Ethiopia's government, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the UN World Food Program (WFP) issued a warning on Friday that the refugee response in Ethiopia is on the verge of collapse. Without an immediate injection of funds, essential life-saving services, including food, water, and healthcare, for over 1.1 million refugees will cease within weeks.
Emergency aid efforts for tens of thousands of refugees who have fled to Armenia from the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in Azerbaijan are gathering speed as the exodus from the disputed region shows few signs of letting up. Since Azerbaijan launched an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, some 100,000 refugees have arrived in Armenia, mainly in the country’s southern Syunik region.
A new United Nations report warns that acute food insecurity is worsening in 16 hunger hotspots across the globe, which threatens to push millions more people into famine or risk of famine, with time running out to avert widespread starvation. The report identifies armed conflict and violence, economic collapse, climate extremes, and an unprecedented decline in humanitarian funding as the main drivers of acute hunger.
Five United Nations agencies have called for urgent action to protect the most vulnerable children in the 15 countries hardest hit by an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis. The appeal was published in a joined statement Thursday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
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.
Senior United Nations officials today voiced shock and condemnation at increasing reports of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sudan – including conflict-related sexual violence against internally displaced and refugee women and girls – since clashes erupted in the country in mid-April. Fighting in Sudan has now entered its 12th week, with no end in sight after multiple failed ceasefire attempts.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon following a large-scale military operation launched by Israel against its northern neighbor this week. Lebanese health officials say nearly 700 people, including more than 50 children, at least 94 women and two UNHCR workers, have been killed and more than 2,000 injured by Israeli airstrikes since Monday.
A toxic mix of conflict, severe drought and devastating floods has forced more than 1 million people in Somalia to flee their homes since the beginning of this year – a record rate of displacement for the country, reported the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Wednesday.
As Syria enters its fourteenth year of civil war with no political resolution in sight, United Nations aid agencies are appealing to the international community to remember the plight of millions of people who continue to suffer from violence, devastation, destitution and abuse. Thirteen years of crisis have taken an unimaginable toll on the Syrian people, and the UN warns the crisis continues to wreak havoc on the population, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation.
The overall humanitarian situation in Burundi remains tense and serious human rights violations continue. Burundians are facing a humanitarian crisis characterized by food insecurity, extreme weather events and economic decline. The people of Burundi experience a triple burden: high climate risk, widespread poverty and insecurity. Even though the worst of the violence has subsided in 2025, the security situation remains precarious, with an unstable political situation and ongoing displacement outside the country.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that nearly 50,000 people in the Chocó region of western Colombia were under complete movement restrictions during the first week of May. OCHA said on Friday that civilians remain cut off from essential services due to the activities of non-state armed groups (NSAGs).
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.
As conflict continues to rage across parts of Sudan, including North Darfur State and the Kordofan region, pockets of relative safety have emerged over the past four months — spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to return home, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since last year, a further 320,000 refugees have returned to Sudan, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, some to assess the current situation before deciding to return.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appealed to the international community to give more emergency humanitarian aid to Somalia. In his second visit to the country since 2017, Guterres said the Somali people deserve the solidarity of the international community to effectively respond to the drought and continue the fight against the militant group al-Shabab.
Since the beginning of the year, renewed fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) has led to a dramatic deterioration of the humanitarian situation and mass displacement, particularly in North and South Kivu provinces. Widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have been reported, including summary executions, indiscriminate attacks, sexual violence, and the recruitment of children.
The United Nations and its humanitarian aid partners in South Sudan launched the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) on Monday, seeking US$1.7 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 5.4 million of the most vulnerable people across the country. In 2025, an estimated 9.3 million people - 69 percent of South Sudan's total population of 13.4 million - will require some form of humanitarian aid.
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.”
The Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reportedly advanced into the region's second largest city, Bukavu, after capturing the key town of Goma in January. The advance is causing chaos and panic among residents. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of displaced women, men and children in Goma, with nowhere to go, are being driven from their homes by the M23.
Millions of Sudanese face acute hunger, increased health risks, and death from recoverable injuries because UN agencies have been forced to suspend lifesaving activities in Sudan, where fighting has it made it too dangerous for them to operate in many regions. Clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continued for 15 consecutive days since 15 April, despite the announcement of an extension of the ceasefire for an additional 72 hours from the evening of 27 April.
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.
