IDPs

As the war intensifies in the town of El Obeid in Sudan’s North Kordofan State, filling a jerrycan with water has become extremely dangerous for women and girls. During the day, drones attack water points, and at night, women who venture out to fill a bucket risk being raped. On Friday, UN Women warned of this dual terror, which has made accessing water a deadly gamble, while access to food, healthcare, and other essential services is severely limited, particularly in displacement sites.

Nearly a year into the war in Gaza, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic. Israel's all-out war and blockade have devastated Gaza, displaced 1.9 million people who have been repeatedly forced into ever smaller areas, and cut off access to desperately needed food, water and medicine. Meanwhile, another humanitarian disaster looms in the region as Israeli security forces escalate their war against Lebanon.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the security situation in eastern South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, has sharply worsened since early December following an escalation of armed clashes in Uvira, Walungu, Mwenga, Shabunda, Kabare, Fizi, and Kalehe territories. The number of people affected by the fighting has risen significantly, with preliminary reports indicating that more than half a million people have been displaced.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued an alert on Thursday regarding the impact of armed violence on civilians in southeastern parts of the Central African Republic (CAR). Though the situation has improved in parts of the country, violence continues to exacerbate the situation in several regions, including the southeast, where approximately 50,000 people require humanitarian assistance.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) is extremely concerned about the devastating consequences for displaced people of recurring attacks by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) and is calling for humanitarian efforts to be urgently supported. With 7.5 million displaced women, children, and men, the situation in the DRC is one of the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. 

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.

The heads of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) warned in a rare joint statement on Tuesday that escalating conflict is driving record levels of displacement, hunger and gender-based violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) said that without urgent international action, the situation threatens to push the DRC to the brink of catastrophe.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday urged all actors in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) to stop the violence that is taking an enormous toll on the civilian population, in particular children. Violent clashes between non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and government forces have forcibly displaced more than 450,000 people in the last six weeks in Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu Province. 

In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday, United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi launched the humanitarian and refugee response plans for 2025. The UN is appealing for $3.3 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to 8.2 million of the 14.9 million Ukrainians whose lives have been upended by Russia's invasion of their country nearly three years ago.

Colombia's Catatumbo region has descended into an acute humanitarian crisis following intensified violent clashes between non-state armed groups (NSAGs), in particular the National Liberation Army (ELN) and splinter groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). With more than 80 people killed in armed violence, President Gustavo Petro Urrego suspended peace talks with the ELN.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns violence against children in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) has reached unprecedented levels.  In a media briefing Friday, a UNICEF representative said there “are few worse places, if any, to be a child”, as more than 2.8 million girls and boys are bearing the brunt of the crisis in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) remains critical with the population continuing to face insecurity, while the ongoing conflict in Sudan is exacerbating the situation in CAR’s northern region. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that more than 41,000 people in central and northern regions of the Central African Republic (CAR) will lose access to vital healthcare services by June due to funding shortfalls. The UN's primary health partner, the International Medical Corps, which assists displaced individuals in these regions, is expected to cease operations due to a lack of funding.

The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports Thursday that up to 300,000 people have fled Al-Jazirah state following the clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazirah State. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), half of them are children. Around 7 million people have been already displaced inside and outside Sudan since fighting broke out between the warring parties on April 15, 2023.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners, along with the Central African Republic government, launched the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) this week, calling for US$264 million — the lowest requested amount in recent years — to help 1.3 million of the most vulnerable people in the country. Although humanitarian needs remain staggeringly high, aid organizations are forced to focus on the most urgent, life-saving priorities due to a global collapse in funding.

Israel's relentless bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, causing further civilian deaths, injuries, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure. The United Nations has expressed grave concern over Israel's latest evacuation order for large parts of Khan Younis, which covers about one-third of the Gaza Strip and affects up to 250,000 civilians.

Officials in Chad say urgent international help is needed to save the lives of more than 2 million of the most vulnerable people caught in a severe humanitarian crisis caused by conflict and climate shocks. The Sahel country is one of the poorest nations in the world, and food is particularly scarce now as hunger peaks in the June-August lean season between harvests.

Seven years after the historic peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), entire remote communities remain caught in an endless cycle of conflict and confinements. The international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) today strongly urged armed groups to cease confinement strategies, allowing people to regain fundamental rights and essential services. 

The number of people killed in several days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad, followed by large-scale massacres, has risen to more than 1,000, a human rights monitoring group said on Saturday, marking some of the deadliest violence since Syria's civil war began 14 years ago. Since Thursday, escalating hostilities in the governorates of Tartus, Lattakia, Homs and Hama have also resulted in civilian injuries, displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure.

While negotiations for a comprehensive cease-fire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip are reportedly underway between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, a US-led proposal has not been officially accepted by either side. At the same time, the carnage and humanitarian catastrophe on the ground continues as the war entered its ninth month, with people dying across Gaza from Israeli attacks, starvation, or lack of basic resources.