Humanitarian Catastrophe

A prominent international human rights group is calling for the deployment of a protection force in Sudan following a recent wave of attacks on civilians in Al Jazirah state, widely blamed on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the warring sides in the country's ongoing conflict. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Sunday that the situation has become so grim that a mission is needed to protect the Sudanese population.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for immediate, unimpeded and safe access to conflict-hit areas of Sudan to provide food to millions of displaced people facing acute hunger, amid warnings that this “forgotten war” has potential implications for regional stability. The UN agency says more than nine months of conflict have taken an unimaginable toll on civilians. WFP calls the situation beyond dire, noting that almost 18 million people are facing acute hunger.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warn that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 18 hunger hotspots – comprising a total of 22 countries or territories including two regions – during the period from November 2023 to April 2024.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a stark warning for global food security, estimating that every one percent cut in food assistance risks pushing more than 400,000 people towards the brink of starvation. Tuesday’s warning comes as WFP, the biggest recipient of humanitarian funding, is in the midst of a crippling financing crisis that is forcing the organization to scale back life-saving assistance at a time when acute hunger globally reached record levels. 

The IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC) issued an alert on Friday warning that famine is likely imminent in areas of the northern Gaza Strip, while the humanitarian situation throughout the territory is extremely grave and rapidly deteriorating. Meanwhile, a report by the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of committing serious violations of international law in Gaza, many of which may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Monday of a sharp deterioration in the situation in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State. This warning comes amid reports that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the Sudanese army headquarters in the city on Sunday. In light of the situation, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher has called for an immediate ceasefire in El Fasher, across Darfur, and throughout Sudan.

More than 100 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) joined forces on Wednesday to demand an end to Israel’s weaponization of aid, which exacerbates the appalling suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. While famine unfolds in the territory, with people dying daily due to malnutrition and starvation, the Israeli government's threat to ban major aid organizations from operating in Gaza worsens the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe even further.

Sudan is experiencing escalating rates of hunger and malnutrition as the consequences of conflict and displacement spread through the region. At least 25 million people in the region are affected by food insecurity, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today, while thousands of families are displaced and forced across the borders into Chad and South Sudan every week.

As Israel's war on Gaza continues, the United States on Wednesday vetoed the latest resolution on the Gaza Strip in the United Nations Security Council, which demanded an immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire as well as full humanitarian access for civilians. The most recent veto comes in the face of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe raging for more than a year in the territory, where people continue to die from violence, disease and starvation, with the threat of famine looming.

The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime, the leading international human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. In a statement, HRW stressed that Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.

Israel's relentless bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, causing further civilian deaths, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure. The United Nations has expressed grave concern over Israel's latest evacuation order for large parts of Khan Younis, which covers about one-third of the Gaza Strip and affects up to 250,000 civilians.

A new analysis of the state of global hunger finds that escalating conflict, climate change and economic shocks are driving more people into acute hunger, threatening gains made in recent years toward the goal of ending hunger by 2030. The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2024, released Wednesday, finds that 281.6 million people in 59 crisis countries and territories faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2023 - a global increase of 24 million from the previous year.

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.

At a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, the United Nations and Member States issued an urgent call for stepped-up action to end the war in Sudan and accelerate the humanitarian response in the region. 17 months of brutal conflict in Sudan have fueled the world's worst hunger crisis and one of the world's largest displacement crises, with more than 10 million people forced to flee their homes.

The number of people experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food and livelihood assistance has increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2022, a new report said today.  Over a quarter of a billion people were estimated to face acute hunger last year because of conflict, economic shocks and weather extremes related to the climate crisis, with the Ukraine war contributing to the increase.

Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, United Nations aid agencies reiterated their urgent warnings about the ongoing famine and rising preventable diseases linked to the catastrophic living conditions in the war-torn enclave. Famine is currently occurring in the Gaza Governorate and is expected to spread to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.

Independent United Nations human rights experts on Tuesday condemned the sharp rise in violence against civilians in Sudan, as the humanitarian situation caused by the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to spiral into catastrophic levels. The condemnation comes at a time of increasing displacement, as nearly a third of Sudan's population of 51 million has now been forced to flee, creating the largest displacement crisis in the world.

United Nations officials are warning that extreme insecurity and appalling human rights violations — including mass killings, ethnic violence, and sexual violence — in the Sudanese town of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, have triggered a dramatic surge in people forced to flee and further worsened the country's humanitarian crisis. Despite rising needs, humanitarian operations in North Darfur are on the brink of collapse in the face of severe funding shortages for the Sudan emergency.