Humanitarian Crisis

Over the last ten days, heavy rains and flash floods in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwar, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir have killed 400 people and injured more than 190 others, according to authorities. While more than 20,000 people remain displaced due to the flooding, Pakistan’s Meteorological Department says that a new monsoon system is forecast, andd heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the coming days.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Friday warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan, following a sharp increase in hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech in the country since February. The warning comes as South Sudan faces one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, and one of the worst prospects since independence in 2011.

One week after Storm Daniel hit northeastern Libya, unleashing devastating flooding that swept away large swathes of entire cities, the human toll of the disaster continues to mount. According to the Libyan Red Crescent, the unprecedented flooding and other storm-related incidents have left some 11,470 people dead and more than 10,100 still missing.

As the war approaches its fifth year, the UN and its humanitarian partners on Tuesday launched the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), which calls for US$2.3 billion to provide life-saving aid to more than 4 million people across Ukraine. An estimated 10.8 million people in Ukraine will require humanitarian assistance this year, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other populations affected by the war.

The humanitarian organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) has expressed concern about the humanitarian impact of growing insecurity in northwest Nigeria due to conflict between various armed groups. In Zamfara and Sokoto states, armed attacks in March and April have displaced more than 10,000 people and killed at least 92, while many others have been kidnapped, the IRC said.

A toxic mix of conflict, severe drought and devastating floods has forced more than 1 million people in Somalia to flee their homes since the beginning of this year – a record rate of displacement for the country, reported the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Wednesday.

More than three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today. UNICEF says it is working with Government and non-government partners to respond to the urgent needs of children and families in affected areas. 

The food security situation in Yemen’s districts under the control of the Government of Yemen (GoY) slightly improved during the first five months of this year, while acute malnutrition increased, compared to the same period in 2022, a new analysis suggests. However, the outlook for the period between June until the end of 2023 indicates the need for more investments, as the modest improvements may be eroded, UN agencies warned on Thursday.

United Nations officials have appealed for international support to help Zimbabwe cope with the humanitarian impact of a historic drought that has left 7.6 million people at risk of acute hunger. More than half of the harvest has been destroyed due to a drought caused by the warming El Niño episode in 2023-2024.

Acute food insecurity is on track to reach a ten-year high in the Sahel and West Africa by June of this year - a new study shows - with a worrying expansion of food insecurity into coastal countries, and catastrophic levels of hunger hitting conflict-affected areas of Burkina Faso and Mali where humanitarian assistance is severely hindered by insecurity. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the security situation in eastern South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, has sharply worsened since early December following an escalation of armed clashes in Uvira, Walungu, Mwenga, Shabunda, Kabare, Fizi, and Kalehe territories. The number of people affected by the fighting has risen significantly, with preliminary reports indicating that more than half a million people have been displaced.

Senior United Nations officials warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the world cannot afford to lose focus on Syria as the humanitarian and political crisis continues to devastate the country. Across the country, 16.7 million people - more than 70 percent of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, with women and children particularly affected.

Alarming new food security projections for Sudan released on Thursday show that the country is facing a devastating hunger catastrophe on a scale not seen since the Darfur crisis in the early 2000s, the heads of three United Nations agencies have warned. New data shows that more than 750,000 people are experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, with 25.6 million people at crisis levels of hunger and the threat of famine in several regions.

A combination of protracted armed conflict, internal displacement, and restricted humanitarian access risks pushing nearly one million children under the age of five in Mali into acute malnutrition by December 2023 – with at least 200,000 at risk of dying of hunger if life-saving aid fails to reach them, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a joined statement Friday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that drought continues to impact millions of people across Somalia.  Somali authorities estimate that more than 4.6 million people, or around a quarter of the population in Somalia, are being affected by the ongoing drought, with more than 104,000 people displaced in November alone due to the extreme dry conditions.

The humanitarian organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) has released its annual Emergency Watchlist Thursday, highlighting the 20 countries most at risk of deteriorating humanitarian crises in 2024.  This year, Sudan, Occupied Palestinian Territory and South Sudan top the list of humanitarian emergencies, as conflict, climate risk, economic pressures, growing impunity, and waning international support fuel new and ongoing humanitarian crises around the globe.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday that it had made some breakthroughs in humanitarian access in recent weeks, reaching regions in Sudan that had been largely cut off from aid, including people facing or at risk of famine. WFP stressed the importance of pre-positioning food close to vulnerable populations now, as the rainy season is just weeks away, which will make it extremely difficult for large trucks to travel.

Six days after a devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, the full extent of the damage is coming to light, particularly in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar. According to the United Nations, more than 2,200 people have been confirmed dead, at least 3,640 have been injured, and over 6,750 houses have been destroyed, which has affected at least 500,000 people, according to the European Union. As the situation unfolds, however, these figures are likely to rise, as unofficial figures communicated by the Taliban already indicate.

The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it is intensifying its efforts to address the complex and persistent humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) as the number of internally displaced people climbs to 6.95 million people across the country – the highest number recorded yet. Meanwhile, the massive displacement of civilians continues in the eastern DRC, following ongoing clashes between armed groups and the Congolese armed forces, leading to soaring humanitarian needs.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that catastrophic flooding continues in the West and Central Africa region, affecting some 7.1 million people across 16 countries. In an update on Monday, OCHA said that Chad, Niger, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are the most affected countries, accounting for 80 percent of the total number of people affected.