At the Horn of Africa High-Level Pledging Conference held in New York on 22 May 2023, humanitarian organizations under the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG)—including AHN partners—issued a joint statement urging donors to recognize and act on the climate injustice driving the region’s prolonged humanitarian crisis. The statement calls for immediate, predictable, and equitable financing to fully fund drought and humanitarian response plans across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

The letter highlights that over 35 million people require urgent assistance across the three countries, with 23.8 million facing hunger and 1.9 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Despite previous appeals, humanitarian plans remain only 23% funded, leaving a gap exceeding USD 5 billion.

The statement underscores that people in the Horn of Africa are enduring the consequences of a climate emergency they did not create—their combined emissions account for only 0.1% of global carbon output, compared to 76% by G20 countries. It urges donors to provide front-loaded, flexible, and multi-year funding directly to national and local NGOs, including women-led organizations, to sustain lifesaving assistance and strengthen resilience.