Children

The Ebola outbreak continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid deadly attacks against civilians and frontline health workers by non-state armed groups, which are obstructing efforts to stop transmission, United Nations responders said on Friday. The outbreak is unfolding against a backdrop of widespread displacement, food insecurity, and malnutrition.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Friday that more than 340,000 people have been forced to flee their homes amid continued hostilities and growing insecurity in Yemen, while restrictions on key transport routes threaten to further disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance. According to the latest data, more than 24,000 people have been displaced in less than a week.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Tom Fletcher, called on the Israeli government Wednesday to open all crossings into Gaza without delay, so humanitarian organizations can implement their winter response plan and address the growing emergency. Fletcher also demanded an end to collective punishment and urged funding for the humanitarian plan to stop what he described as "predictable, preventable suffering."

Briefing the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Mohamed Yahya, the UN deputy relief chief, warned that continued attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are leaving millions without reliable access to electricity, water, and heating. Yahya condemned all attacks affecting civilians, essential civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian workers. He stressed that civilians and civilian objects must be protected wherever they are.

Aid teams working to help the millions of people uprooted by the ongoing war in Sudan appealed for more international assistance on Friday amid desperate funding shortages, empty warehouses, and overwhelming needs. A staggering 15.4 million people urgently need shelter across the country, where the war that erupted in April 2023 between former allies-turned-rivals is deepening the suffering of civilians.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that Somalia is facing converging crises, including famine risk, conflict, insecurity, political tensions, El Niño-driven flooding, and drought. However, funding to address these threats remains critically low, even as humanitarian needs continue to escalate across the East African country.

More than 7,000 people have fled their homes in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province since late September due to a surge in attacks by non-state armed groups, according to data released Tuesday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The latest figures show that women and children make up nearly 80 percent of those newly displaced.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that people are fleeing their homes in several parts of northern Ethiopia as humanitarian operations continue amid ongoing insecurity. Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are currently seeking refuge in Debre Berhan, a city in the Amhara Region, and in Shire, a town in northwestern Tigray.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed alarm on Monday regarding the ongoing drone attacks on critical energy infrastructure in Sudan. These attacks have caused widespread power outages and disrupted essential services across several states. On Monday, a series of drone strikes hit two power stations in Kassala State and an electricity substation in Merowe, a city in Northern State, resulting in large-scale blackouts.

The number of people facing crisis levels of hunger in the DRC has surged by more than 2.3 million in less than a year, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, released Friday. The data, from the world's leading authority on hunger monitoring, reveals that 28.8 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity from September to December 2026.

More than 280,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Yemen, and many of the most vulnerable are unable to access lifesaving relief because doing so is too dangerous, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. In an alert, the agency stated that tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers are struggling to survive.

Humanitarian organizations warn that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has confirmed over 10,000 Ebola cases in the ongoing Bundibugyo outbreak, with a mortality rate of nearly 50 percent. Almost 5,000 deaths have been confirmed in DRC so far. This is the largest and deadliest outbreak in the country's history.

Israeli “aggressive operation” in Hebron, a city in the West Bank, raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing, Volker Türk, the United Nations human rights chief, warned on Monday. As the number of Palestinians forced from their homes surpassed 3,000 on the eve of Israeli elections, Türk underscored that collective punishment constitutes a grave violation of international law.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Friday that additional aid is continuing to arrive in northern Ethiopia. Food assistance is reaching tens of thousands of people affected by the conflict and the impacts of El Niño across the northern regions. However, the ongoing response is not keeping up with the growing humanitarian needs, making additional resources and sustained access essential.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that armed violence continues to displace people in Haiti. More than 10,000 people have fled their homes in the Artibonite and West departments in recent days. At the same time, funding shortfalls continue to hinder the work of humanitarian organizations.

