martin griffiths, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. so long ago, you said something very striking. you said, "the state of the world is terrifying." and i suppose that one of the terrifying elements for you is that the scale of need so far outstrips your ability at the un to offer assistance. and also to be funded, to get the income you need to meet those needs. so, this year, 2023, we have... ..over 350 million people in the world need humanitarian assistance... which is substantially more than last year. substantially more than last year. so, the direction of travel is negative. it's huge. it's almost vertical. the cost of the humanitarian programmes that i'm responsible for around the world, in 36 different countries, is about $56 billion for this year. to come from the member states of the united nations. to come from the member states, of which about 20 are donors, of which the top five pay 60% of all humanitarian aid. so, a very small donor base. as of today, we have received about one third of that $56 billion, and we're now in

here is what some of what modern groupers had to say. —— martin griffiths. completely different catastrophe as we have heard from various authorities. one which is appalling, shocking and i think unimaginable, actually, in its consequences. i've heard there are speculations that up to 20,000 are dead, 4000 deaths registered at the moment. in libya where access to derna is still so difficult where there is a compounded problem of the dams breaking and storms breaking, this is a tragedy in which climate and capacity has collided to cause this terrible tragedy. derna is a city of 100,00 people, 900,000 affected. we and other agencies are already present in libya because of humanitarian issues that have been happening for some years. we've sent from my office from geneva here a un disaster coordination team, 15 people who went to morocco and then redeployed to libya. also communications people, specialists and experts. we will be hearing from other agents including the federation and the red cross about that. the issue in libya is coordinating with the governmen

that is the reality faced by my guest today, martin griffiths, un under—secretary general for humanitariant need?

well, in the past hour the under—secretary—general for humanitarian affairs at the un martin griffithsbriefing where he discussed libya, let's hear what he had to say. in libya, a completely different catastrophe as we have heard from various _ catastrophe as we have heard from various authorities. one which is appalling, — various authorities. one which is appalling, shocking and i think unimaginable, actually, in its consequences. i've heard there are speculations that up to 20,000 are dead, _ speculations that up to 20,000 are dead, 4000 deaths registered at the moment _ dead, 4000 deaths registered at the moment. in libya where access to donor_ moment. in libya where access to donor is _ moment. in libya where access to donor is still so difficult where there — donor is still so difficult where there is— donor is still so difficult where there is a _ donor is still so difficult where there is a compounded problem of the dams breaking, this is a tragedy in which _ dams breaking, this is a tragedy in which climate and capacity has collided — which climate and capacity has collided to

bottom line, as martin griffiths, top un humanitarian affairs chief, put it, "the un, the humanitariantill have to work." you understand that mindset? i fully understand that mindset. but i also think that if there was a discrimination made on any basis... i mean, the un itself admitted to this. this is the first time they have been told in a situation, they have been told, you know, "half of your workforce" — or almost half of your workforce — "can't come to work." i think the un should ask itself really critically, "how have you been engaging with the taliban for the two "years to get to this?" you know, because, one, what's the purpose of engagement? the purpose of engagement is not onlyjust delivery of humanitarian aid, but also upholding some principles. right? and if the engagement, the way it's going, is failing, what needs to be revisited? i'm not saying cut humanitarian aid and closing offices, but i think this is notjust about taliban's policies, it's also about the failure of the un to act in alliance with its own principles. are you prepared to give the taliban some credit

the united nations humanitarian chief, martin griffiths, has described sudan as "a place of great terrorus a brief overview on how bad the situation is across the country for civilians. the situation is really bad. it's dramatic in the sense that, as you just mentioned, more than four million, you know, were displaced within the country. there have been reports about gang rape, about mass killings, cleansing, you know, ethnic cleansing in darfur, forced evacuation of homes by the rsf in khartoum, and, really, the majority, i would say, of the sudanese population now exposed to a looming, you know, famine because of the imminent failure of the agricultural campaign for this year. you mentioned the ethnic cleansing in darfur, in the west of sudan, which, of course, has been no stranger to conflict. 300,000 people died there when the conflict broke out at the beginning of the century in 2003. but now, apparently, there is systematic killing, routinized and systematic destruction of cities like el geneina in west darfur. to what extent is the current conflict exacerbating existing ones such

