Food Insecurity

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.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns again that the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is deepening as conflict continues in many parts of the country and fighting escalates in Rakhine State. OCHA said on Friday that civilians continue to face extreme protection risks, acute food insecurity and a near total collapse of essential public services.

According to the latest findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), there have been notable improvements in food security and nutrition in the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire in October and a significant reduction in conflict. Yet, the situation remains critical. In August, the IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC) had confirmed a human-made famine in the Gaza governorate, where over half a million people were experiencing famine.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday that over 165,000 people have fled increasing tensions and conflict in South Sudan in the past three months, seeking safety both within the country and across borders, thereby deepening an already dire humanitarian situation across the region. With more than 2.3 million South Sudanese living as refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, South Sudan remains one of the largest displacement crises in Africa.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that Palestinians in northern Gaza are experiencing extreme suffering as the Israeli siege of the area continues. OCHA says there are harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north. Meanwhile, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) describe apocalyptic scenes as atrocities against civilians and attacks on hospitals intensify.

The Sahel region continues to grapple with a complex humanitarian crisis, with approximately 4 million people displaced across the Central Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and neighboring regions — around two-thirds more than five years ago. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns that this crisis is escalating due to a mix of factors, including insecurity, limited access to services and livelihoods, and the devastating effects of climate change.

International donor funding to alleviate hunger in the world's neediest countries plummeted in 2023, despite exacerbating global food insecurity reaching record highs, aid agencies warn. Humanitarian appeals for the 17 countries bearing the brunt of food insecurity suffered a staggering funding gap of 65 percent last year, up 23 percent from 2022, according to an analysis released this week by the humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger.

The humanitarian community in Haiti seeks the mobilization of the international community as the country witnesses the continued escalation of violence perpetrated by armed groups in Port-au-Prince and the Département Artibonite. According to a statement released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Thursday, the “world must act now to prevent further atrocities.”

Somalia and the United Nations have appealed Wednesday for $2.6 billion (€ 2.4 billion) to aid millions of Somalis facing hunger as the country remains gripped by a record-setting drought. Somalia has been struggling against famine-like conditions that aid groups say are forcing thousands of people to flee from the countryside into cities seeking help.

According to media reports, around 200 people were killed and another 140 injured in an attack by the armed group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) in the Burkinabe town of Barsalogho over the weekend. The horrific assault comes as large parts of Burkina Faso are controlled by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and more than 1 million people are trapped in dozens of blockaded towns across the central Sahel country.

Ten million children in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are in dire need of humanitarian assistance – twice as many as in 2020 – largely due to spiraling conflict in the Central Sahel region, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned in an analysis released Friday. According to the UNICEF Child Alert, nearly 4 million children are at risk in neighboring countries as hostilities between armed groups and national security forces spill across borders.

With no political solution in sight, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns that Niger’s political crisis could rapidly deteriorate into a humanitarian emergency as attacks by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) continue and sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the country begin to take effect. Meanwhile, 45 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), working in the Sahel country, are calling on the international community to introduce humanitarian exemptions to the collective sanctions imposed against Niger.

Donors committed US$610.1 million to humanitarian operations in Ethiopia at a high-level pledging event on Tuesday, but fell short of the target. One billion US dollars is needed to fund the immediate response and ensure a pipeline of aid for the next five months. But before the conference, the situation was much worse, as the country's UN-backed $3.24 billion Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2024 was less than 5 percent funded.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have urged solidarity with drought-affected people in Southern Africa and called on the international community to help scale up a timely emergency response to drought in the region, which includes the already crisis-hit countries of Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique. More than 61 million people in the region have been affected by drought and other extreme weather conditions caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon and exacerbated by the climate crisis.

The international humanitarian organization Save the Children is warning that "time is running out" for the nearly one million residents of Sudan's largest camp for displaced people, many of them children, as food and medical supplies run out. The relief agency said Wednesday that it had just two days' worth of medical supplies left in its mobile health clinics in Zamzam camp in Sudan's western Darfur region.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners, together with the Government of Somalia, launched the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for Somalia on Wednesday. The plan, which requires US$1.43 billion, aims to support some 4.6 million of the country's most vulnerable people out of 5.98 million in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection this year.

The entire population in the Gaza Strip faces an imminent risk of famine, with more than half a million people already in catastrophic conditions, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warns. Meanwhile, after days of intense negotiations on a humanitarian pause and the delivery of aid to the war-torn Gaza Strip, the United States abstained Friday on a United Nations Security Council (SC) resolution, allowing its adoption by the 15-member body.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns of a sharp decline in the humanitarian situation in El Fasher, the besieged capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State. OCHA reports that civilians in El Fasher continue to endure relentless attacks, acute hunger, and cholera. The population faces daily threats from shelling, airstrikes, and drone attacks — with fierce clashes reported in north-eastern districts of the state capital in recent weeks.

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.