Famine

Nearly a year into the war in Gaza, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic. Israel's all-out war and blockade have devastated Gaza, displaced 1.9 million people who have been repeatedly forced into ever smaller areas, and cut off access to desperately needed food, water and medicine. Meanwhile, another humanitarian disaster looms in the region as Israeli security forces escalate their war against Lebanon.

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.

The United Nations says more than one million Palestinians have fled the southernmost town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip as Israeli attacks there continue despite a binding order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt the offensive in Rafah immediately. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is torpedoing its own proposal to achieve a full and complete ceasefire in Gaza as part of a deal that would secure the release of all hostages, offer a roadmap to end the war, and rush desperately needed humanitarian aid throughout Gaza.

United Nations officials warn that the Gaza Strip has descended into a state of anarchy, obstructing efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to millions of Palestinians in desperate conditions. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported throughout much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in increasing civilian deaths, maiming, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

The "carnage" in the Gaza Strip has left more than 30,000 dead and must end immediately, United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk told the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, after nearly five months of continuous Israeli bombardment and mass displacement in the enclave. Meanwhile, Israel, which has the duty and legal obligation to ensure the provision of food and goods to the people of Gaza, continues to fail to provide or even facilitate the delivery of essential supplies for the survival of some 2.3 million people living in Gaza.

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.

Leading United Nations agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), warn that millions of people in the greater Horn of Africa are trapped in an emergency hunger and health crisis driven by overlapping disasters, including climate change and conflict. WHO’s Greater Horn of Africa region includes the seven affected countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 25.6 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continue to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity. In a joint statement on Thursday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that armed violence, ongoing conflict and soaring food prices are fueling acute food insecurity among displaced people and returnees.

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.

Only 47 percent of hunger funding needs through the United Nations humanitarian system are met, leaving a hunger funding gap of 53%, according to the international non-governmental organization (NGO) Action Against Hunger. Released Wednesday, the 2023 Hunger Funding Gap report also found that countries experiencing the worst hunger crises received less hunger funding than countries with lower rates of hunger.

United States national Cindy McCain took over Wednesday as the new head of the World Food Programme (WFP). The new Executive Director said in her first statement that her priorities for the United Nations agency were increasing its resources, improving its effectiveness and scaling up partnerships and innovation.

The Russian government’s decision to suspend participation in an agreement that allowed Ukrainian grain to be shipped through the Black Sea will significantly harm efforts to provide food to millions of people around the world facing food insecurity, activist groups warned on Monday.  The agreement has ensured the safe passage of over 32 million metric tons of food commodities from Ukrainian ports.

Almost 4.2 million people in Malawi are estimated to experience high levels of acute food insecurity between May and September 2024, including 56,000 people in IPC Phase 4 (emergency) and 4.1 million people in IPC Phase 3 (crisis), according to the latest IPC analysis. The analysis, released on Friday, warns that most people facing crisis or emergency levels are unable to produce enough of their own food and rely on market purchases.

Thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily and secretly detained, tortured and ill-treated by Israeli authorities since the October 7 attack by Palestinian armed groups that triggered Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, according to a report released Wednesday by the United Nations human rights office. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continues throughout much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in increasing civilian deaths, maiming, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

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.

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.