the un's emergency relief coordinator, martin griffiths, said today he has redeployed a team he'd previouslyhe earthquake in morocco. 0ur colleague quentin somerville has sent us this report. the roads became rivers and the rivers became a deluge, carrying everything with it and bringing with it a wave of death and destruction. this grainy security camera footage is from the moment when the floods hit and derna was changed forever. dams upstream meant to protect the city failed, sealing the fate of thousands. in derna, people began to pray for god's mercy. when the torrent passed, some were able to escape. as the rains continued to fall, they sought the safety of rooftops. few could imagine the scale of the catastrophe. down below, the force of the torrent swept much in its wake. those who could made their escape to higher ground. and now the aftermath. a turkish rescue team wades through pools of destruction in search of what remains. the mud and filth makes the work slow and dangerous, and the risk of disease is growing. translation: our feelings toward the city is very - difficult to desc

humanitarian chief martin griffiths says a co—ordination team of 15 people has been redeployed from morocco.

the united nation's emergency relief co—ordinator, martin griffiths, said the extent of the catastrophe unclear but he said it was a stark reminder of the death and destruction climate change is causing. one which is appalling, shocking and i think unimaginable, actually, in its consequences. i've heard there are speculations that up to 20,000 are dead, 4000 deaths registered at the moment. in libya where access to derna is still so difficult where there is a compounded problem of the dams breaking and storms breaking, this is a tragedy in which climate and capacity has collided to cause this terrible tragedy. 0ur correspondent anna foster is in benghazi. she gave us this update on aid reaching people in the affected areas, and about the fears that the death toll could reach 20,000. there are real concerns for the survivors, the people who are battling against the elements. things like clean water and medical care are not available, the world health organisation has described the situation as unprecedented because it is so very difficult to get aid into those parts of eastern libya wher

stephen olin brooke is a hydrologist and i asked him what una chief martin griffith said climate is to blame for the catastrophe. >> the capacity to deal with such disasters is critical. most countries, is very limited, and the same is true for libya. what is a key investment for country is investing in early warning systems so there society, through preventive action, can have lead time before the event and can either evacuate or make sure there's infrastructure -- make sure the infrastructure stays intact. although studies show -- all the studies show that early warning systems have good return on investment. so it's critical to minimizing the damage of such impacts. phil: so there were no early warning systems and the infrastructure was effectively broken? >> yeah. it is a whole chain. i understand for this specific event the meteorological service issued 72 hours before the event a warning. a state of emergency was declared. but it was uncertain and it is one thing. its unique measurements but you also need models to make traditions and have a governance structure that functions, t

martin griffiths is the u.n.'p humanitarian official. >> priority areas are shelter, food, key primary medical care because of the worry of cholera. stephanie: but aid groups accuse the government of a lack of central oversight. even before the disastrous flood, at least 300,000 libyans were already in desperate need of aid. the u.n. has launched a $71.4 million appeal for the hundreds of thousands more now reeling from the floods. as appeals for help go out, prayers are lifted up. hundreds of survivors filled a mosque, still standing, in derna. grieving, but not without faith. for the pbs, i'm stephanie sy. -- for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy. ♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines, new england braced for a close encounter with hurricane lee. more than 400 miles of the region expects high winds and heavy rain, in an area that's already seen flooding this week from an earlier system. the hurricane is on track to make landfall tomorrow in nova scotia, canada. maine's coast line could see waves of 15 feet. tens

a chief martin griffith saying days after this disaster, we still are finding out the extent of the needs and the extent of the devastation tell us what's happening. and during the and tell us about the rollout of the recovery effort. well, for now, the main issue in the is to health is shanise a rapidly detached or to a tim, as now it has been days off the disaster. the data body is starting to be the compost and that is now the main concern that is could lead to an academic that's why the officials are not wanting that as an environmental disaster. cool. potentially coming many more lives that we need the support of international community. we need the support of the agencies in order to be able to manage this crisis in a proper way and to help the libyans overcome this unfortunate incidence. we will want to take advantage of the high level weeks in order to gain or get the support that put the mayor of the city of that. and i'm up my what mcguire pulled out to zebra. that now the expectations that the city of deadman includes completely or partially be vic retail in onto the patient, w