Internal Displacement

The United Nations and international aid agencies are warning that the lives of millions of people in Sudan are at risk as the world turns its attention away from the enormous humanitarian needs facing the war-torn country. Today, Sudan entered a year of war that many have called the world's largest human-made crisis, with half the population in need of life-saving assistance, tens of thousands killed and injured, and millions uprooted from their homes.

Humanitarian organizations are deeply concerned about the rising number of civilian casualties, including women and children, the large-scale displacement, and the increasing humanitarian needs resulting from the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon. UN officials and aid agencies continue to call on all parties to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, humanitarian personnel, and health workers.

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.

At least 46 people, half of them children, were killed early Monday in a militia attack on a camp for displaced people in the northeastern province of Ituri - the latest in a series of attacks by non-state armed groups on forcibly displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo, DRC). United Nations agencies have condemned the attack and expressed shock and horror at its brutality.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today expressed grave concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation civilians face in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). UNHCR said intensifying violence and conflict are taking a heavy toll on innocent civilians, including hundreds of thousands who are attempting to seek safety on the fringes of the conflict zones.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the situation for civilians in Sudan’s volatile Darfur region is worsening as fighting between the country’s two rival armed groups escalates and intercommunal tensions rise. OCHA reported Friday that renewed clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur “have killed dozens of civilians and wounded many more; thousands have been displaced and civilian property has been destroyed or damaged.”

Ten days after the deadly earthquake struck Colombia, the United Nations and its partners launched their humanitarian response appeal on Friday. According to Colombian authorities, at least 319 people have been killed and more than 280,000 people have been affected overall. The 7.4-magnitude earthquake destroyed over 31,000 homes and damaged thousands of educational, community, and health facilities.

Four United Nations agencies are calling for urgent international attention to address the immense suffering and growing dangers facing the Sudanese population. Over 900 days of brutal fighting, widespread human rights violations, famine, and the collapse of essential services have pushed millions, particularly women and children, to the brink of survival.

United Nations officials say they are deeply concerned by the alarming deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the eastern province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, DRC). According to the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), clashes have resumed in several parts of the towns of Masisi, Rutshuru and Sake, while fighting is also moving closer to the town of Kanyabanyonga.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously renewed for another year an arms embargo on conflict parties in Sudan's Darfur region, where war between rival generals has intensified in recent months, exacerbating the world's largest humanitarian crisis. But human rights groups and UN experts say Wednesday's renewal of the embargo does not go far enough and should include all of Sudan.

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 25.6 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continue to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity. In a joint statement on Thursday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that armed violence, ongoing conflict and soaring food prices are fueling acute food insecurity among displaced people and returnees.

The Sahel region continues to grapple with a complex humanitarian crisis, with approximately 4 million people displaced across the Central Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and neighboring regions — around two-thirds more than five years ago. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns that this crisis is escalating due to a mix of factors, including insecurity, limited access to services and livelihoods, and the devastating effects of climate change.

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.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that it has been forced to drastically reduce critical lifesaving assistance in Afghanistan to millions of vulnerable people due to lack of funds.  In March, at least four million Afghanis will receive just half of what they need to get by.

The United Nations relief chief, Martin Griffiths, warns that nearly nine months of war have tipped Sudan into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day. In a statement issued Thursday, Griffiths said that in 2024, the international community – particularly those with influence on the parties to the conflict in Sudan – must take decisive and immediate action to stop the fighting and safeguard humanitarian operations to help millions of civilians.

A new United Nations report published Tuesday details a further, shocking rise in gang violence in Haiti as criminal gangs forge alliances and expand to rural areas previously considered safe – killing, raping, kidnapping, and destroying property, among other human rights abuses. The report, released by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October, in accordance with international human rights norms and standards.