Afghanistan and Yemen are the largest recipients with $20 million each LONDON: The UN on Tuesday allocated $125 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to underfunded humanitarian operations in 14 countries and territories in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Afghanistan and Yemen are the largest recipients with $20 million each, while the Occupied Palestinian Territories will receive $6 million. The allocation raises the emergency fund’s total assistance this year to more than $270 million, the biggest annual amount ever allocated to the largest number of countries. According to the UN, the need for extra funding reflects rising humanitarian needs as regular donor contributions are falling short. “It is a cruel reality that in many humanitarian operations, aid agencies are scraping along with very little funding right at a time when people’s needs compel them to scale up,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said. He added: “Thanks to the generosity of a vast range of donors, we can count on CERF to fill some of the gaps, (and) lives are saved as a result. But we need individual donors to step up as well — this is a fund by all and for all.” The CERF allocation will also be used to provide humanitarian aid in Burkina Faso, Mali, Myanmar, and Haiti totaling $34 million. It will also contribute $6 million to refugee operations in Bangladesh and Uganda. The remaining $26 million in funding will go to Venezuela, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Cameroon and Malawi. In 2023, global funding requirements exceeded $55 billion to support 250 million people affected by conflict, the impact of the climate crisis, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, displacement and other crises. However, fewer than 30 percent of the required funding has been received.