Children

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to deteriorate in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of ongoing violence amid armed attacks and widespread looting.

At least 70 people were reportedly killed in attacks carried out by heavily armed gang members in the Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite region of central Haiti between Saturday and Tuesday. Members of the Gran Grif gang stormed the rural Jean-Denis area late Saturday night into Sunday morning, opening fire and burning homes. Nearly 9,000 people were forced to flee as a result of these attacks.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that military strikes are continuing to severely damage civilian infrastructure across Iran. According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, 309 healthcare facilities and 42 ambulances have been damaged, and seven hospitals have been evacuated since February 28, when the war began. Meanwhile, relief workers continue to be killed.

According to the United Nations, tens of thousands of people have fled the town of Baidoa in southern Somalia following recent clashes linked to disputed regional elections, triggering a surge in displacement and exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation. On Monday, the European Union’s humanitarian office (ECHO) reported that the risk of armed confrontation in Baidoa due to escalating political tensions is “very high.”

Civilians and civilian infrastructure in Iran continue to bear the brunt of attacks by the United States and Israel. The Iranian Ministry of Health reports more than 1,900 deaths and nearly 25,000 injuries, including over 1,600 children and at least 4,000 women, since February 28. Casualties have been reported in at least 20 provinces, with the highest numbers in the capital, Tehran, and the province of Hormozgan.

With the humanitarian situation in Lebanon worsening by the day, health authorities report that at least 1,116 people have been killed and over 3,000 injured in Israeli attacks since March 2. Meanwhile, displacement continues to surge, with over 1.2 million people in Lebanon – around a fifth of the population – having been forced to flee their homes.

A new report published on Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Office details the human rights impacts of the expanding reach of gangs in Haiti, including their control over key sea and road routes amid persistent deadly violence. The violence involves gangs, security forces, private security contractors, and self-defense groups, while the majority of deaths are at the hands of security forces.

A hospital in war-torn Sudan has reportedly been attacked, killing at least 64 people and marking the latest in a series of assaults on health facilities. Late Friday, the Al Deain Teaching Hospital in Al Deain, the capital of East Darfur State, was struck, leaving scores of civilians dead, including 13 children, two nurses, a doctor, and multiple patients. The latest attack also injured 89 people, including eight health care workers.

Families across the Gaza Strip began concluding the holy month of Ramadan on Friday amid deepening humanitarian needs, heightened exposure to violence and displacement, and dire conditions for survival. UN human rights officials have warned of ongoing unlawful killings, amid ongoing reports of Israeli strikes and shelling in residential areas. Casualties continue to be reported, including among women and children.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners issued the 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) on Wednesday, calling for US$2.16 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 12 million people across Yemen. In 2026, 22.3 million women, men, and children require humanitarian aid and protection as the country grapples with the region's most severe hunger emergency.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is warning that the United States' and Israel's war on Iran and the regional spillover across the Middle East could push global hunger to record levels. The ongoing conflict could cause the greatest disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, WFP said on Tuesday.

More than four million people have been displaced as the United States and Israel continue to wage war against Iran, triggering a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis across the Middle East. Aid agencies warn that the conflict has already caused thousands of civilian deaths and injuries, as well as the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, and growing shortages of essential services.

Scores of Ukrainian children remain missing after being deported across Russia and occupied territories, while their families continue to search for them, according to human rights investigators. On Thursday, members of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, an independent probe into Russia’s full-scale invasion, presented their latest report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the ongoing conflict in Myanmar continues to fuel suffering and humanitarian needs. Myanmar is experiencing one of the largest and most severe humanitarian crises worldwide, where hostilities have been marked by airstrikes and violations of international humanitarian law, triggering widespread displacement and harm to civilians.

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in South Sudan, which coordinates aid agencies in the country, expressed deep concern on Monday regarding an order issued by South Sudan’s People’s Defense Forces on Friday. The order demanded that civilians, the UN peacekeeping mission, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) vacate Akobo County in Jonglei State, in the country’s east, ahead of military operations.

Afghan and Pakistani troops continue to fight fiercely along their shared border, marking eleven days of ongoing clashes between the neighboring countries. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) continues to verify and record incidents of civilian casualties in Afghanistan resulting from the cross-border conflict.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed deep concern on Thursday regarding the escalating violence in Sudan’s Kordofan region. Escalating fighting has killed and injured civilians, destroyed homes and hospitals, and damaged other civilian infrastructure, further constraining humanitarian access.

