The world is plagued by further humanitarian crises that should neither be forgotten nor neglected. Though DONARE presently does not compile a complete crisis profile, here are snapshots of some of these humanitarian situations. The emergency situations include: the crisis in Madagascar due to ongoing food insecurity and vulnerability to climate-related disasters; the crisis in Malawi due to drought and flooding; and the ongoing crisis in the Western Sahara.
Hurricane Melissa has left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean after making landfall in Jamaica and Cuba earlier this week, severely impacting Haiti in the process. It is one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic. Widespread damage, severe flooding and mass displacement have been reported across several countries, with humanitarian organizations warning that recovery efforts will require sustained international support.
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 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed extreme concern over the impact of escalating violence on civilians in Sudan, especially in Kordofan and North Darfur. On Friday, OCHA reported that the humanitarian situation in the besieged towns of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan has continued to deteriorate.
Acute malnutrition is surging in areas controlled by the Government of Yemen (GoY), with the West Coast reaching "extremely critical" levels for the first time, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in Yemen said on Monday. After nine years of war, Yemen remains one of the world's most severe and protracted humanitarian crises, with an estimated 18.2 million people - more than half the population - in need of assistance and protection.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that, despite the ceasefire, UN staff and facilities in the Gaza Strip continue to come under fire, posing an unacceptable risk to their safety. Meanwhile, attacks against civilians have continued, with more than 340 people killed and over 880 injured by Israeli forces since the ceasefire took effect on October 10.
Some 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, representing one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to a new report released Wednesday by five United Nations specialized agencies. The report warns that the world is significantly off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030, with alarming numbers of people experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition.
Hurricane Melissa — a powerful storm that made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale — is currently sweeping across Cuba, devastating the region and leaving dozens dead. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), evacuations, preparations, and relief efforts are ongoing as Melissa continues to impact the Caribbean.
Two years on from the Hamas-led large-scale attacks that triggered Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, it is Palestinian civilians who continue to bear the brunt of this conflict, with widespread atrocity crimes being committed by Israeli forces. Following the latest military assault, the situation in the territory, where a man-made famine has been confirmed, has further deteriorated, leaving more than two million people fighting for survival. Meanwhile, talks on a US-driven peace plan continued on Tuesday in Egypt, raising glimmers of hope for an end to the brutal conflict.
Over 735 million people were facing hunger in the world in 2022, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published Wednesday jointly by five United Nations agencies. The new estimates indicate hunger is no longer on the rise at the global level, but is still far above pre-pandemic levels and far off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Zero Hunger by 2030.
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.
On March 28, 2025, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar, causing widespread destruction and reducing homes, hospitals, schools, and vital infrastructure to rubble in areas inhabited by more than 17 million people. It was the strongest earthquake in Myanmar for over a century and one of the deadliest in recent history. The main quake was followed by a powerful magnitude 6.2 aftershock, which further compounded the devastation.
Humanitarian aid and human rights are two concepts that are closely related, yet distinct in their approach to addressing issues of global concern. Both seek to promote the well-being of individuals and communities, but they do so through different means and with different objectives in mind. At their core, humanitarian action and human rights share a common goal of promoting human dignity and alleviating human suffering. At the center of both ideas are humans and the concept of humanity.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the humanitarian crisis in Haiti continues to worsen, largely due to ongoing violence. According to an OCHA update on Friday, more than 700,000 people are displaced in the country, more than half of whom are children, with the latest violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, displacing an additional 12,000 people in recent weeks.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that Israeli displacement orders followed by airstrikes continue to drive panic among civilians in Lebanon, particularly in the suburbs of the capital Beirut. According to Lebanese officials, more than 3,300 people, including more than 200 children, have been killed and more than 14,000 injured by Israeli airstrikes since October 2023, most of them within the past six weeks.
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.
Amid continuing uncertainty over the impact of deep cuts in United States funding for humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the United Nations program coordinating the fight against HIV/AIDS warned on Monday that an additional 6.3 million people will die over the next four years if support is not restored. Several UN agencies have also recently warned that the radical cut in US support - on top of chronic underinvestment in humanitarian work worldwide - is putting millions of lives at risk across the globe.
This Sunday marks 100 days since the devastating war in the Gaza Strip began, killing tens of thousands of civilians – among them more than 10,000 children - and displacing millions of people, following the major attacks that Palestinian armed groups carried out against Israel on October 7 last year. United Nations officials say Palestinians in Gaza are in a state of desperation after three months of being militarily battered and left without sufficient supplies of food, water and medicine.
As the brutal war in Sudan shows no signs of ending after nearly three years of raging conflict, UN human rights chief Volker Türk called on the international community on Monday to intervene immediately and stop mass killings and other flagrant war crimes against civilians. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, UN aid agencies warned that famine and malnutrition continue to spread across Sudan, with children wasting away while the world looks away.
Retaliatory attacks by Israeli security forces have killed more than 25,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, including about 70 percent women and children, and injured more than 62,000 others. The carnage follows a large-scale attack on Israelis and foreign nationals by Palestinian armed groups on October 7 last year. Meanwhile, heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea continue across much of Gaza, causing more and more civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction.
