Humanitarian Funding

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.

This week marks the sixth anniversary since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, following coordinated attacks by the Myanmar military. They joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had previously sought refuge in the country. The United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling this week for renewed commitment from the international community to sustain the humanitarian response for nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

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.

United Nations agencies warn that South Sudan continues to face a severe food and nutrition crisis which threatens to worsen unless urgent humanitarian action is mounted. According to the latest food security report, over half of South Sudan's population — around 7.56 million people — will experience crisis-level or worse hunger during the lean season from April to July 2026 while, in the coming months, tens of thousands are at risk of famine.

A new joint United Nations report warns that people in five hunger hotspots — Sudan, Palestine (Occupied Palestinian Territory), South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali — face extreme hunger, starvation, and death in the next five months unless urgent humanitarian action is swiftly taken to de-escalate conflict, stop displacement, and provide full-scale aid.

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.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has ruled out the possibility of transforming the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti into a UN peacekeeping force for the time being, recommending instead the creation of a UN support mission to assist the MSS, funded through the UN peacekeeping budget. 

Nearly a year after the outbreak of war in Sudan, the conflict continues to rage, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes every day and creating one of the largest and most challenging humanitarian emergencies and displacement crises in the world. The number of displaced people has now surpassed 8.8 million, with more than 2 million of them having crossed borders.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Danish Refugee Council (DRC) predicts that global forced displacement will surge in the next two years, with 4.2 million people newly displaced in 2025 alone, and a further 2.5 million people expected to flee their communities in search of safety and protection in 2026. The grim forecast comes at a time when global displacement is already at an all-time high, with some 123 million people currently forcibly displaced around the world.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is warning of a looming halt to its food and nutrition assistance to 1.4 million crisis-affected populations in Chad – including newly arrived Sudanese refugees - due to funding constraints. Today's warning comes as aid agencies scramble to respond to a fresh wave of Sudanese refugees fleeing the unimaginable humanitarian crisis unfolding in neighboring Darfur amid reports of mass killings, rapes, and widespread destruction.

Millions of Somalis face heightened food insecurity as below-average rainfall between October and December 2024, linked to the La Niña weather phenomenon, threatens to reverse recent gains in food security. United Nations agencies warn that without immediate funding for humanitarian interventions, Somalia - a country teetering on the brink of famine in late 2022 - could plunge back into a severe hunger crisis.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that civilians, including humanitarian workers, are facing serious threats to their safety as hostilities escalate in northern Syria and spread to other parts of the country. The fighting also continues to cause severe damage to critical infrastructure and disrupt aid operations, while Syria is already facing one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the UN and its partners are continuing to deliver critical aid across Ukraine, despite the increasing risks to humanitarian workers. On Wednesday, a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse was damaged in a drone attack on the city of Dnipro.

According to a new United Nations report released on Thursday, sexual violence reached "unprecedented levels" in armed conflicts last year, with the highest number of cases recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia, and Haiti. The report warns of the devastating health and social consequences faced by survivors amid shrinking access to humanitarian assistance.

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.

According to the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the number of people forced to flee their homes in Colombia has doubled since the historic peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was signed eight years ago. While more than 130,000 people were forced to flee in Colombia in 2016, NRC estimates that the number of newly displaced people will exceed 260,000 in 2024.

Amid the alarming humanitarian situation in Sudan, the UN Security Council on Thursday demanded that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) end their siege of the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, as they move to take the last remaining town in the Western Darfur region from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Meanwhile, the humanitarian emergency remains severely underfunded, despite the United States pledging US$315 million in additional funding to Sudan on Friday.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is expanding its humanitarian appeal for Sudan as more and more people flee the country's war and widespread hunger in search of safety in neighboring countries. UNHCR reports that more money is urgently needed to help and protect the swelling population of Sudanese refugees, and is revising its appeal to US$1.5 billion, up from the US$1.4 billion it requested in January.

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.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (GA) on Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), urged UN member states to act to prevent the implementation of Israeli Knesset legislation targeting UNRWA.  He also urged states to maintain funding for UNRWA and not to withhold or divert funds on the assumption that the organization can no longer operate.