There are approximately 345 million people in need of humanitarian aid across the globe. But UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says his organization can only save 87 million of them - or about one quarter. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator sat down with Mehdi to explain how difficult humanitarian work is in what he describes as a world that is “becoming more transactional.”
“All I’m asking for is 1% of what the world spends on guns and arms,” Fletcher tells Mehdi as his organization continues to suffer the ripple effects of global conflicts, with Trump’s war with Iran making his job significantly more difficult. “We’ll be paying for this for years.”
Fletcher is well-suited to speak about the suffering that exists around the world, and during his conversation with Mehdi, he does:
He says the situation in Gaza is “better” than when he and Mehdi spoke a year ago, but massive challenges remain.
He highlights the dire displacement crisis in Lebanon, where Mehdi presses the reluctant UN official about calling out Israel for its war crimes.
He underscores the severity of the war in Sudan, where he says humanitarians are forced to “choose which lives to save and which lives not to save.”
He explains how the UN determines what aid goes where.
Paid subscribers can watch this important interview in full to hear Mehdi question the UN official about the UAE’s funding pledge for aid in a humanitarian crisis the country itself is arguably fueling. Free subscribers can watch a 3-minute preview. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to unlock content like this and a lot more from Zeteo.
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