"In 2011, tens of millions of people will  need help to survive. Conflicts and natural disasters will cut them off from their homes, their livelihoods, and from access to essentials like drinking water and health care. Many are the most vulnerable people in the world suffering from malnourishment, disease, or violence," said Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator while launching in Geneva on 30 November the Humanitarian Appeal 2011. The appeal is the biggest so far and requests donors for a total 7.4 billion USD to help no less than 50 million people in 28 countries in 2011.

Ms. Valerie Amos chaired a large meeting in Geneva with UN member states delegations as well as representatives from dozens of UN agencies and NGOs. Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO), Mr. Kenichi Suganuma, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations and Other International Organizations at Geneva, Mr. William Lacy Swing, Director-General, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Mr. Pierre Salignon, Director-General, Médecins du Monde (MdM), also participated.

In reviewing the lessons from the past year, Ms. Amos’ statement mentioned the use of remote sensing in Haiti and the tracking of the Pakistan floods as “lessons of success”. Referring to new methods being applied to humanitarian relief coordination and damage assessment, she added that “we have within our reach some breakthrough in method and technology”.

UNITAR was invited to the launch because of its constant involvement in supporting the international humanitarian community with its UNOSAT Humanitarian Rapid Mapping. The service, launched in 2003, provides responsive crisis rapid mapping at the request of humanitarian agencies in both natural disaster response and complex emergencies. The maps are realised at UNOSAT computing centre hosted at CERN within hours from their request and are shared with all humanitarian operators free of charge, thanks to long tern agreements with a few donor governments who support this initiative since its creation. In the case of Haiti, UNOSAT had engaged with the European Commission and the World Bank in a consolidated and integrated damage assessment campaign from space and airborne imagery.

In concluding Ms. Amos said: "This Appeal is asking for the resources needed to respond quickly. The strong response to the mega-disasters this year in Haiti and Pakistan shows what is possible when the international community comes together."

For more information, you can download the Humanitarian Appeal 2011 fact sheet (PDF, 234 kb).