Triple threat of Covid, climate change and conflict has plunged millions into need, charity warns

Triple threat of Covid, climate change and conflict has plunged millions into need, charity warns

The triple blows of long-running war, Covid-19 and climate change have combined to pitch record numbers of people into humanitarian emergency this year, an aid charity has warned.

The number of people in need of assistance worldwide has jumped by 40 per cent during 2020 and has tripled in the past decade, said International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Crises in Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan continue to top the organisation's latest watch list of countries in dire straits, with globally some 235 million people now in need of help.

The New York-based body said decades of progress in cutting poverty, hunger and disease now risked being lost as nations battle with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Moreover as the crises grow, they risk spilling over into neighbouring countries.

“2020 will go down as one of the most turbulent years in history, but the next year will be remembered for how we either helped or turned away from those suffering the most,” said David Miliband, the former Foreign Secretary and now president of the IRC.

“The most severe and devastating crises like Afghanistan, Syria and Democratic Republic of Congo have been reeling for years and decades and are expected to become even worse in 2021,” he said. 

“The triple