Critical funding shortfalls are forcing the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to significantly reduce its operations in Syria. On Wednesday, the WFP announced that it had reduced its emergency food assistance by 50 percent, from 1.3 million people to 650,000 in May, and had halted a nationwide bread subsidy program supporting millions daily.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) are warning that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to face one of the world’s largest and most severe hunger crises. This warning follows the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which shows that over 26.5 million people—nearly one in four Congolese—are struggling to meet their basic food needs.
United Nations agencies warned on Tuesday that Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children. Meanwhile, in Gaza, tens of thousands of people with life-changing injuries lack access to prosthetics or rehabilitation care. Among them are around 10,000 children who remain unable to receive essential treatment as shortages of medical supplies and rehabilitation equipment continue to worsen across the enclave.
Major funding cuts and shrinking humanitarian access are pushing Yemen closer to a catastrophic health and hunger crisis, with aid organizations warning that millions of people are at immediate risk due to aid agencies' inability to provide lifesaving support. These warnings come as Yemen continues to suffer from one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement is warning that the situation in South Sudan is becoming increasingly dire, with armed conflict, violence, diseases and natural disasters wreaking havoc on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the country. According to the United Nations, the dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan has left 9.9 million people in need of life-saving assistance, while critical funding shortfalls are exacerbating the situation.
As the conflict in the Middle East grinds on, its ripple effects are being felt far beyond the region, driving up the cost of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid, and disrupting critical supply routes. For the millions of people already living in fragile and conflict-affected areas around the world, the consequences are immediate and severe: delayed assistance, reduced access to essential goods and deepening hardship.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation in Lebanon remains fragile and volatile despite the ceasefire being extended until mid-May. Hostilities are continuing to cause civilian casualties. On Thursday, Lebanese authorities reported multiple airstrikes and military activity across towns in southern Lebanon, resulting in at least nine deaths and 13 injuries.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the humanitarian situation in North Kivu Province, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo), continues to deteriorate amid renewed clashes between armed groups. Since early February, intensified violence has triggered large-scale displacement, forcing thousands to flee multiple times in search of safety.
Twenty years after the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region first sparked global outrage, children in the region are once again trapped in a catastrophic cycle of violence, hunger, and displacement — but this time, the world is failing to take notice, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday. The UN agency warns that, while the horrors of 2005 are repeating, the scale of the crisis is far greater now, and international attention is dangerously lacking.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) World Vision reports that health facilities across Somalia supported by the NGO have recorded a sharp increase in the number of children admitted with severe malnutrition. In the first three months of this year, more than 3,500 children were diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) — marking a 60 percent increase compared to the same period in 2025, when just over 2,000 cases were reported.
Acute food insecurity and malnutrition levels remain alarmingly high and deeply entrenched across the world, with crises increasingly concentrated in a core group of countries, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), which was released on Friday. The 2026 edition of the GRFC shows that acute hunger has doubled over the past decade, with two famines being declared last year — the first time this has happened in the report's ten-year history.
Despite signs of political progress, Haiti remains gripped by insecurity, with international support seen as critical to enabling long-delayed elections, the United Nations Security Council was told Thursday. As the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) begins its phased deployment and the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission prepares to leave at the end of April, officials warned that whether recent gains can hold depends on how security conditions evolve.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that more than 41,000 people in central and northern regions of the Central African Republic (CAR) will lose access to vital healthcare services by June due to funding shortfalls. The UN's primary health partner, the International Medical Corps, which assists displaced individuals in these regions, is expected to cease operations due to a lack of funding.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that a humanitarian operation was launched on Tuesday to deliver assistance to previously inaccessible areas of Afghanistan's eastern Nuristan province. Ongoing armed conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan has left thousands in these communities without access to basic supplies and essential services for more than seven weeks. Meanwhile, cross-border mortar shelling continues.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is being overlooked as the world’s attention shifts to other parts of the Middle East. Meanwhile, conditions in Gaza are deteriorating at an alarming pace. On Monday, the IRC said there is a real risk that funding will decline, which would slow the already constrained humanitarian response at a time when needs are extremely high.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Friday, Tom Fletcher, the UN relief chief, described South Sudan as a nation in despair. Renewed fighting has forced more than 410,000 people to flee, including 110,000 to neighboring Ethiopia. Hostilities have continued to escalate across parts of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity states, with airstrikes and armed clashes reported in the past week.
The United Nations and humanitarian organizations cautiously welcomed the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon that took effect at midnight local time on Friday. According to aid agencies, some displaced families have begun returning to Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reports that its peacekeepers have not detected any projectiles fired from north to south or airstrikes in their area of operations since midnight.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) expressed deep concern on Wednesday regarding reports that approximately 250 people are feared dead or missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea. The trawler departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh, bound for Malaysia, and reportedly sank last Thursday amid heavy winds, rough seas, and severe overcrowding.
Three years of war in Sudan have created the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. Tens of thousands of children, women and men have been killed, starved, and maimed. With no signs of the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and its regional impacts abating, United Nations leaders expressed alarm on Wednesday at the insufficient funding and diplomatic attention being given to the conflict and its consequences.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday that UN agencies and their partners, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are continuing to support the government-led response in Iran as humanitarian needs rise sharply. The recent US-Israeli military assault has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties, and caused severe damage to civilian infrastructure across the country.
Two leading United Nations agencies are warning that more than a million Sudanese refugees in Chad face immediate and life-threatening cuts to food, water, shelter, protection, and health care as the conflict in neighboring Sudan approaches the three-year mark. Earlier this week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that they will drastically scale back essential assistance to refugees in Chad unless the US$428 million funding gap is filled.
