WFP

Nearly 580,000 people, including 300,000 children, are internally displaced across Haiti, a 60 percent increase since March, according to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN agency says the rise is due to the deterioration of the security situation in the metropolitan area of Port-Au-Prince, the country's capital, particularly between the end of February and April. Haiti is now the country with the largest number of displacements globally due to crime-related violence.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have urged solidarity with drought-affected people in Southern Africa and called on the international community to help scale up a timely emergency response to drought in the region, which includes the already crisis-hit countries of Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique. More than 61 million people in the region have been affected by drought and other extreme weather conditions caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon and exacerbated by the climate crisis.

As Sudan has entered its tenth month of conflict, United Nations agencies launched a US$4.1 billion appeal Wednesday to provide urgent aid for 14.7 million people inside Sudan and 2.7 million refugees and host communities in five neighboring countries. Due to the war, half of Sudan’s population – some 25 million people – needs humanitarian assistance and protection. More than 1.6 million people have fled across Sudan’s borders to the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, as of Sunday, at least 93,000 people have been displaced due to escalating hostilities in Syria’s Suweida Governorate, both within Suweida and towards the neighboring governorates of Dara and Rural Damascus. Credible reports detail widespread atrocities perpetrated by different actors in the governorate.

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 Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, Violette Kakyomya, warned on Monday that the country is facing multiples humanitarian crises and called for urgent support.  The conflict in Sudan is having a strong impact on neighboring Chad, with nearly 490,000 Sudanese refugees – mostly women and children – having crossed the border into the eastern part of the Sahel country to seek safety. In total, there are currently one million refugees living in Chad. 

The United Nations and Ethiopia’s Federal Government - in a joint statement Thursday - have called for urgent funding, to respond to food insecurity across northern regions as an estimated 4 million people in Tigray, Afar, Amhara, and parts of the Oromia, Southern and Southwest regions are affected by devastating drought. While the situation in many of these areas is already alarming, there is still an opportunity to avert a serious humanitarian catastrophe, the UN and the Government stressed.

The United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region has told the UN Security Council Wednesday that the fragile ceasefire between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebels in North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) seems to be holding. Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the security situation in neighboring Ituri Province remains extremely concerning due to ongoing attacks against civilians. 

The number of Rohingya taking risky boat trips across the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea to flee mounting hunger and hopelessness in the refugee camps of Bangladesh this year has topped last year’s numbers and could keep rising, rights groups and aid agencies say. A growing number of desperate Rohingya refugees continues to arrive in Indonesia in overcrowded vessels, as conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh continue to worsen, where food rations have been significantly cut.

Half of families in Sri Lanka are forced to reduce the amount they feed their children, according to a survey by the humanitarian organization Save the Children International, as the country’s economic downturn spirals further into a full-blown hunger crisis nearly a year after the government defaulted on its debt. The non-governmental organization (NGO) said today the government and international community must act now to prevent the country’s children from becoming a lost generation.

The international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Friday expressed grave concern about the intensifying crisis in Mozambique, which has compounded an already dire humanitarian situation. In a statement, NRC said it has had to suspend much of its relief operations as movement in the field remains too dangerous.

On 6 February two devastating earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude took place in Turkey’s Kahramanmaraş Province, but more than a month after the disaster hit, needs remain immense, while funding has been slow. The Turkey Earthquake Appeal of $1 billion is currently only 10.4 per cent funded with $104.3 million received. The Syria Earthquake Flash Appeal has received $218 million, or 55 per cent, of the nearly $400 million needed.

The United Nations is sounding the alarm over the deepening humanitarian crisis in Syria, with officials warning that a severe lack of funding threatens to undermine fragile progress and exacerbate the suffering of millions. On Wednesday, UN officials briefing the UN Security Council also highlighted the urgent need for increased international support for the country's political transition, including sanctions relief and political engagement.

Three months after the horrific earthquakes of February 6 in Turkey and Northwest Syria, resulting in over 60,000 deaths, thousands of injuries, and massive damage to infrastructure, the humanitarian needs across the earthquake affected region remain acute, warns the nongovernmental organization (NGO) CARE International. In a statement Tuesday, CARE said it remains committed to continue responding to increasing humanitarian needs in a fragile context.

The United Nations, together with the Government of Haiti and other partner organizations, on Tuesday launched the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Haiti, which requires US$674 million. The HRP aims to provide food, shelter, health, education and protection services to 3.6 million Haitians over the next 12 months. More than 5.5 million people - including 3 million children - are in need of humanitarian assistance this year as the security situation in the Caribbean country deteriorates.

Six days after a devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, the full extent of the damage is coming to light, particularly in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar. According to the United Nations, more than 2,200 people have been confirmed dead, at least 3,640 have been injured, and over 6,750 houses have been destroyed, which has affected at least 500,000 people, according to the European Union. As the situation unfolds, however, these figures are likely to rise, as unofficial figures communicated by the Taliban already indicate.

In a gross violation of international humanitarian law, Israel has blocked the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip since Sunday. The total blockade came amid stalled cessation of hostilities talks. The Red Cross Movement warns that the closure of all crossings for aid into Gaza poses a grave risk to the millions of people who have been struggling to survive for sixteen months.