Myanmar’s ruling junta “is losing” its war against a coalition of domestic forces but still remains highly dangerous, a United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country said Wednesday. Meanwhile, the human rights and humanitarian crisis continues to worsen in Myanmar, with more than 18 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is seeking $1.4 billion to meet the needs of 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees living in five neighboring countries - Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - through 2024. A similar number of people living in local communities in the countries of asylum will benefit from services and support, according to the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) released on Thursday.
On August 31, 2025, a devastating 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan. More than 2,200 people have been confirmed dead, at least 3,640 have been injured, and over 6,750 homes have been destroyed. At least 500,000 people have been affected. The 2025 Afghanistan earthquake caused massive devastation. Hundreds of thousands of people in remote areas, already scarred by decades of conflict and displacement, have lost their homes and livelihoods. More help is desperately needed.
The European Union (EU) says it is gravely concerned by the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, DRC), which recently led to an immediate system-wide scale-up by the United Nations of humanitarian operations in the eastern part of the country. In a statement Friday by its High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, the EU also expressed outrage at the levels of violence and atrocities that continue to be perpetrated by armed groups with impunity against civilians.
The United Nations’ top humanitarian official issued an urgent call to the international community on Monday, demanding swift diplomatic intervention and increased financial commitments to bridge the widening gap in life-saving aid for the millions of people desperately in need. He also urged stronger diplomacy to defend international humanitarian law.
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.
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) warns that deadly hostilities in the Suweida Governorate of Syria continue to endanger civilians, with ongoing reports of significant displacement and damage to critical infrastructure, including water, electricity, and telecommunications networks. According to media reports, the hostilities have claimed hundreds of lives.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday it is concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in eastern Chad amid a massive influx of refugees and returnees from neighboring Sudan. More than 55,000 Sudanese refugees and 39,000 Chadian returnees have been registered in Chad's Ennedi-Est and Wadi Fira provinces since violence escalated in Sudan's North Darfur state in April.
With severe shelter shortages and heightened risks from ongoing fighting and heavy rains continuing to plague hundreds of thousands of displaced people across Sudan, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Monday that Sudan’s emergency relief supply via the Common Humanitarian Pipeline could collapse within weeks. This warning comes amid ongoing drone strikes and other hostilities that endanger civilians and force them from their homes in the regions of Darfur, Kordofan, as well as Blue Nile State.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned on Monday that families in Mali are struggling to access the food, healthcare, water and basic services they need to survive one month into a major escalation in armed conflict. According to the humanitarian organization, needs are rising rapidly across the Central Sahel country, where 5.1 million people were already in need of assistance prior to the latest surge in violence.
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.
Leading international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have announced that they will suspend their humanitarian work in Afghanistan, at least temporarily. The move comes after the Taliban de facto authorities reportedly issued an order Saturday barring all female employees of national and international organizations from going to work with immediate effect.
Violence in Myanmar is spiraling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools, and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned Wednesday. This warning comes as the number of people in Myanmar in need of humanitarian assistance has risen to an unprecedented 22 million, following four years of fierce civil war and devastating earthquakes three months ago.
The abrupt suspension of foreign aid by the United States has fueled a global humanitarian catastrophe, according to UN human rights experts. The extreme cuts in funding are expected to cost millions of lives worldwide. On Thursday, the experts said the situation was made worse by the US administration’s failure to publish a mandatory review of contracts and disbursements by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
A new report published on Friday states that up to 11.6 million refugees and others forced to flee could lose access to direct humanitarian assistance from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) this year due to major cuts to humanitarian budgets around the world. This figure represents approximately one-third of the people the humanitarian organization assisted last year.
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.
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 town of El Fasher, located in Sudan's North Darfur State, once again became the scene of brutal violence over the weekend as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued their assault on civilians. Since Friday evening, at least 60 civilians have been killed in RSF drone attacks. This follows a series of RSF attacks earlier last week that left another 53 civilians dead and many more injured.
As the situation in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, continues to be catastrophic, more details are emerging about the atrocities committed during and after the city's fall to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 23. Reports indicate that nearly 500 patients and their companions at the Saudi Maternity Hospital were slaughtered on Tuesday alone. Local sources report widespread killings, abductions, maiming, and sexual violence, as well as the detention and killing of aid workers.
