GPC Protection Funding Report: Where do we Stand in 2023?

The Global Protection Cluster, including the Areas of Responsibility are pleased to share the latest report Protection Funding: Where do we Stand in 2023?

This report presents tangible findings into protection resources, which operations and types of protection actors are receiving the resources, and where the gaps are in terms of meeting the protection needs of people amidst growing crises globally. The GPC collected data on protection funding directly from the partners of national Protection Clusters and Areas of Responsibility in 28 operations, allowing for a detailed analysis of protection funding levels and trends.

Protection needs continue to grow at a steady pace, with 168 million people in need of protection in those 28 operations, representing an additional 30 million people (22%) in comparison to 2022, largely driven by the three scale-up emergencies in DRC, Haiti and Sudan, the worsening situations in Ukraine, Honduras and Burkina Faso, as well as continued high levels of needs in protracted crises like Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan.

This year, protection actors have been at the forefront of a number of crises affecting the lives, dignity and rights of populations. However, most of cluster operations (23 out of 28, or 82%) still record less than 50% of the required funding – hampering an adequate protection response. 

National and local actors are recognised as the driving force of protection. 20% of the funding reported was operated by national and local partners in 2023, compared to 17% in 2022. It is also clear that community-led approaches offer a pathway for advancing prevention and response to protection risks by giving control of decisions and resources to community groups as agents of their own protection.