Talks to stop the fighting in Sudan and alleviate the resulting humanitarian crisis continued Wednesday in Geneva, where nearly two dozen countries met to discuss a path to a ceasefire and a transition to a peaceful governance system that represents all Sudanese people. Although international engagement on Sudan is gaining momentum, a clear commitment from the warring parties to end the fighting is still lacking.

More than 250,000 people have now fled renewed fighting in Yemen, the United Nations said Tuesday, expressing particular concern for those sheltering in the southwestern city of Taiz and its surrounding governorate, where access is "essentially blocked." This development follows the resumption of clashes last month between Houthi fighters and the internationally recognized government based in Aden.

Nearly 19.2 million people in Afghanistan are projected to experience acute food insecurity during the lean season (November 2026 to April 2027), according to a warning issued on Thursday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), who cited the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis. This is an increase from 15.9 million people in September–October 2026.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday that the escalating conflict in Yemen has cut off life-saving assistance to 800,000 people ― a situation that could rapidly spiral into a humanitarian catastrophe. Shifting frontlines, blocked roads, and growing insecurity severely restrict humanitarian access in the city of Taiz and other areas affected by the conflict.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) sounded again the alarm on Tuesday, warning that the intensifying insecurity in Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) is endangering displaced families and hindering humanitarian operations amidst an already dire humanitarian crisis and the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued an alert on Monday, warning of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan's Darfur and Kordofan regions. The risk of famine is growing due to conflict, displacement, drought, and the critical underfunding of humanitarian response efforts. New evidence published by the IPC points to a rapid rise in acute malnutrition across much of Darfur, raising further concerns about the survival of children and other vulnerable groups.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that deadly attacks continue to take a devastating toll on Ukrainian civilians, damaging homes, public transportation, and energy infrastructure across the country. Between Wednesday and Thursday morning, nearly 50 civilians were killed, including 6 children, and 170 others were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed alarm on Monday over the continued deadly violence in Sudan, including attacks against humanitarian operations, alongside rising displacement and worsening food insecurity. Meanwhile, a coalition of international aid organizations has called for urgent protection of the nation's upcoming harvest, as Sudan enters a critical period to prevent another catastrophic hunger crisis.

The humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) warns that Israel is "progressively asphyxiating Gaza" through a systematic campaign that is dismantling the essential conditions for human survival. As the livable space shrinks, the means of survival are being destroyed by continued violence, the deliberate blockade of essential supplies, and the destruction of healthcare and vital infrastructure.

The United Nations allocated US$160 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on Friday to support life-saving assistance in 12 of the world’s most underfunded humanitarian crises, spanning Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. This allocation is part of a broader effort to assist 87 million people facing the most severe humanitarian crises this year.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed alarm on Wednesday over the recent surge in gang violence in the Artibonite Department in Haiti. According to local authorities, at least 11 people were killed and homes were set on fire in the commune of Gros-Morne on Monday. Residents fled to surrounding neighborhoods and the commune of Gonaïves to seek safety.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday deplored military airstrikes that reportedly killed at least 50 people, including vendors, customers, transport workers, and other civilians, among them children and women, at a market in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine State. The attack in Kyauktaw came just hours before Malaysia reportedly deported approximately 1,500 Myanmar nationals back to the war-torn country.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that escalating violence in eastern DRC continues to displace and endanger civilians. This surge in conflict is unfolding against the backdrop of the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the country, as well as other health and humanitarian emergencies nationwide.

According to new food security data released on Wednesday, millions of people across Somalia continue to face high levels of hunger, and acute malnutrition among children is set to worsen over the coming months. United Nations agencies and the Somali government are warning that funding shortages and flooding associated with the anticipated El Niño are expected to worsen the situation from October to December 2026.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, as fighting in Yemen continues and the toll on civilians rises, relief efforts are struggling to keep up with the growing needs and supplies are running low. Although the UN and its partners are ramping up support for displaced families and those in need, the relief response is facing ongoing funding shortages and access limitations.

