With the conflict in Sudan entering its second month, the United Nations and its humanitarian partner organizations have called Wednesday for US$3 billion to help millions of people in the country and hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries, saying 25 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian aid and protection. As the death toll mounts, humanitarian needs soar, and displacement grows, the UN is launching two revised response plans to provide food, health care, shelter, protection and other critical assistance.
Twenty years after the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region first sparked global outrage, children in the region are once again trapped in a catastrophic cycle of violence, hunger, and displacement — but this time, the world is failing to take notice, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday. The UN agency warns that, while the horrors of 2005 are repeating, the scale of the crisis is far greater now, and international attention is dangerously lacking.
The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide warned on Tuesday that Sudan is showing all the signs of risk of genocide, and that it may have already occurred. Alice Wairimu Nderitu spoke at a UN Security Council meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of a resolution on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, the cornerstone of international humanitarian law.
With an estimated 300 million people in need of humanitarian aid in 2024, the European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the world's most vulnerable people. The European Commission (EC) announced on Monday that it had approved an initial annual humanitarian aid budget of more than €1.8 billion (US$1.93 billion) for this year, a slight increase of about €100 million compared to the previous year. In 2023, the European Union's (EU) initial humanitarian aid budget was €1.7 billion.
A dozen independent United Nations experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, expressed alarm Thursday about the escalation of violence in Sudan, particularly sexual violence committed in the conflict, primarily by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In a statement, they said gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, is used as a tool of war and no longer concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur, but has spread to other parts of the country, such as Kordofan.
United Nations agencies warn that hunger in conflict-ridden Sudan has reached record levels, with more than 20.3 million people across the country, over 42 percent of the population, facing acute hunger, including 6.3 million who are “one step away from famine.” According to the latest IPC food assessment in Sudan, the number of people projected to be food insecure between July and September has nearly doubled from the last analysis, conducted in May 2022.
A United Nations-backed food security report concluded Thursday that more than a year of war in Sudan has pushed parts of North Darfur into famine, including a displaced persons camp that houses more than half a million people. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently calling on all warring parties to allow humanitarian food assistance by freeing up key access points within the country and at its borders.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that halfway through 2024, only 18 percent - or US$8.8 billion - of the US$48.7 billion needed to help people in need around the world this year has been received. This is far less than at the same time last year, when there was already a massive shortfall. At the same time, more than 300 million people around the world are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
More than a year after the start of the war in Sudan, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday it remains extremely concerned about shocking levels of violence and devastating risks as many areas across the country remain beyond the reach of aid organizations. Among these areas is Sudan's North Darfur state, where intensifying clashes between the warring parties are preventing aid deliveries to the wider Darfur region.
The United Nations says Sudan's warring parties appear headed for major clashes in the North Darfur city of El Fasher, where hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are reportedly encircling El Fasher, suggesting that a coordinated move to attack the city may be imminent. At the same time, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) appear to be positioning themselves.
Four months into the war in Sudan, humanitarian leaders are highlighting the devastating impact the brutal conflict has had on millions of people whose lives have been destroyed and whose basic human rights have been violated. In a statement issued Tuesday, they called on the parties to the conflict to end the fighting, protect civilians and give humanitarian organizations unfettered access to all people in need in all areas of the country.
The world is facing an existential threat - the climate crisis. The effects of climate change are already evident and have far-reaching consequences for our environment, ecosystems, societies, and people. But the climate crisis goes beyond mere environmental protection. It is closely linked to the increase and intensification of humanitarian crises affecting many millions of people worldwide and posing immense challenges to the world.
At a time when humanitarian needs are rising and funding is falling rapidly, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations relief chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated US$48 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). This funding will enable UNHAS to continue operating in eight crisis-stricken countries.
The ten most under-reported humanitarian crises in 2022 were all in Africa, according to new analysis by the international humanitarian organization CARE. The organization’s annual “Breaking the Silence” report, that was released today, highlights forgotten crises which received the least media attention over the course of the year. The report is being published for the seventh time.
Five United Nations agencies have called for urgent action to protect the most vulnerable children in the 15 countries hardest hit by an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis. The appeal was published in a joined statement Thursday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The humanitarian organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) has released its annual Emergency Watchlist Thursday, highlighting the 20 countries most at risk of deteriorating humanitarian crises in 2024. This year, Sudan, Occupied Palestinian Territory and South Sudan top the list of humanitarian emergencies, as conflict, climate risk, economic pressures, growing impunity, and waning international support fuel new and ongoing humanitarian crises around the globe.
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.
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.
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.
