As the whole world stays focused on the humanitarian crisis triggered by the Ukraine-Russia war, the international community would do better not to neglect other crises around the world, as otherwise they run the risk of setting off a global humanitarian crisis, according to aid groups and experts.
Russia's war on Ukraine, now nearly two months old, set off one of the biggest refugee crises the world has ever seen.
More than 5 million Ukrainians (mostly women and children) have fled to neighboring countries-the sixth-largest refugee outflow in some 60 years, according to the latest UN figures.
A Pew Research Center analysis of these numbers showed this represents about 9.1% of Ukraine's pre-invasion population of about 41.1 million-ranking the current crisis 16th among 28 major refugee crises by share of the population.
Europe hasn't seen an exodus of this speed and scale since World War II, according to Cevat Giray Aksoy of King's College London, who serves as principal economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
"This is very different than what happened in Syria, as the civil conflict was only regional initially and started intensifying gradually over time," he told Anadolu Agency, adding that the unprecedented welcoming attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees is another distinguishing factor.
"Cultural and racial proximity, as well as religion, definitely play a role in the warm welcome escaping Ukrainians have received," he said.
So far all neighboring countries have commendably kept their borders open for refugees fleeing Ukraine, he observed, contrasting this with the Syrian refugee crisis of some seven years ago.
"Unlike the situation in 2015 and 2016, we have seen tremendous solidarity and hospitality from the countries receiving refugees, including from the authorities and local communities," he said.
Although Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Yemen have also been well recognized as crisis hotspots over the last decade, it seems now they are in danger of being neglected by international aid organizations.
Since 2020, the negative impact of COVID-19, along with conflicts and climate change, have put a rising number of people at risk of famine.
A study by the London School of Economics (LSE) of humanitarian needs around the world said major donors' existing resources are now being channeled to Ukraine, rather than expanding, arguing that "policymakers must recognize the severity of the crises beyond Ukraine and take urgent steps to avert human suffering."
Things are growing worse on the humanitarian front, with an analysis of the UN's annual humanitarian overview report from 2017 to 2022 proving the rising trend in people in need.
More recently, the war in northern Ethiopia, the international isolation of Afghanistan, and now the invasion of Ukraine have only added to the number of flashpoints, resulting in the number of people facing acute risks to their welfare rising over the last decade.
"In 2022, half of the people in need of humanitarian assistance are in just ten countries (Afghanistan, DRC, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen)," said the LSE study.
Given these facts, it seems the international community must do a deeper dig into where humanitarian assistance is being channeled more effectively.
Disasters around the world have pushed up the need for humanitarian aid more than ever, as states have yet to overcome the lasting economic effects of the pandemic, and now the rising inflation caused by the war in Ukraine has made things worse still.
The international community should somehow find a way to channel humanitarian assistance more effectively, as the number of people in need rises, while the number of donors has shrunk.
The UN, International Committee of the Red Cross, and international NGOs moved swiftly to send aid to Ukraine. The U.S. alone promised a substantial amount of aid, over $5 billion.
Yet such a concentration on Ukraine creates concerns, as the LSE study argues:
"First, spillover effects of increases in food and oil prices and the impact of economic sanctions; and second, humanitarian aid is being diverted to Ukraine from other places, which risks making the situation in those places even worse."
Yemen and Afghanistan, for instance, already face major humanitarian emergencies and are now also being hit hard by skyrocketing grain prices, as Russia and Ukraine have long been known as the world's breadbasket.
Other cases around the globe also need to get more international attention.
In the Southern African nation of Namibia, for instance, a quarter of households are in danger of facing malnutrition, with their livelihoods at risk.
In Central America, too, the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala also depend highly on grain imports, and significant shares of their population already face acute food insecurity.
Smaller African countries such as Djibouti, Lesotho, and Eswatini are also facing the same risks.
As Russia's war on Ukraine seems unlikely to end anytime soon, strains on access to humanitarian supplies will probably grow significantly exacerbated. Yet as this unexpected crisis continues to grab headlines, it would be better that other countries are not neglected but instead get the proper international support that they too need for their people's well-being.
