Disasters & Humanitarian Relief

Humanitarian emergencies include large-scale natural disasters and human-generated disasters such as war, terrorism, and industrial accidents. Natural and human-generated events are reaching the scale of humanitarian emergency with increasing frequency and severity. Natural events are ever more devastating due to a number of factors, including climate change, population growth, urbanization, poverty, and economic and social inequalities. Armed conflicts are increasingly directly impacting civilians through violence, displacement, human rights abuses, and worsening economic and health conditions. Humanitarian relief aid is given by governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations to meet the immediate needs of victims of disasters. Humanitarian relief aid can include food, water, medical supplies, tents, and other things required by those affected by everything from typhoons to civil wars. Also known as emergency aid, it is distinct from development aid, which aims at long-term economic improvement.

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