Food Insecurity

The European Union (EU) announced on Friday €63 million (US$75 million) in humanitarian aid to help millions affected by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, as well as nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees living in neighboring countries, primarily Bangladesh. The European Commission’s allocation comes as the crisis sparked by the military coup in Myanmar enters its sixth year.

According to new data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 1.3 million people are now internally displaced in Haiti, which is a 24 percent increase since December 2024. With this surge, Haiti has the highest number of people ever displaced by violence, and internally displaced people (IDPs) now represent 11 percent of the country's population of 11.9 million.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns violence against children in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) has reached unprecedented levels.  In a media briefing Friday, a UNICEF representative said there “are few worse places, if any, to be a child”, as more than 2.8 million girls and boys are bearing the brunt of the crisis in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday issued new provisional measures for Israel as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in bombarded and besieged Gaza continues to deteriorate, and famine is immanent.  The legally binding order compels Israel to take "all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay" to send in "urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance", including food, water, shelter, fuel and medical supplies.

The United Nations on Tuesday condemned the ongoing offensive launched last week by the rebel group Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). On Saturday, the non-state armed group captured the town of Masisi in the eastern province of North Kivu. Intense clashes between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the M23 have forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes in less than a week.

Haitian leaders are rushing to meet a looming deadline to name members of a transitional council that will take power following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that Haiti is on the brink of a devastating hunger crisis, with humanitarian operations at risk of grinding to a halt amid rampant violence as armed gangs tighten their grip on the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The United Nations (UN) and the government of Haiti have reiterated their appeal Tuesday for an international force to quickly deploy to the Caribbean island nation to help subdue an unprecedented level of gang violence that has terrorized the population. The move comes as 5.2 million people – nearly half of the Haitian population – are in need of humanitarian aid, including 2.6 million children.

The United States government this week labelled the actions of Sudan's paramilitary forces as genocide and imposed sanctions on its leader for the "horrific, systematic atrocities" committed by his forces in a war that has gripped Sudan for nearly two years, killing tens of thousands of people and driving more than 12 million from their homes. Yet at the same time, the US administration denies that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are being committed in the Gaza Strip.

Killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence by criminal groups in and around Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, have increased dramatically since the start of 2023 with a weak to non-existent state response, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a report released Monday.  HRW said while international security support may be needed, it should be “part of a multi-faceted response with robust human rights safeguards.”

The international community pledged $1.5 billion Monday toward tackling the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as fighting between forces led by rival generals has only been punctuated by brief truces and no political solution appears close at hand. Meanwhile, the lasted 72-hour truce in Sudan that came into force Sunday morning seems to be holding, at least in the capital Khartoum.

A network of international and national humanitarian organizations issued a stark warning Monday that Yemen is reaching a "dangerous tipping point.", as escalating hunger, eroding resilience, and collapsing humanitarian funding pushes millions of people deeper into crisis. This warning comes as an estimated 22.3 million people, nearly two-thirds of Yemen's population, are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Armed groups, including one linked to the Armed Forces of the Central African Republic (CAR), have committed grave human rights violations in the Haut Oubangui region in the south-east of the country, mainly against Muslim communities and Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers, according to a new UN report. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in CAR remains critical as the population continues to face insecurity, while the ongoing war in Sudan exacerbates the situation.

After six weeks of conflict, the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than 13.6 million children in Sudan are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, the highest number ever recorded in the country. UNICEF said on Tuesday that the impact of ongoing violence continues to threaten the lives and futures of families and children, leaving basic services cut off and many health facilities closed, damaged, or destroyed.

Children make up about half of all armed gang members in Haiti, the head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, calling for their protection to be stepped up. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) says it is ramping up its operations in Haiti in the face of a hunger crisis caused mainly by violence and displacement. Some 5.5 million Haitians are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024, a number that is expected to rise.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says it is extremely concerned by the escalation of fighting in Sudan's southwestern Sennar State, which has severely hampered humanitarian aid deliveries in large parts of the country. Meanwhile, the last open border crossing into Darfur from neighboring Chad is inaccessible due to heavy rains and flooding.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that recent fighting in Puntland State in northeastern Somalia, as well as in Middle and Lower Shabelle regions in the center of the country, has forced at least 110,000 people to flee their homes. According to OCHA, tens of thousands of people have also been displaced in recent months by ongoing inter-clan clashes in several other areas of the East African country.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, has strongly condemned indiscriminate attacks in the town of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. Local authorities reported that at least 97 civilians were killed or injured when a hospital, a cattle market and residential areas came under attack on Saturday.

A high-level, independent investigation into the crisis in Sudan on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that civilians had been deliberately targeted, displaced and starved. The Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, created by the UN Human Rights Council, also drew attention to the devastating humanitarian emergency resulting from the war.

The United Nations and humanitarian partner organizations have today launched the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for South Sudan, targeting 6 million children, women, and men with the most acute needs.  In the forthcoming year, 9 million people in the country - a slight decrease from 2023 - are projected to be in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Among those requiring humanitarian aid will be 4.9 million children.

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.