Humanitarian News

Global solidarity is urgently needed to help vulnerable people in the Horn of Africa survive a rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, driven by the longest and most severe drought in recent history, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) said in a joined statement on Monday. As the drought is set to run well into 2023, aid organizations must prepare now to continue their life-saving work in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya in response to extremely high humanitarian needs through to next year.

Hunger and malnutrition are on the rise across the flood, drought, and conflict-affected areas of South Sudan, the United Nations (UN) warns. In a joint statement Thursday, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that some communities are likely to face starvation if humanitarian assistance is not sustained and climate adaptation measures are not scaled-up.

Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) have announced a ceasefire for the conflict in northern Ethiopia after ten days of peace talks in South Africa. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who mediated the talks led by the African Union (AU), broke the news Wednesday in the South African capital of Pretoria. A joint statement said the warring parties “have agreed to silence the guns and end the two years of conflict in northern Ethiopia.”

The number of people displaced by gang-related violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, has tripled in the past five months, according to a report published this week by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The assessment, conducted between June and August 2022, identified over 113,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Haiti. Of these, 96,000 men, women and children fled insecurity in the capital, due to inter-gang violence and social unrest.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is warning of surging needs for more than 3.4 million displaced people and their hosts communities in the face of recent destructive flooding in Africa’s Sahel region and beyond. In Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon above-average rain falls and flooding have killed hundreds, displaced thousands and affected millions.

An estimated 774 million children across the world – or one third of the world’s child population - are living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk, according to a new report by the humanitarian organization Save the Children International. The countries with the highest proportion of children affected by this double burden are South Sudan (87%), Central African Republic (85%) and Mozambique (80%), the analysis released today says.

The United Nations (UN) estimates at least 23,000 people have been displaced by renewed violence between the Congolese army and fighters from the M23 armed group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North-Kivu province. The estimate includes some 2,500 men, women and children who have crossed into neighboring Uganda.

More than 2.5 million people in Nigeria are in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in the past decade, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned in a statement Friday. Over 1.5 million children are among those affected by the floods.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is urgently appealing to Myanmar’s neighboring countries to immediately stop forced returns of Myanmar nationals seeking safety from serious harm. Sending them back to the country is "placing countless lives at risk" and a violation of international law, the UN agency said in a statement released Thursday.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warns the "situation in Ethiopia is spiraling out of control."  Speaking today to reporters at the United Nations in New York, Mr. Guterres expressed his grave concern about the escalation of the fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which is having a devastating impact on civilians in what is already a dire humanitarian situation. The UN chief also called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

The world is at risk of yet another year of record hunger as the global food crisis continues to drive yet more people into worsening levels of acute food insecurity, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).  In a statement this week, to mark today’s World Food Day, the UN agency called for urgent action to address the root causes of the hunger crisis.

World hunger levels are reaching catastrophic proportions with 44 countries suffering with serious or alarming levels of hunger, according to the new 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released Thursday. The report, which is jointly published by the international humanitarian organization Concern Worldwide and the German charity Welthungerhilfe, cites the Ukraine war as one of the reasons why nine nations, including Somalia where famine is imminent and Yemen, have alarming levels of hunger.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is alarmed by a surge of deadly intercommunal violence which has displaced nearly 30,000 people since July in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s western locality of Kwamouth. According to a media briefing Tuesday, clashes started over customary taxes on agricultural land use between the Teke and Yaka communities. More than 142 people have been reportedly killed, including some who were beheaded.

The United Nations and humanitarian partner agencies have called Thursday for the immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor in Haiti to allow fuel to be accessed at the country’s main fuel terminal. They are deeply concerned about the serious consequences of the blocking of the Varreux Terminal on the humanitarian situation, in particular the resurgence of cholera.

The United Nations (UN) has dramatically raised its humanitarian appeal Tuesday to help millions of people in Pakistan, where erratic rains and a combination of riverine, urban and flash floods have unleashed an unprecedented climate-related disaster since June 2022. The revised international funding appeal, jointly launched with the Pakistani government, is seeking $816 million for the coming months in the wake of the immensity of the calamity and growing needs.

With the current truce agreement between the warring parties in Yemen set to expire on 2 October 2022, more than 40 national and international humanitarian organizations today urged all parties to the conflict to renew and expand the ceasefire. They also reminded the parties that the future of the people of Yemen is in their hands.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned today of spiraling humanitarian needs for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan as living costs soar due to the impact of the war in Ukraine, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions resulting from the climate crisis. Sudan hosts among the largest number of displaced people on the African continent, including over 1.1 million refugees – mostly from South Sudan – and 3.7 million internally displaced Sudanese, mainly in Darfur and Kordofan.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Save the Children International has today expressed its grave concern for the wellbeing of children and their families in Haiti, amid escalating violence and worsening political and economic crises. The NGO is urgently calling on the international community to ramp up its support to the Caribbean nation, to meet the growing needs of vulnerable children and families.

The chief of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Martin Griffiths has released US $ 100 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Friday to boost underfunded humanitarian operations in eleven countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. As people’s lives and livelihoods are threatened by conflict, hunger, climate emergencies, and forced displacement, the United Nations (UN) need to assist 204 million of the most vulnerable people around the world.

