WFP

Children make up about half of all armed gang members in Haiti, the head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, calling for their protection to be stepped up. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) says it is ramping up its operations in Haiti in the face of a hunger crisis caused mainly by violence and displacement. Some 5.5 million Haitians are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024, a number that is expected to rise.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is warning that the number of children requiring emergency treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh has surged by 27 percent in February 2025 compared to the same period last year, pushing more young children into life-threatening hunger. The warning comes as severe cuts in food and nutrition assistance loom, putting the lives of thousands of boys and girls at risk.

A prominent international human rights group is calling for the deployment of a protection force in Sudan following a recent wave of attacks on civilians in Al Jazirah state, widely blamed on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the warring sides in the country's ongoing conflict. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Sunday that the situation has become so grim that a mission is needed to protect the Sudanese population.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today expressed grave concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation civilians face in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). UNHCR said intensifying violence and conflict are taking a heavy toll on innocent civilians, including hundreds of thousands who are attempting to seek safety on the fringes of the conflict zones.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations continue to scale up much-needed relief efforts in the Gaza Strip. In a statement on Thursday, OCHA reiterated that maintaining the ceasefire is "crucial to keep this life-saving work going," amid reports that the truce's continuation is threatened by reported disagreements over its implementation.

Deep concerns persist for the tens of thousands of people believed to be trapped in the town of El Fasher, located in the western Darfur region of Sudan. However, United Nations aid agencies believe they may soon gain access to the embattled city, where famine has been confirmed. Meanwhile, in South Kordofan State, drone strikes in and around the state capital, Kadugli, and the town of Dilling, point to a rapidly deteriorating security situation.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that civilians, including humanitarian workers, are facing serious threats to their safety as hostilities escalate in northern Syria and spread to other parts of the country. The fighting also continues to cause severe damage to critical infrastructure and disrupt aid operations, while Syria is already facing one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.

Millions of Somalis face heightened food insecurity as below-average rainfall between October and December 2024, linked to the La Niña weather phenomenon, threatens to reverse recent gains in food security. United Nations agencies warn that without immediate funding for humanitarian interventions, Somalia - a country teetering on the brink of famine in late 2022 - could plunge back into a severe hunger crisis.

United Nations agencies warn that hunger in conflict-ridden Sudan has reached record levels, with more than 20.3 million people across the country, over 42 percent of the population, facing acute hunger, including 6.3 million who are “one step away from famine.” According to the latest IPC food assessment in Sudan, the number of people projected to be food insecure between July and September has nearly doubled from the last analysis, conducted in May 2022.

The latest analysis of acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip concludes that as long as Israel's war on Gaza continues and humanitarian access is restricted by its military and political authorities, the risk of famine remains high throughout the territory. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza, released on Tuesday, paints a stark picture of ongoing hunger, finding that 96 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions.

The situation for civilians in the Gaza Strip is getting worse by the day. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that food stocks and other essential supplies in Gaza are largely depleted or have run out, and the situation is desperate as no humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered the territory for more than eight weeks. In addition, escalating Israeli attacks, movement restrictions and the expansion of military zones have made humanitarian operations nearly impossible, putting civilians and aid workers at extreme risk.

Acute food insecurity is set to increase in scale and severity in 18 hunger hotspots, a new United Nations early warning report said on Wednesday. The report highlights the urgent need for humanitarian assistance to prevent famine in Gaza and Sudan, and further deterioration of the devastating hunger crises in Haiti, Mali and South Sudan. It also warns of the lingering effects of El Niño and the looming threat of La Niña, bringing more climate extremes that could disrupt livelihoods.

A new joint United Nations report warns that people in five hunger hotspots — Sudan, Palestine (Occupied Palestinian Territory), South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali — face extreme hunger, starvation, and death in the next five months unless urgent humanitarian action is swiftly taken to de-escalate conflict, stop displacement, and provide full-scale aid.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that violent clashes in parts of the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continue to harm civilians and force them to flee their homes. In parallel, the ongoing conflict in the east of the country has exacerbated the food crisis, with an estimated 27.7 million Congolese facing acute hunger.

The entire population in the Gaza Strip faces an imminent risk of famine, with more than half a million people already in catastrophic conditions, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warns. Meanwhile, after days of intense negotiations on a humanitarian pause and the delivery of aid to the war-torn Gaza Strip, the United States abstained Friday on a United Nations Security Council (SC) resolution, allowing its adoption by the 15-member body.

The food security situation in Yemen’s districts under the control of the Government of Yemen (GoY) slightly improved during the first five months of this year, while acute malnutrition increased, compared to the same period in 2022, a new analysis suggests. However, the outlook for the period between June until the end of 2023 indicates the need for more investments, as the modest improvements may be eroded, UN agencies warned on Thursday.

After six weeks of conflict, the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than 13.6 million children in Sudan are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, the highest number ever recorded in the country. UNICEF said on Tuesday that the impact of ongoing violence continues to threaten the lives and futures of families and children, leaving basic services cut off and many health facilities closed, damaged, or destroyed.

A local "humanitarian pause" allowed the launch of the emergency polio immunization campaign, with nearly 87,000 children vaccinated in central Gaza on the first day of the campaign on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of young Palestinian children are on track to be vaccinated. Despite this, Israeli air and land bombardment continues throughout the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian deaths, injuries, maiming, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.