United Nations Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres has appealed to the international community to give more emergency humanitarian aid to Somalia. In his second visit to the country since 2017, Guterres said the Somali people deserve the solidarity of the international community to effectively respond to the drought and continue the fight against the militant group al-Shabab.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that ongoing armed violence in Somalia's Hiraan and Gedo regions has displaced more than 100,000 people over the past two months. The recent escalation of clashes has severely impacted parts of Hirshabelle State in the center, as well as Jubaland State in the south, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.
Haitian leaders are rushing to meet a looming deadline to name members of a transitional council that will take power following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that Haiti is on the brink of a devastating hunger crisis, with humanitarian operations at risk of grinding to a halt amid rampant violence as armed gangs tighten their grip on the capital, Port-au-Prince.
A devastating earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday, causing widespread destruction and leaving thousands of families in urgent need of assistance. Initial reports indicate significant damage in central Myanmar, in Mandalay City, near the epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Reports citing sources in Mandalay indicate that at least hundreds have died and thousands of injured are overwhelming hospitals.
Hunger has reached alarming levels in Myanmar and the situation is set to deteriorate further in 2025, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Wednesday. A staggering 15 million people are expected to go hungry this year, rising from 13.3 million in 2024. The warning comes as Myanmar nears four years since the military seized power in the Southeast Asian country.
United Nations Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres has instructed UN agencies, funds and programs to suspend all activities in Yemen's Houthi-controlled Saada governorate for security reasons, his spokesperson said on Monday. The measure follows the recent detention by Houthi rebels of eight more United Nations staff members, including six working in the governorate.
Families in Sudan are eating grass to survive in an escalating hunger crisis, with famine-level malnutrition spreading across half of Sudan's 18 states, the international humanitarian organization Save the Children warned on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the United Nations reports that fighting continues to rage in North Darfur, West Darfur, Khartoum, North Kordofan and Al Jazira states, despite repeated calls for the warring parties to cease fighting, ensure the protection of civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.
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.
Myanmar’s ruling junta “is losing” its war against a coalition of domestic forces but still remains highly dangerous, a United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country said Wednesday. Meanwhile, the human rights and humanitarian crisis continues to worsen in Myanmar, with more than 18 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations warns that the lack of humanitarian funding is endangering the lives of millions of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). Many aid agencies have been forced to scale back their operations, which has disrupted critical services for those in desperate need. The UN humanitarian office is calling on the international community to take urgent action to address these severe funding gaps and "stave off a humanitarian tragedy."
Hunger has reached unprecedented levels in Haiti amid a deepening security crisis. Nearly five million people - almost half of the country's population - are now facing acute food insecurity, including more than 1.6 million people at the emergency level, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released Friday. Meanwhile, gangs have extended their control and influence to more than 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
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.
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.
Two years on from the Hamas-led large-scale attacks that triggered Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, it is Palestinian civilians who continue to bear the brunt of this conflict, with widespread atrocity crimes being committed by Israeli forces. Following the latest military assault, the situation in the territory, where a man-made famine has been confirmed, has further deteriorated, leaving more than two million people fighting for survival. Meanwhile, talks on a US-driven peace plan continued on Tuesday in Egypt, raising glimmers of hope for an end to the brutal conflict.
The European Union (EU) announced on Friday €63 million (US$75 million) in humanitarian aid to help millions affected by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, as well as nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees living in neighboring countries, primarily Bangladesh. The European Commission’s allocation comes as the crisis sparked by the military coup in Myanmar enters its sixth year.
The head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has warned Thursday that conflict and climate change are pushing millions of Somalis to the brink of hunger, as the agency is running out of funds to help them. The longest drought on record has killed millions of livestock and decimated crops. It has recently given way to disastrous flash floods in the south of the country.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that stepped-up fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan puts civilian lives at risk. In a major escalation on Friday, Pakistan carried out airstrikes and ground attacks on targets inside Afghanistan, aggravating the country's severe humanitarian and human rights crises.
More than a dozen humanitarian organizations have called Wednesday for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and a massive increase in humanitarian assistance to avoid famine in the war-torn Gaza Strip. The United Nations, independent rights experts, human rights groups and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned that Israel is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza.
United Nations agencies warn that hunger in conflict-ridden Sudan has reached record levels, with more than 20.3 million people across the country, over 42 percent of the population, facing acute hunger, including 6.3 million who are “one step away from famine.” According to the latest IPC food assessment in Sudan, the number of people projected to be food insecure between July and September has nearly doubled from the last analysis, conducted in May 2022.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to deteriorate in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of ongoing violence amid armed attacks and widespread looting.
