Humanitarian Funding

The United Nations humanitarian chief is calling on Sudan's rival military leaders to publicly commit themselves to the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to millions of people struggling to survive amid escalating fighting. At the end of a visit to the region, Martin Griffiths, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said Wednesday the Sudanese people face a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns again that the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is deepening as conflict continues in many parts of the country and fighting escalates in Rakhine State. OCHA said on Friday that civilians continue to face extreme protection risks, acute food insecurity and a near total collapse of essential public services.

Amid the worst malnutrition crisis to hit north-east Nigeria in five years, the United Nations relief chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has released $6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the region. In a statement on Monday, Fletcher stressed the need to deliver food to those in urgent need and establish systems to mitigate the risk of future crises.

Following the signing of a peace agreement earlier this month, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered over 2,400 metric tons of food, medical, nutrition and other lifesaving supplies to Ethiopia’s Tigray region. However, the UN agency warned in a statement Friday that deliveries of humanitarian assistance within Tigray are not matching the needs. WFP and its partners organizations urgently need access to all parts of the northern region to deliver food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable people.

The passage of Tropical Cyclone Mocha across western and northern Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday and Monday has caused widespread damage, leaving at least 500 people dead and hundreds injured, according to initial reports. While some 100,000 people were evacuated, 5.4 million people in Myanmar were in the cyclone's path, with estimates suggesting nearly 3.2 million of the country's most vulnerable are in need of humanitarian assistance.

As the war in Yemen entered its tenth year this week, millions of Yemenis continue to suffer the long-term consequences of the devastating ongoing conflict. Nine years after Saudi Arabia launched its military offensive, Yemen remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. More than half of the country's population - an estimated 18.2 million people - are in need of humanitarian assistance this year. Among them are 9.8 million children.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that several areas of Somalia are at risk of drought due to prolonged extreme dry conditions, with hundreds of thousands of families likely to be hit.  Already, 4.4 million people in the East African country are facing hunger - and conditions are expected to worsen as the April to June rainy season is forecast to start late and receive below-normal rainfall.

Eight brutal years of conflict have devastated the lives of millions of children in Yemen and left 11 million children in need of one or more forms of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Friday in a statement, warning that, without urgent action, millions could face greater risks of being malnourished. Despite a six-month truce in 2022, widespread suffering persists in the country mainly due to the deteriorating economy and the collapse of basic services.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation in South Sudan's Jonglei State is deteriorating rapidly due to escalating conflict. This conflict is forcing people to flee their homes and shrinking access for aid workers. Since the end of December, renewed clashes in Jonglei have displaced more than 250,000 people, according to local authorities.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have launched Thursday a $502 million (€462 million) appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to help 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) estimates that 2.1 million Palestinians across the OPT need some form of humanitarian assistance this year. Among them are more than 1 million children.

Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Mozambique are the three most neglected displacement crises in the world, according to a new report from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The international humanitarian aid agency says that while shifting domestic priorities, economic uncertainty, and political fatigue have led to severe cuts in support, decision-makers must recognize that displacement is a shared responsibility that cannot be ignored.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Nigerian government officials have launched an appeal for US$910 million to address the escalating humanitarian crisis in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY states), where a total of 7.8 million people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.

The newly appointed interim Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Kristine Hambrouck, expressed alarm over the recent wave of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, noting that they represent a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. Her statement comes as the situation in Sudan is worsening amid ongoing fighting, mass displacement, and mounting health emergencies.

Hurricane Melissa has left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean after making landfall in Jamaica and Cuba earlier this week, severely impacting Haiti in the process. It is one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic. Widespread damage, severe flooding and mass displacement have been reported across several countries, with humanitarian organizations warning that recovery efforts will require sustained international support.

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.

South Sudan is facing a rapidly worsening food security crisis demanding urgent donor attention, according to an advocacy note released Friday by the Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster (FSLC). The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis shows that 7.8 million people — more than half the population — are experiencing crisis-level hunger (IPC3) or worse. This includes 2.5 million people facing emergency levels (IPC4) and 73,000 people facing famine conditions (IPC5).

The United Nations, together with the Government of Haiti and other partner organizations, on Tuesday launched the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Haiti, which requires US$674 million. The HRP aims to provide food, shelter, health, education and protection services to 3.6 million Haitians over the next 12 months. More than 5.5 million people - including 3 million children - are in need of humanitarian assistance this year as the security situation in the Caribbean country deteriorates.

In a joint appeal Wednesday, the heads of UN humanitarian agencies and global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged world leaders to help prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children. They also called on Israel to fulfill its legal obligation under international humanitarian and human rights law to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate relief efforts.