UN Seeks 2010 Humanitarian Aid Assistance
On Monday, the United Nations called on wealthy nations to provide a collective total of $7.1 billion to help fund humanitarian assistance in 2010 for nearly 50 million people in 25 countries. These funds would assist people whose lives have been torn by natural disasters and conflict in countries such as Afghanistan, Kenya, the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, and Somalia. However, many wealthy nations are claiming that financial pressures on their domestic fronts have significantly restrained their budget for international assistance. In the 2008 fiscal year, to give an example, the United States had $623 billion in military expenditures, while countries in the rest of the world had a combined total of $500 billion. What does such spending reveal about our global priorities? If the world can muster $1.1 trillion for military purposes, and can not find $7 billion to aid the people directly affected by political conflict, what are our chances of securing the universal human right to a social and international order that ensures that other rights, such as education, democratic participation, and health, can be fully realized?
