Humanitarian Organizations

The United Nations and humanitarian partners on Monday launched the 2025 humanitarian and refugee response plans for Sudan, appealing for a combined US$6 billion to support nearly 26 million people inside the country and in the wider region. Nearly two years of war have created a catastrophic crisis, uprooting more than 12.6 million people inside Sudan and across borders into other countries.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that casualties, especially among children, are rising in north-west Syria as shelling and airstrikes continue to pound the areas of Idleb and western Aleppo. In its latest situation report, OCHA said Friday that more than 2,300 places have been affected by the violence, resulting in the displacement of more than 120,000 people since the escalation began in early October.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says critical aid lifelines to northern Gaza have been cut off, with no food or other essential supplies entering since October 1. The main crossings into the area remain closed, while the more than 400,000 people who remain there are under increasing pressure to flee southwards in response to Israeli evacuation orders.

Monday marks another grim milestone in the conflict in Sudan. Since the fighting started 100 days ago, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, and millions displaced as a result of the nightmarish violence that broke out. UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations around the world today called attention to the plight of the people of Sudan and demanded action to end the war and improve the humanitarian response to the crisis.

Amid growing hopes for a Gaza ceasefire and an end to the war, United Nations humanitarian officials revealed disturbing details on Friday about the ongoing killing and injuring of Palestinians desperately seeking food. Israeli forces continue to target and kill people attempting to access food supplies at militarized distribution centers, UN distribution sites, and near aid convoys.

Numerous countries around the world have been hit by torrential rains, flash floods, river flooding, and other large-scale flooding events that have submerged vast areas of land, caused devastation, affected millions of people, displaced hundreds of thousands, and claimed hundreds of lives. Although the rainy season is still underway in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the magnitude of the ongoing natural disasters points to the effects of the climate crisis and the La Niña phenomenon.

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.

Extreme levels of violence in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador are shattering lives and compounding humanitarian needs, the international humanization organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned today. The non-governmental organization (NGO) says almost one in three people in North Central America are in urgent need of aid as the international community continues to overlook this crisis and is failing to provide adequate funding. 

Time is running out for millions of people in Sudan who are "at imminent risk of famine" because the country's warring parties are preventing aid from reaching them, major aid agencies warn. Nineteen global humanitarian organizations, including twelve United Nations agencies, urged Sudan's warring parties on Friday to stop blocking food aid from reaching millions of people suffering from acute hunger.

Amid escalating violence and intensifying humanitarian needs across Colombia, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday that years of progress in protecting and integrating displaced populations are at risk of being lost, and the most vulnerable will pay the highest price. UNHCR said refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) may be forced to move again in search of safety and stability, while returnees will not find conditions to resettle.

The United States administration’s sudden and sweeping suspension of foreign aid has placed millions of lives in peril, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty paints a damning picture of how the abrupt cuts have gutted critical health and humanitarian programs globally, leaving millions facing life-threatening situations.

Hunger and malnutrition are on the rise across the flood, drought, and conflict-affected areas of South Sudan, the United Nations (UN) warns. In a joint statement Thursday, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that some communities are likely to face starvation if humanitarian assistance is not sustained and climate adaptation measures are not scaled-up.

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.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) made a significant move in addressing the escalating crisis in Haiti by adopting a resolution on Tuesday to transition the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission into a multinational “Gang Suppression Force” (GSF). This shift comes amid worsening humanitarian and security situations and increasing violence in the Caribbean island nation.

A short-term ceasefire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has gone into effect Monday at 09:45 p.m. local time (19:45 GMT). The agreement on the seven-day ceasefire aimed at facilitating the delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services in Sudan was signed on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by representatives of the SAF and the RSF.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the situation in Sudan's North Darfur State remains alarming as fighting continues to displace families and people face severe shortages of food and clean water. North Darfur has been an epicenter of clashes since the beginning of Sudan’s brutal conflict over two years ago.

More than a year after the start of the war in Sudan, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday it remains extremely concerned about shocking levels of violence and devastating risks as many areas across the country remain beyond the reach of aid organizations. Among these areas is Sudan's North Darfur state, where intensifying clashes between the warring parties are preventing aid deliveries to the wider Darfur region.