Worldwide, there are millions of people suffering in humanitarian crises. Many of these people are in urgent need of international assistance to survive. Most of these people suffer hidden from the eyes of the world public. In 2026, more than 252 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. DONARE would like to draw your attention to some of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
More than 60,000 Somalis, mainly women and children, have fled to Ethiopia’s Somali region in the past few weeks to escape violent clashes and insecurity in the city of Laascaanood (Laas Caanood), in Somalia’s Sool region, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports. More than half of them arrived earlier this week, UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado Mur said Friday at a news conference in Geneva.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have warned in a joined statement Friday that WFP will be forced to make additional cuts to already reduced food assistance to refugees in Chad in April and may have to completely suspend assistance by May without immediate and sustained funding. WFP is appealing for $142.7 million over the next six months to maintain its refugee support program.
The second Global Refugee Forum (GRF) closed Friday after three days with a range of pledges to improve the lives of the world’s refugees and the countries and communities that host them. States also pledged to resettle 1 million refugees by 2030, while governments and foundations launched a pledge backed by a new global sponsorship fund to help 3 million refugees access third countries through community sponsorship.
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.
In Malawi and Mozambique, the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record has left a trail of destruction and continues to cause extensive damage and loss of lives from torrential rains and strong winds. Cyclone Freddy hit Mozambique a second time on Saturday night and has before devastated parts of Malawi, killed at least 292 people in both countries, and left tens of thousands homeless. Dozens of people are reported missing.
The United Nations and its partner agencies in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on Wednesday launched this year's humanitarian response plans to assist 2.2 million people in need, seeking a total of US$306 million. The three countries continue to face violence, food insecurity, extreme weather events and mixed movements of refugees and migrants, with more than 4.6 million people in need of humanitarian aid in 2025.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), humanitarian operations in Niger are currently on hold following the attempted coup in the country. The United Nations, the United States, the West African economic bloc ECOWAS, the African Union and the European Union have called for the release of Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, after a group of soldiers claimed to have removed him from power Wednesday. President Bazoum has urged democratic forces in the country to resist the power grab.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its humanitarian partners are urgently preparing to assist up to 150,000 Rohingya refugees who have arrived in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, over the past 18 months. Targeted violence and persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, as well as the ongoing war in the neighboring country, have forced thousands of Rohingya to seek protection in Bangladesh.
Funding constraints mean that the World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to limit emergency aid to only 6.2 million of the most vulnerable people in need across West Africa, scaling back from an initial target of assisting 11.6 million, the United Nations agency said on Wednesday. Millions in the Sahel will be stranded without aid as the lean season sets in and hunger starts to peak.
Following the signing of a peace agreement earlier this month, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered over 2,400 metric tons of food, medical, nutrition and other lifesaving supplies to Ethiopia’s Tigray region. However, the UN agency warned in a statement Friday that deliveries of humanitarian assistance within Tigray are not matching the needs. WFP and its partners organizations urgently need access to all parts of the northern region to deliver food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable people.
The United Nations' top humanitarian official issued a blunt warning on Monday about a mounting "age of indifference" as funding for essential aid programs continues to dwindle. Addressing journalists at the UN headquarters in New York, Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, highlighted a critical shortfall in resources and the escalating threats facing humanitarian workers worldwide.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today it has been forced to cut the number of people receiving emergency food assistance in Haiti by 25 percent in July, compared to the previous month, due to dwindling funding levels. This means 100,000 of the most vulnerable Haitians are forced to get by without any support by the UN agency this month amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation.
The overall humanitarian situation in Burundi remains tense and serious human rights violations continue. Burundians are facing a humanitarian crisis characterized by food insecurity, extreme weather events and economic decline. The people of Burundi experience a triple burden: high climate risk, widespread poverty and insecurity. Even though the worst of the violence has subsided in 2025, the security situation remains precarious, with an unstable political situation and ongoing displacement outside the country.
Amid the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Afghanistan, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are urgently calling for international support as the country faces one of the largest return movements in recent history. According to the latest UN figures, more than 2.2 million Afghans returned or were forced to return from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 alone. Over 1.8 million came from Iran and nearly 400,000 arrived from Pakistan.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued an alert on Thursday regarding the impact of armed violence on civilians in southeastern parts of the Central African Republic (CAR). Though the situation has improved in parts of the country, violence continues to exacerbate the situation in several regions, including the southeast, where approximately 50,000 people require humanitarian assistance.
Acute food insecurity is on track to reach a ten-year high in the Sahel and West Africa by June of this year - a new study shows - with a worrying expansion of food insecurity into coastal countries, and catastrophic levels of hunger hitting conflict-affected areas of Burkina Faso and Mali where humanitarian assistance is severely hindered by insecurity.
Just weeks after thousands of Rohingya refugees lost their homes to Cyclone Mocha, they face another blow as funding shortages force the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to cut food vouchers in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to just US$ 8, or less than 9 cents per meal. The UN agency said Friday that funding shortfalls had already led to a cut in food aid earlier this year.
This week marks the sixth anniversary since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, following coordinated attacks by the Myanmar military. They joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had previously sought refuge in the country. The United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling this week for renewed commitment from the international community to sustain the humanitarian response for nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