The nutritional situation for hundreds of thousands of children continues to deteriorate across Haiti, while unrelenting violence by armed groups threatens to worsen conditions. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 250,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between June 2026 and May 2027.

The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to spread across the vast country, despite some success in containing it. Aid officials renewed their call for international support on Tuesday to help responders on the ground. While there has been progress in some places, aid agencies warn that cases continue to rise exponentially in other locations.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that ongoing hostilities in Yemen are forcing people to flee their homes, causing civilian casualties and putting already strained humanitarian operations under increasing pressure. According to OCHA, around 125,000 people had been displaced by renewed fighting as of Monday.

With severe shelter shortages and heightened risks from ongoing fighting and heavy rains continuing to plague hundreds of thousands of displaced people across Sudan, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Monday that Sudan’s emergency relief supply via the Common Humanitarian Pipeline could collapse within weeks.  This warning comes amid ongoing drone strikes and other hostilities that endanger civilians and force them from their homes in the regions of Darfur, Kordofan, as well as Blue Nile State.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan expressed deep concern on Thursday following its latest visit to the country, emphasizing that renewed violence, political tensions, shrinking civic space, entrenched corruption, and persistent impunity continue to endanger civilians and the country's political transition. The Commission warned that the window to prevent further deterioration is narrowing.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that an escalation in fighting is devastating communities in Yemen that are already struggling to survive after more than a decade of conflict. According to humanitarian agencies, approximately 34,000 people have been displaced in the governorates of Taiz and Al-Hodeidah since Thursday, when hostilities escalated. Civilians are reportedly among those killed and injured as clashes intensify.

Amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and scarce resources, a growing number of women-headed households in war-torn Gaza face “impossible decisions” every day, UN humanitarian officials said on Tuesday. According to a new analysis from UN Women, nearly one in four households in Gaza is headed by a woman, amounting to an estimated 86,290 families. This includes widows and women whose husbands are missing, detained, severely injured, forcibly disappeared, or whose fate remains unknown.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan released a new report on Thursday warning that foreign recruitment and external support networks are fueling the war in Sudan, strengthening the military capabilities of the country’s warring parties and enabling increasingly sophisticated military operations with devastating consequences for civilians.

The United Nations is sounding the alarm over the rapidly escalating Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning that the virus is spreading at an unprecedented rate in a region already plagued by conflict, displacement, and acute hunger. The country's health authorities have reported 6,100 confirmed cases of Ebola and 2,950 related deaths, resulting in a case fatality ratio of 48 percent.

A new report prepared by the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) reveals that the human rights situation in Myanmar, particularly for minority communities, has plummeted to a new low, citing the brutal abuse of the Rohingya population and the devastating impact of illicit economies. Released on Tuesday, the report details how unrelenting violence and a conflict economy expose civilian populations to untold misery.

The United Nations’ relief chief issued a scathing rebuke to the international community on Monday, warning that the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan is being fueled by a global "lack of action" despite a clear understanding of the scale of the crisis. An unprecedented 33.7 million people, including more than 20 million children, currently require assistance and protection as a result of the war, which began more than three years ago.

The global funding crisis is taking a growing toll on the most vulnerable children in Somalia, where hundreds of health and nutrition facilities have been forced to close, according to a warning issued on Friday by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Severe drought is compounding the emergency and threatening the survival of communities, as some 1.9 million children suffer from acute malnutrition.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday that more than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition, and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn. This funding crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of one of the world’s most severe hunger emergencies.

United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the convergence of climate shocks and renewed regional tension threatens to deepen the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as hunger rises and health services crumble. Fletcher warned that the Yemeni people's enduring resilience should not be used to justify the international community's failure to address the collapsing humanitarian situation.

According to investigators appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Myanmar's military has carried out a sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians, including airstrikes on homes, schools, and camps for displaced people, as well as arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual violence. These findings are included in the annual report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which covers the period from July 2025 to June 2026 and was released on Tuesday.