A senior United Nations official warned Wednesday that "immediate action" is needed to stop fighting in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur State, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk. Sudan's brutal war has now lasted 17 months, with no end in sight to the humanitarian catastrophe it has caused.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has ruled out the possibility of transforming the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti into a UN peacekeeping force for the time being, recommending instead the creation of a UN support mission to assist the MSS, funded through the UN peacekeeping budget.
The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are experiencing one of the world's most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. In 2026, 18.5 million people in DRC require humanitarian assistance. The country also faces one of the world's most neglected displacement crises, with over 7.9 million women, children, and men forced to flee their homes. The humanitarian situation is marked by ongoing armed conflicts, massive displacement, climate shocks, and recurrent epidemics. Since May 2026, a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak puts even more lives at risk across multiple provinces.
South Sudan is in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis driven by years of conflict, political instability and recurring violence. Although the 2018 peace agreement helped reduce large-scale fighting, violence has continued in parts of the country, and in 2026 South Sudan faces a serious risk of renewed nationwide conflict amid escalating political tensions and a worsening security situation. The crisis has left an estimated 9.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, while severe funding shortfalls are further exacerbating the situation.
In a rare joint statement on Wednesday, the world's humanitarian leaders strongly condemned the growing and blatant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in conflicts across the globe. They warned that the problem lies not in the absence of legal rules, but in the failure to uphold them, the erosion of accountability, and the refusal to act, even in the face of atrocities.
A dozen independent United Nations experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, expressed alarm Thursday about the escalation of violence in Sudan, particularly sexual violence committed in the conflict, primarily by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In a statement, they said gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, is used as a tool of war and no longer concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur, but has spread to other parts of the country, such as Kordofan.
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.
As Haiti faces a worsening conflict involving heavily armed gangs, the number of people killed, injured or kidnapped has surged in 2023, according to a new United Nations report. The number of reported homicides last year increased by nearly 120 percent compared with 2022, with 4,789 victims reported during 2023. Haiti now has a homicide rate of 40.9 per 100,000 people, one of the highest in the world.
Amid the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Sudan, the heads of over 50 human rights and humanitarian organizations have sounded the alarm and called for more aid, solidarity and attention to the Sudan Crisis. In an open letter published Wednesday, the leaders of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also urged the United Nations Security Council (UN SC) to act. Meanwhile, the UN SC heard briefings on the ongoing atrocities in the country and those responsible for committing them.
Lebanon is facing a severe humanitarian crisis following massive Israeli airstrikes and ground operations since March 2, 2026, triggered by a broader regional escalation after the US-Israeli launch of a war on Iran and subsequent rocket and drone launches by Hezbollah. Despite a reduction in hostilities due to several nominal ceasefires, the humanitarian situation remains fragile. Ongoing Israeli attacks continues to endanger civilians, impede the safe return of displaced people, and prolong humanitarian needs.
Children are being denied access to life-saving humanitarian aid in conflict zones around the world in blatant disregard for international law, a senior United Nations official told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday. Speakers at the hearing focused in particular on the alarming situation for children in Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Sudan, Haiti, Yemen, Myanmar, Mali, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
United Nations humanitarian and human rights officials are calling on Russia to immediately cease its armed attacks in Ukraine, as the intensification of fighting in the northeast of the country in recent days is causing a surge in civilian casualties and displacement, and the destruction of critical infrastructure. They also urge an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for the UN Security Council to seek an end to the war.
United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is rapidly accelerating, with over half of the population facing acute hunger and needing immediate international support. Briefing the 15-member Council, Fletcher stressed that without urgent intervention, "hunger will deepen. Suffering will grow. More lives will be lost."
In a briefing to the UN Security Council on Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres painted a devastating portrait of Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis. He described the nation as caught in a "perfect storm of suffering" and urged the international community to act before time runs out, stressing that Haiti remains "shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded."
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Joyce Msuya, the deputy head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), delivered a blunt warning: armed conflict is driving the world’s most severe hunger crises, and without decisive political action, famine conditions will worsen in several regions. Msuya stressed that today's hunger is overwhelmingly human-made.
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).
Haiti's complex humanitarian emergency requires urgent attention and strategies beyond emergency response, three senior United Nations and European Union officials said on Monday as they wrapped up a four-day visit to the Caribbean nation. As clashes continue in Haiti, more than 578,000 Haitians, including 300,000 children, are internally displaced, and some 4.97 million people face acute hunger - nearly half the population - with 1.64 million women, children and men at risk of starvation.
The North of Central America (NCA) – also called the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) – is a sub-region comprising El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and one of the most dangerous places on earth. Nicaragua is bordering the Northern Triangle. Gang violence, threats, extortion, persecution and sexual violence have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety. In 2025, more than 4.6 million people in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were in need of humanitarian aid as the three countries continued to face violence, food insecurity, extreme weather events and mixed movements of refugees and migrants.
A sharp deterioration in the political and security situation in South Sudan threatens to undermine the peace gains achieved so far and plunge the country back into war, the head of the United Nations mission in the country warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday, stressing the need for all parties to cease hostilities and respect the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement in South Sudan, where three quarters of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance.
In June 2026, two powerful earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela, causing more than 4.500 deaths and at least 16,700 injuries. This catastrophe added to an already deep crisis; 7.9 million people in Venezuela required humanitarian assistance at the beginning of 2026. Political turmoil, socioeconomic decline, and strained public services had led to the worst humanitarian crisis in South America and one of the world's largest migration crises. Since 2014, more than 6.7 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of nearly 8 million who have left Venezuela.