Hundreds of civilians have been reportedly killed following large-scale United States and Israeli missile and air strikes across Iran, according to Iranian state media and humanitarian sources. On Saturday evening, Iran’s Red Crescent reported to state media that more than 200 civilians were killed and more than 700 were injured during the first day of strikes across 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that stepped-up fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan puts civilian lives at risk. In a major escalation on Friday, Pakistan carried out airstrikes and ground attacks on targets inside Afghanistan, aggravating the country's severe humanitarian and human rights crises.

The international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) is calling for a massive scale-up of life-saving assistance and unhindered humanitarian access amid the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza, where lives continue to be lost due to sustained violence and persistent aid restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities. Despite the March 1 deadline for 37 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to leave the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT, Palestine), MSF affirms its commitment to staying and providing assistance.

The latest escalation in the protracted South Sudan crisis has seen intense clashes between the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army – In Opposition (SPLA-IO), displacing over 280,000 civilians across Jonglei State. Violence has escalated since late December 2025, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is sounding the alarm that its lifesaving emergency food and nutrition assistance in Somalia is at imminent risk of grinding to a halt without immediate new funding. The organization's resources are expected to be depleted within weeks without urgent replenishment, as Somalia faces an "extremely worrying humanitarian situation" with 4.4 million people experiencing acute hunger.

A joint United Nations convoy led by the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has reached Dilling and Kadugli, two cities in Sudan’s South Kordofan State, carrying life-saving supplies for over 130,000 people. This 26-truck convoy marks the first major delivery of aid to the area in three months, as high levels of insecurity along the route had previously prevented such deliveries.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners released the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for Burkina Faso on Tuesday, supporting the country's national humanitarian efforts. The HNRP requests US$658.5 million for key sectors, including food security, health, and essential services, as approximately 4.5 million people require humanitarian assistance.

Amid continued violence and mass displacement in Haiti, the recruitment and use of children by armed groups surged 200 percent in 2025, according to a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Published on Thursday, the report underscores the deep protection crisis facing children in Haiti.

Amid the country's protracted political, security, and humanitarian crises, the United Nations envoy for Yemen, stressed the urgent need on Thursday to relaunch a comprehensive and inclusive political process to achieve a negotiated settlement to the conflict. Briefing the UN Security Council, Hans Grundberg also expressed serious concerns about the continued detention of UN staff and other personnel by the Houthi de facto authorities.

As the brutal war in Sudan shows no signs of ending after nearly three years of raging conflict, UN human rights chief Volker Türk called on the international community on Monday to intervene immediately and stop mass killings and other flagrant war crimes against civilians. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, UN aid agencies warned that famine and malnutrition continue to spread across Sudan, with children wasting away while the world looks away.

The United Nations, its humanitarian partners, and the Chadian government launched the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in N'Djamena, Chad's capital, on Friday, with the goal of supporting millions of people across the country. The plan requests US$986 million, including $540 million for refugees, to assist 3.4 million of the most vulnerable people in Chad.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners, along with the Central African Republic government, launched the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) this week, calling for US$264 million — the lowest requested amount in recent years — to help 1.3 million of the most vulnerable people in the country. Although humanitarian needs remain staggeringly high, aid organizations are forced to focus on the most urgent, life-saving priorities due to a global collapse in funding.

Due to a series of attacks on a WFP river convoy and escalating violence impacting humanitarian organizations across South Sudan, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended operations in Baliet County in Upper Nile State. Separately, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that an airstrike attributed to government forces struck one of its hospitals in Jonglei State, while another facility was looted.

South Kordofan State is now the epicenter of the war in Sudan, which has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, warned the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Monday. Civilians in this part of southern Sudan face intensified hostilities and a nearly total blockade of humanitarian supplies after a year of starvation and bombardment, said NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland at the end of his visit to South Kordofan.

