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).
Amid escalating violence and intensifying humanitarian needs across Colombia, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday that years of progress in protecting and integrating displaced populations are at risk of being lost, and the most vulnerable will pay the highest price. UNHCR said refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) may be forced to move again in search of safety and stability, while returnees will not find conditions to resettle.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Danish Refugee Council (DRC) predicts that global forced displacement will surge in the next two years, with 4.2 million people newly displaced in 2025 alone, and a further 2.5 million people expected to flee their communities in search of safety and protection in 2026. The grim forecast comes at a time when global displacement is already at an all-time high, with some 123 million people currently forcibly displaced around the world.
As global humanitarian funding plummets due to extreme funding cuts by the United States, the United Nations on Thursday released US$110 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to scale up life-saving assistance in ten of the world's most underfunded and neglected crises in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In total, more than 307 million people around the world are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
A United Nations fact-finding mission warns that repression in Venezuela has worsened following flawed presidential elections on July 28, with Nicolás Maduro's government crushing all dissent in a bid to retain power "at any price." Tuesday's report comes as there is no end in sight to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, with at least 7.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that forced displacement around the world has reached historic highs, driven by conflict, persecution, human rights abuses, the climate crisis and other events disturbing public order. In a report released on Thursday, UNHCR said the number of forcibly displaced people continued to rise this year and now stands at 120 million.
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has released US$125 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to boost underfunded humanitarian operations in fourteen countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. Afghanistan and Yemen top the recipient list with $20 million each.
For the first time, Burkina Faso tops the list of the world’s ten most neglected displacement crises, according to a new report from the humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Releasing the analysis today, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) warned that redirection of aid and attention towards Ukraine has increased neglect of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Political turmoil and socioeconomic decline in Venezuela have led to the worst humanitarian crisis in South America and one of the largest migration crises in the world. Venezuela is experiencing a political and economic crisis marked by hyperinflation, limited food availability, medicine shortages, violent crime, and human right violations. Since 2014, more than 7 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of nearly 8 million Venezuelans who have left their country. In 2024, at least 7.6 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in the South American country.
