Humanitarian Organizations

Almost 4.2 million people in Malawi are estimated to experience high levels of acute food insecurity between May and September 2024, including 56,000 people in IPC Phase 4 (emergency) and 4.1 million people in IPC Phase 3 (crisis), according to the latest IPC analysis. The analysis, released on Friday, warns that most people facing crisis or emergency levels are unable to produce enough of their own food and rely on market purchases.

United Nations agency chiefs have urged the UN Security Council to renew a resolution guaranteeing cross-border aid access to north-west Syria, warning that without it, millions of people, especially those displaced for years and multiple times, will not have access to food and shelter. The appeal came in a written statement Monday signed by the heads of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, International Organization for Migration, UN Children's Fund, World Food Programme, World Health Organization, UN Refugee Agency, and UN Population Fund.

The IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC) issued an alert on Friday warning that famine is likely imminent in areas of the northern Gaza Strip, while the humanitarian situation throughout the territory is extremely grave and rapidly deteriorating. Meanwhile, a report by the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of committing serious violations of international law in Gaza, many of which may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the UN and its humanitarian partners are continuing to deliver aid in southern Syria amid a volatile security situation and limited funding. OCHA states that the security situation in southern Syria remains unpredictable, with ongoing incidents contributing to rural instability.

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.

A full-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah could lead to a slaughter and cripple life-saving humanitarian work throughout the Gaza Strip, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday. The UN, governments and aid agencies have been appealing to Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation in Gaza's southernmost city, where more than 1.5 million people are at risk, is looming on the immediate horizon.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that Hurricane Melissa, a powerful storm that struck the Caribbean Sea in late October, affected over 5 million people across Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti. The storm killed at least 75 people and displaced or forced the evacuation of over 770,000.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) released its annual Emergency Watchlist on Wednesday, spotlighting the 20 countries most likely to face escalating humanitarian needs in the coming year. According to the dire ranking, the top five crises are Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Myanmar, Syria and South Sudan, as war and climate change fuel new and ongoing humanitarian emergencies around the world.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says it is closely monitoring developments in Myanmar, where anti-military armed groups and their allies have made significant advances, and several hundred soldiers had reportedly chosen to lay down their weapons. In the fighting so far, around 70 people have been reportedly killed and over 90 wounded, with more than 200,000 internally displaced since the end of October.

Thousands of refugees and migrants risking their lives on dangerous land routes across the African continent face extreme forms of violence, human rights abuses and exploitation, according to a report released Friday by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC). The organizations say the deaths of refugees and migrants in the Sahara Desert are believed to be twice as high as those at sea.

A leading United Nations official on Friday urged the international community to immediately scale up its support for children and families to avert a worsening humanitarian emergency across Ethiopia. Some 21.4 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian assistance this year, including 12 million children.

Hours before the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 141 of 193 United Nations member states have passed a resolution calling for an immediate Russian troop withdrawal and a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine. Seven states voted Thursday against the resolution text at a special session of the UN General Assembly (UN-GA): Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Syria and Russia. 32 countries abstained, including China, India, South Africa and Iran.

The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) has called Wednesday on the international community to step-up funding efforts, and to not abandon millions of civilians who bear the brunt of the nine months conflict in Sudan. With nearly 25 million people requiring relief aid, a coordinated and continued humanitarian response is urgently needed to address the mounting needs of the world’s largest internal displacement crisis.

The humanitarian organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) has released its annual Emergency Watchlist Wednesday, highlighting the 20 countries most at risk of deteriorating humanitarian crises in 2023.  This year, Somalia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan top the Watchlist, as East Africa faces the worst drought in decades and economic turmoil continues to compound needs in Afghanistan. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the ongoing conflict and spreading disease outbreaks are having a devastating impact on children in Sudan. Separately, independent human rights investigators report that the civil war in Sudan is intensifying, marked by an increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas and a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence. Countless civilians caught in the conflict face devastating consequences.

The latest analysis of acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip concludes that as long as Israel's war on Gaza continues and humanitarian access is restricted by its military and political authorities, the risk of famine remains high throughout the territory. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza, released on Tuesday, paints a stark picture of ongoing hunger, finding that 96 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions.

The volatile security situation in Ituri province, located in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DR Congo), continues to pose a significant threat to civilians, forcing thousands to flee their homes and disrupting the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid. According to the latest update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), local authorities estimate that over 1 million people are currently displaced in Ituri province alone.

Amid rising regional tensions and a worsening humanitarian situation, all actors must put the interests of the Yemeni people first in order to restore peace and stability in the country, Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy for Yemen, told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. Grundberg warned that as the military escalation in the Middle East intensifies, Yemen risks being dragged further into it.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have urged solidarity with drought-affected people in Southern Africa and called on the international community to help scale up a timely emergency response to drought in the region, which includes the already crisis-hit countries of Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique. More than 61 million people in the region have been affected by drought and other extreme weather conditions caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon and exacerbated by the climate crisis.