Norwegian Refugee Council

Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group and the Congolese army for control of Goma, a key eastern city and the capital of North Kivu province, a senior United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DR Congo) said on Wednesday. The fighting has displaced at least 700,000 people in Goma and surrounding areas since early January, creating a dire humanitarian situation.

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.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that, six months after the ceasefire agreement took effect in the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian response led by the UN and partner aid agencies remains constrained, leaving people in dire conditions. According to OCHA, people across Gaza are still exposed to lethal force and the risk of further casualties, destroyed property, and displacement, which deepens humanitarian needs.

Leading international humanitarian organizations on Friday have expressed shock and deep concern for civilians in the Gaza Strip after Israel ordered the entire population - more than 1.1 million people - to leave the northern part of Gaza as airstrikes continue and the humanitarian crisis worsens.  Fearing catastrophic consequences, they warn that neither the demand to leave nor the total siege of Gaza imposed by Israel is compatible with international humanitarian law (IHL). 

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners, together with the Government of Mali, launched on Tuesday a $770 million Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) to help millions of people across Mali this year. The plan aims to respond to the urgent needs of 4.7 million people affected by conflict, displacement, health emergencies and climate shocks, out of a projected 6.4 million people in need of assistance in 2025.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that ongoing hostilities in Yemen are forcing people to flee their homes, causing civilian casualties and putting already strained humanitarian operations under increasing pressure. According to OCHA, around 125,000 people had been displaced by renewed fighting as of Monday.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) World Vision reports that health facilities across Somalia supported by the NGO have recorded a sharp increase in the number of children admitted with severe malnutrition. In the first three months of this year, more than 3,500 children were diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) — marking a 60 percent increase compared to the same period in 2025, when just over 2,000 cases were reported.

One month after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela’s north-central coast, humanitarian organizations are drawing attention to the long-term effects communities are still facing, including displacement, damaged infrastructure, and disrupted essential services. The earthquakes killed nearly 5,400 people, injured more than 16,000, and left thousands homeless.

Two years after launching a war against the Gaza Strip, Israel signed a ceasefire and hostage release agreement with the armed group Hamas. The agreement aims to pause hostilities in the devastated territory and raise hope for an end to the brutal conflict marked by widespread atrocities perpetrated by Israeli officials. More than 237,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, injured, or maimed in Israeli attacks.

In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday confirmed that Palestinians have a right to be protected from acts of genocide, ordering Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent actions that amount to genocide. Among the provisional measures, the Court also ordered Israel to allow the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the war-shattered enclave and to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services to Palestinians there.

The United Nations says no goods for humanitarian operations are entering the Gaza Strip through either the Rafah or Kerem Shalom crossings because of Israeli military operations around the crossings, with bombardments throughout the day. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says this is disastrous for the relief effort in the embattled territory, where 2.3 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.