The European Union (EU) announced on Friday €63 million (US$75 million) in humanitarian aid to help millions affected by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, as well as nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees living in neighboring countries, primarily Bangladesh. The European Commission’s allocation comes as the crisis sparked by the military coup in Myanmar enters its sixth year.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partner organizations, alongside the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), launched this year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) on Wednesday. They are calling on donors across the world for a funding total of US$1.4 billion, which would provide assistance to 7.3 million people in a country where nearly 15 million still need humanitarian aid — a figure that is widely considered underestimating the actual need.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation in South Sudan's Jonglei State is deteriorating rapidly due to escalating conflict. This conflict is forcing people to flee their homes and shrinking access for aid workers. Since the end of December, renewed clashes in Jonglei have displaced more than 250,000 people, according to local authorities.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners, along with the Somali government, launched the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) on Monday to support millions of people across Somalia this year. The launch comes at an unprecedented time for the country, as funding shortfalls are squeezing humanitarian programs while the country is facing a severe drought.

The United Nations, alongside its humanitarian partners and the Nigerian government, is urgently appealing for US$516 million to respond to the most critical needs of 2.5 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states in north-east Nigeria this year. Women and children are particularly affected by the humanitarian crisis, accounting for eight out of ten people in immediate need.

Amid the launch of the US administration’s “Board of Peace” and ongoing reconstruction talks on the Gaza Strip, United Nations aid agencies insisted on Friday that Gazans need immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. People across the territory continue to struggle to meet their basic needs as Israel's ongoing violations of international law severely obstruct the humanitarian scale-up.

A new report by Action Against Hunger reveals that Nigeria, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC/DR Congo) are among the ten most critical hunger hotspots globally. The report shows that two out of three people suffering from acute food insecurity worldwide live in just ten countries, with over 196 million facing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of hunger.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that more than 600,000 people have been affected by recent floods in Mozambique. The catastrophic flooding has caused massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that Yemenis are silently suffering from hunger and malnourishment amid a severe lack of funding and ongoing insecurity that are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Yemen is one of the most food-insecure countries in the world and now has the highest number of people facing emergency levels of hunger.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that, without urgent resources and action, the most vulnerable people in the Sahel region are headed for another dire year. A staggering 53 million people in the region are expected to experience crisis-level hunger, or worse, during the lean season from June to August 2026. Over 13 million children are also expected to suffer from malnutrition.

Aid agencies marked 1,000 days of war in Sudan on Friday, issuing a stark reminder that the conflict has caused the world's worst hunger crisis and largest emergency of forced displacement. Every day, civilians have been paying "the price for a war they did not choose," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, renewed conflict and airstrikes in Jonglei State have forced over 100,000 people to flee, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The majority of those displaced are women, children, and older people. The insecurity has also led several humanitarian organizations to relocate their staff, disrupting essential activities.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that a snowstorm has affected thousands of displaced people in Syria, while humanitarian funding continues to shrink. Last week, the storm hit 90 displacement sites in the north of the country, affecting over 150,000 people. According to aid agencies, two infants died due to the extreme cold in Harim, a town in northern Idlib.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed extreme concern over the impact of escalating violence on civilians in Sudan, especially in Kordofan and North Darfur. On Friday, OCHA reported that the humanitarian situation in the besieged towns of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan has continued to deteriorate.

Following the Israeli government's announcement on Tuesday to suspend the operations of leading international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Gaza Strip, UN agencies and over 200 international and local NGOs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) called on the authorities to reconsider this decision. The aid agencies stressed that international NGOs play a critical role in delivering life-saving assistance and that suspending them would severely undermine the humanitarian response.

Since the last attack on El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur State at the end of October, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that tens of thousands of refugees and returnees have crossed into neighboring Chad. The Saharan nation is currently hosting approximately 903,000 Sudanese refugees who escaped the conflict that began in Sudan in April 2023.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that drought continues to impact millions of people across Somalia.  Somali authorities estimate that more than 4.6 million people, or around a quarter of the population in Somalia, are being affected by the ongoing drought, with more than 104,000 people displaced in November alone due to the extreme dry conditions.

United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher allocated US$13.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on Wednesday to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). In the midst of a severe funding crisis, $10 million will support the delivery of immediate, life-saving assistance for displaced people in DRC, while $3.5 million will bolster urgent refugee response efforts in neighboring Burundi.

As the flames of war continue to engulf Sudan, the United Nations Security Council was urged Monday to prevent the horrors of this conflict from recurring and to stop those enabling the violence from spreading instability further across the region. Escalating violence in Sudan is placing civilians at extreme risk and triggering new waves of displacement, particularly in the Kordofan region.