Humanitarian Response Plan

With nearly 1.2 million people in Somalia already affected by heavy rains and flooding and more expected, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has released US$25 million on Thursday to help people in the country brace against the impact of these disasters. OCHA reported Wednesday that torrential rains and floods have displaced some 335,000 men, women and children from their homes. 

The international non-governmental organization (NGO) CARE has called Monday on the international community to pay attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan and increase funding. The war in Sudan, which entered its tenth month last week, continues to cause extreme suffering for millions across the country and in neighboring states, with women and children experiencing the conflict’s impacts most acutely.

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has issued a blunt warning about the worsening political crisis in the country, urging the African Union and the UN Security Council to act swiftly before South Sudan descends into all-out war again. In a statement released Monday, the Commission highlighted ongoing armed violence, human rights violations, and the displacement of civilians, all of which have worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

A senior United Nations official has called Wednesday for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Sudan, saying there is no alternative. Meanwhile, UN agencies warn health conditions are deteriorating in Sudan and neighboring countries as growing numbers of people flee escalating fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate halt to fighting in Sudan on Thursday and appealed for a three-day cease-fire to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to enable trapped civilians to seek safety and supplies. Clashes have entered their seventh day in Sudan on Friday. More than 413 people have been killed due to fighting in the capital Khartoum and several other states, including Darfur. Another 3,551 people have been injured.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it will be forced to end food assistance to 2.5 million Syrians next month if it does not receive at least $180 million in donations to fund programs through the end of this year. The announcement came as the European Union (EU) gears up to host the seventh Brussels Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” on Wednesday and Thursday.

Gang violence in Haiti continues to have a devastating impact on the country's population, according to a new human rights report by the United Nations political mission in Haiti (BINUH). Tuesday's report, which covers the last quarter of 2024, says at least 1,732 people were killed and 411 injured as a result of direct gang violence, as well as self-defense groups and police operations.

United Nations officials say talks between Sudan's warring parties continued in Geneva on Friday, focusing on regional peace efforts as well as an immediate cessation of hostilities and a resolution of the more than 14-month conflict through dialogue. The development comes as fighting rages in many parts of the country, which has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with some 25 million people - half of Sudan's population - in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The United Nations and partner agencies renewed a call Tuesday for countries to immediately suspend mass deportations of Afghan nationals, citing the onset of a harsh winter and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The call comes amid reports that Iran and Pakistan have collectively forced out more than 500,000 Afghans over the past two months, with the number of deportees growing by the day.

Only 47 percent of hunger funding needs through the United Nations humanitarian system are met, leaving a hunger funding gap of 53%, according to the international non-governmental organization (NGO) Action Against Hunger. Released Wednesday, the 2023 Hunger Funding Gap report also found that countries experiencing the worst hunger crises received less hunger funding than countries with lower rates of hunger.

A new report released Tuesday by the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) paints a grim picture of the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State. Civilians there continue to suffer killings, torture, forced displacement, and destruction reminiscent of the 2017 atrocities committed by the military against the Rohingya. The report comes as 21.9 million people in Myanmar require humanitarian assistance, the third-highest number worldwide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that disease outbreaks, malnutrition and non-communicable diseases are rising in war-torn Sudan, with devastating consequences for millions of people forced to flee their homes in the face of escalating violence. Since conflict erupted April 15, some 6 million people have become displaced inside Sudan or have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

The confirmation of famine in parts of Sudan's Darfur region must serve as a wake-up call for the international community, a senior United Nations official said on Tuesday. Stopping the famine in Sudan requires political will and leadership, he told the UN Security Council, as speakers urged the warring parties to heed the international community's repeated calls to stop the fighting and avoid further deterioration of an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Senior United Nations officials on Monday expressed alarm at the continued escalation of conflict in Myanmar, amid reports of the direct targeting of civilians in aerial bombardments and the abduction and forced recruitment of children by the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). Meanwhile, 18.6 million women, children and men in Myanmar are in need of humanitarian assistance - the fifth-largest number in the world.

Amid continuing uncertainty over the impact of deep cuts in United States funding for humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the United Nations program coordinating the fight against HIV/AIDS warned on Monday that an additional 6.3 million people will die over the next four years if support is not restored. Several UN agencies have also recently warned that the radical cut in US support - on top of chronic underinvestment in humanitarian work worldwide - is putting millions of lives at risk across the globe.

A combination of protracted armed conflict, internal displacement, and restricted humanitarian access risks pushing nearly one million children under the age of five in Mali into acute malnutrition by December 2023 – with at least 200,000 at risk of dying of hunger if life-saving aid fails to reach them, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a joined statement Friday.

United Nations investigators say that human rights violations and abuse in Syria are sowing the seeds for further violence and radicalization, despite diplomatic efforts to stabilize the situation in the country, including through its re-admission to the League of Arab States. The three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria presented this bleak outlook Friday to the UN Human Rights Council.

As the current hostilities in Sudan are entering the third month, the humanitarian situation across the country continues to deteriorate and a catastrophic food crisis looms, if fighting does not stop.  Since the clashes started on April 15, more than 2.1 million people have been displaced, including nearly 1.7 million within the country and about half a million to neighboring countries. Among the displaced are more than 1 million children.