UN to seek over $1 billion for worldwide humanitarian relief efforts

The United Nations will ask donors at a meeting later this week in New York for more than $1 billion to address the world's “forgotten emergencies” – crises spawned by conflict, natural disasters or both.

From Chechnya in the Russian Federation to the Great Lakes region of Africa to the Middle East, millions of people worldwide will benefit from the relief efforts organized under the 2005 Humanitarian Appeal.

The funds will be used by various UN agencies to meet the health, sanitation, housing, education and food needs of those living in the affected countries and areas, while paving the way for longer-term rehabilitation and development after the crises have subsided.