Climate change is fueling hunger in ten of the world's worst climate hotspots, according to a report published today by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam International. Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia and Zimbabwe are ten of the world’s worst climate hotspots – those with the highest number of UN appeals driven by extreme weather events since 2000.  Oxfam warns in these countries the rate of acute hunger has more than doubled over just the past six years.

Fifty million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, according to a joint report by the intergovernmental organizations International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the non-governmental organization Walk Free. The latest “Global Estimates of Modern Slavery” reveals of these people, 28 million were in forced labor and 22 million were trapped in forced marriage.

A report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finds the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, economic uncertainty and other crises have halted progress in human development and reversed gains made over the past three decades as 9 out of 10 countries fall backwards in human development.

Nearly one in ten people in Burkina Faso have been displaced by conflict. Most worryingly, the rate of severe food insecurity has nearly doubled compared to last year, with over 600,000 people in emergency hunger levels during this lean season, warn 28 international aid organizations operating in the country. In a joint statement released today, the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) say an urgent increase in funding for humanitarian assistance is required to respond to the current situation in Burkina Faso.

More than three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today. UNICEF says it is working with Government and non-government partners to respond to the urgent needs of children and families in affected areas. 

In Ethiopia, hostilities continue in the northern part of the country, with reports of new displacement of civilians and increased humanitarian needs, the United Nations (UN) said today in a briefing. While the situation in the northern regions of Afar, Tigray and Amhara remains tense, the UN and its partner organizations continue to provide humanitarian aid to the affected people where security allows.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns millions of people in the greater Horn of Africa will likely face a fifth consecutive season of insufficient rains. According to the United Nations agency the terrible long drought in the Horn of Africa is set to continue for another year, which will worsen the humanitarian crisis which is impacting millions of people who already have suffered the longest drought in 40 years.

141 aid workers were killed in 2021 in violent attacks, according a report, released today by the research organization Humanitarian Outcomes. Last year 461 humanitarian staff were victims of mayor attacks, the Aid Worker Security Report 2022 says. The most violent context for aid workers continued to be South Sudan, followed by Afghanistan, Syria and Ethiopia.

Millions of children are at risk of death unless immediate action is taken to fight the global hunger crisis, warn six of the world’s largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focused on children. In a joint statement today Plan International, Save the Children International, World Vision International, SOS Children’s Villages International, Terre des Hommes and ChildFund Alliance say governments and donors must urgently act to prevent massive loss of life and protect millions of children from life-long lasting negative consequences.

A devastating drought in Somalia has reached unprecedented levels, as the one millionth person displaced by the drought was registered this week, according to displacement figures released jointly today by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). More than 755,000 people have been internally displaced in Somalia because of the severe drought this year, bringing the total figure to 1 million people since January 2021 when the drought began.

Armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR) must lay down their arms and engage in political dialogue, a UN expert said Friday, urging the international community to strengthen efforts to restore State authority and end impunity in the country.

Protection services are severely lacking for refugees and migrants - including survivors of human trafficking - making perilous journeys from the Sahel and Horn of Africa towards North Africa and Europe, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns. In a report released 29 July 2022, the eve of World Day against Trafficking in Persons, UNHCR mapped protection services available to asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrants as they travel along these routes.

The economic crisis in Sri Lanka is turning into one of the country's worst humanitarian crises in decades, while 6.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) warned in a statement today. Millions of families are facing shortages of food, fuel, cooking gas, essential supplies and medicines as the humanitarian impact of the economic crisis continues to multiply.

Children endure horrific conditions in armed conflict, according to the Annual Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict published this week.  The year 2021 saw a deadly mix of conflict escalation, military coups and takeovers, protracted and new conflicts, as well as violations of international law, all of which had a devastating impact on the protection of children around the world.

The German aid organization Welthungerhilfe warns that the number of people suffering from hunger is rising worldwide, and at the same time food and transport prices are exploding, so that the hunger crises are continuing to spread globally.  According to the non-governmental organization (NGO), the situation has become particularly severe in the Horn of Africa, where 17 million people currently do not have enough food to eat. Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years.

According to the State of Food and Nutrition in the World 2022 (SOFI) report, as many as 828 million people went hungry in 2021. The study paints a bleak picture of global food security. Conflict, climate extremes, economic shocks and rising inequalities have led to unprecedented numbers of families being driven into hunger.

The global food crisis, fueled by conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic, is worsening due to the impact of the war in Ukraine, which is driving up the price of food, fuel and fertilizer, the World Food Program (WFP) said in a report released June 24, 2022.  Millions of people worldwide are at risk of starvation if immediate action is not taken to respond. The WFP says there is now a very real risk that global food needs will soon exceed the capacity of the UN agency or any other aid organization.

The world’s wealthiest countries top-up climate finance with funds diverted from world’s poorest, finds a new report, released by the non-governmental organization (NGO) CARE International. According to the report, most of the public climate finance reported by rich countries is taken directly from development aid budgets, despite long-standing commitments to provide new money.

The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was the most neglected displacement crisis in the world in 2021, according to a report by the non-governmental organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The analysis, released June 1, lists the top ten least noticed displacement crises in the world in 2021.