landfall.
The number of people pushed out of their homes is growing exponentially. In June, UNHCR reported that there are now more than 51 million people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. This is the highest number since the second world war.
There is no light at the end of this tunnel: we must get used to a "new normal", where we face multiple challenges with finite resources. A world of higher fragility is here to stay, because of climate change, population growth and the rise of extremism.
What can the humanitarian community do in these new circumstances? There are no easy solutions and what remedies we can bring to bear will require our constant focus and attention.
First, funding humanitarian emergencies must be a top priority – simply put, when needs are growing so fast, we need to come up with more money. For the 800,000 refugees in Africa the shortfall is $225m. The European Commission will tap into its emergency reserves, and I hope others will also do more. It is particularly important for new donors to be more generous – with more wealth comes more responsibility.
Second, we have to strive for more efficient use of our scarce resources. Better targeting of humanitarian spending, more coordination among humanitarian organisations and a relentless focus on results are crucial to stretch every dollar, euro or pound to the fullest.
Third, we also need the governments of countries affected by crises to do more so help can reach those who need it at lower costs. Take the example of South Sudan: we have urged the government and the opposition to ease obstacles for humanitarian deliveries and guarantee access to nearly 1.1 million internally displaced people – a task becoming ever more urgent because of the threat of famine resulting from a failed harvest and continuing fighting. Our calls have fallen on deaf ears and now we must airlift aid at 11 times the cost of delivery by land and water.
Last but not least, we must recognise that in this increasingly fragile world, relying only on humanitarian action won't be good enough. It is not sustainable for humanitarians to do all the heavy lifting. There is no humanitarian solution to what has forced these children, women and men to become refugees in the first place. We need coordinated action on the security, development, political and diplomatic fronts to tackle fragility with all the instruments at our disposal.
We must focus our attention and development resources on fragile countries and on communities at highest risk of natural disasters and conflicts. Resilience is more than a buzzword – it is the only way to prevent more suffering and an ever-growing humanitarian bill. Development funds need to be directed more into building up the coping capacities of vulnerable communities and investing in disaster preparedness and conflict prevention, as well as in providing peace-keeping resources promptly to douse the flames of incipient war.
We need all this not only because it is morally right but because it is in our self-interest for refugees who saw their rations cut to know that we stand by them. We know from the surge in the numbers of desperate people risking their lives to arrive on European shores that trouble travels.
Kristalina Georgieva is EU commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. Follow @KGeorgievaEU on Twitter.
Read more stories like this:
• 10 ways to make humanitarian efforts complement development
• Resilience: meaningless jargon or development solution?
• Five things they tell you about refugees that aren't true
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Preparations for typhoon Rammasun are under way in the Philippines. Here, a resident of Las Pinas city, south of Manila, reinforces his roof. Photograph: EPAIn June 2013, at the beginning of the rainy season, the Philippine interior secretary announced that the government was aiming for a casualty-free typhoon season. Just five months later, the country was devastated by the deadliest storm in its history.
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