UN Plans To Tax Uber, Fifa For Humanitarian Aid

UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon revealed that a high-level panel consisting of nine distinguished personalities is working on finding solutions to a widening funding gap. Reports relay that the government needs around US$ 25 billion to provide life-saving assistance to more than 120 million people that had been affected by wars as well as natural disasters.

The report of the panel indicates that the price of both humans, as well as economic problems, have dramatically increased through the years. Even with a number of generous supporters who fund the cause, still a gap between the need as well as the fund to address those needs is still widening.  

In a press release, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon complemented the panel created to address this concern that impressed that a $15 bn annual deficit in global humanitarian aid needs to be filled in. To solve this, the panel suggests a new tax could be imposed on mass transactions conducted via smartphone apps and in entertainment tickets, as well as a plugin on wealthy Islamic donors for additional funds. 

The nine panelists in the report maintain that despite the fact that there is an increase in global wealth, still the current system fails to meet demands for humanitarian acts, particularly those that arise from natural disasters and wars.  As a result, monetary demand for global UN efforts rose from $3 billion in 2000 to $35 billion last year.

According to the European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva, who co-chaired the panel together with Sultan Nazrin Shah, probable solutions to address the deficit include levied micro-payments such as mass volume transactions on entertainment tickets, taxi fares, as well as on users of smartphone apps. The panel is also looking into tapping wealthy Islamic donors to raise additional funds for such purpose.

However, as some of them do not agree with taxation, the panel,  which is composed of banking executives, civil society leaders as well as government ministers, has not come up with a consensus yet.