UNHCR: 40 Million People Worldwide Face Risk of Violence

A new report released today, Monday, by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Global Protection Group led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed that millions of people internally displaced or affected by the current conflicts may lose support for humanitarian protection due to a lack of funding.

Data indicates that of the 54 million people identified for assistance in 26 humanitarian response plans, while nearly 40 million people this year may lose this assistance.

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the human losses of the pandemic of Coronavirus ( also known as COVID-19) that affected vulnerable groups in the world should not only be measured by the number of lives killed, but by the number of the lives of those who were marginalized in various parts of the planet.

Cases of gender-based violence have increased dramatically since the emergence of the Coronavirus. Experts predicted in April that in exchange for continuing lockdown measures around the world every three months, another 15 million women and girls would be exposed to gender-based violence.

Jan Egeland warned that as the world inches to a new year, the consequences of 2020 will begin to take hold.

"As our report makes clear, more funding is needed to respond effectively to urgent needs across the world, with regulations in place to address the causes that led to human rights violence in the first place", he said.

The report emphasized that in Mali, more than 4,400 cases of gender-based violence were reported between January and September, but only 48% of the townships have support services.

The incidence of child marriage is also on the rise.

According to United Nations estimates, thirteen million cases of child marriage may occur over the next ten years due to the side effects of the epidemic.

Trafficking is also another concern, with protection aid workers in 66% of countries surveyed reporting that people are at increased risk of trafficking due to the coronavirus.