At a time when humanitarian needs are rising and funding is falling rapidly, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations relief chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated US$48 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). This funding will enable UNHAS to continue operating in eight crisis-stricken countries.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that, six months after the ceasefire agreement took effect in the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian response led by the UN and partner aid agencies remains constrained, leaving people in dire conditions. According to OCHA, people across Gaza are still exposed to lethal force and the risk of further casualties, destroyed property, and displacement, which deepens humanitarian needs.
Ahead of the third anniversary of the start of the devastating war in Sudan, humanitarian organizations are warning that essential services and survival-critical systems are collapsing. As the conflict approaches this grim milestone, they are drawing particular attention to the needs of those displaced by the war, both within the country and across borders, as well as to the urgent needs of children and women, who are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing emergency.
In his address to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday regarding the safety and security of humanitarian workers under Security Council Resolution 2730, Tom Fletcher, the UN relief chief, urged the Council to take urgent action to better protect humanitarian workers. He noted that more than 1,000 aid workers have been killed while carrying out their work in the past three years. More than 560 of these deaths occurred in Gaza and the West Bank, 130 in Sudan, 60 in South Sudan, 25 in Ukraine, and 25 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that aid agencies are working closely with the Lebanese government to support affected communities amid mounting needs, while the death toll continues to rise at an alarming rate. According to Lebanese health authorities, at least 1,497 people, including 130 children, have been killed since Israeli attacks resumed on March 2.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to deteriorate in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of ongoing violence amid armed attacks and widespread looting.
At least 70 people were reportedly killed in attacks carried out by heavily armed gang members in the Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite region of central Haiti between Saturday and Tuesday. Members of the Gran Grif gang stormed the rural Jean-Denis area late Saturday night into Sunday morning, opening fire and burning homes. Nearly 9,000 people were forced to flee as a result of these attacks.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that military strikes are continuing to severely damage civilian infrastructure across Iran. According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, 309 healthcare facilities and 42 ambulances have been damaged, and seven hospitals have been evacuated since February 28, when the war began. Meanwhile, relief workers continue to be killed.
The trauma of mass displacement and humanitarian supply chain disruptions throughout the world are among the devastating impacts of the war in Iran and the wider Middle East, UN humanitarian officials warned on Tuesday. As the conflict shows no signs of easing, the breakdown of supply networks is worsening global hunger, putting up to 45 million additional people at risk and pushing already vulnerable communities closer to catastrophe.
According to the United Nations, tens of thousands of people have fled the town of Baidoa in southern Somalia following recent clashes linked to disputed regional elections, triggering a surge in displacement and exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation. On Monday, the European Union’s humanitarian office (ECHO) reported that the risk of armed confrontation in Baidoa due to escalating political tensions is “very high.”
More than two months after the United States took extreme measures to block oil supplies from entering the Caribbean nation, Cuba’s humanitarian situation is worsening as fuel shortages deepen. Since January, Cuba has experienced a significant reduction in its capacity to import fuel, resulting in a ripple effect on vital services such as healthcare, education, sanitation, and food and water availability.
Civilians and civilian infrastructure in Iran continue to bear the brunt of attacks by the United States and Israel. The Iranian Ministry of Health reports more than 1,900 deaths and nearly 25,000 injuries, including over 1,600 children and at least 4,000 women, since February 28. Casualties have been reported in at least 20 provinces, with the highest numbers in the capital, Tehran, and the province of Hormozgan.
With the humanitarian situation in Lebanon worsening by the day, health authorities report that at least 1,116 people have been killed and over 3,000 injured in Israeli attacks since March 2. Meanwhile, displacement continues to surge, with over 1.2 million people in Lebanon – around a fifth of the population – having been forced to flee their homes.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 33,000 Congolese refugees have returned spontaneously to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Burundi since the Burundi–DRC border reopened at the end of February. UNHCR is now calling for urgent international support to ensure that these returns are carried out safely, with dignity, and sustainably.
A new report published on Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Office details the human rights impacts of the expanding reach of gangs in Haiti, including their control over key sea and road routes amid persistent deadly violence. The violence involves gangs, security forces, private security contractors, and self-defense groups, while the majority of deaths are at the hands of security forces.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued one of its most urgent warnings to date, stating that the Earth’s climate system is more imbalanced now than at any other time in the history of modern observation. WMO's latest State of the Global Climate report, released on Monday, paints a stark picture of a planet that is accumulating heat at an unprecedented rate due to record levels of greenhouse gases, resulting in increasingly severe consequences.
A hospital in war-torn Sudan has reportedly been attacked, killing at least 64 people and marking the latest in a series of assaults on health facilities. Late Friday, the Al Deain Teaching Hospital in Al Deain, the capital of East Darfur State, was struck, leaving scores of civilians dead, including 13 children, two nurses, a doctor, and multiple patients. The latest attack also injured 89 people, including eight health care workers.
Families across the Gaza Strip began concluding the holy month of Ramadan on Friday amid deepening humanitarian needs, heightened exposure to violence and displacement, and dire conditions for survival. UN human rights officials have warned of ongoing unlawful killings, amid ongoing reports of Israeli strikes and shelling in residential areas. Casualties continue to be reported, including among women and children.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that Colombia's humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating. Escalating armed violence, severe movement restrictions, and repeated climate shocks have left millions in urgent need. In 2026, an estimated 10.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners issued the 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) on Wednesday, calling for US$2.16 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 12 million people across Yemen. In 2026, 22.3 million women, men, and children require humanitarian aid and protection as the country grapples with the region's most severe hunger emergency.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is warning that the United States' and Israel's war on Iran and the regional spillover across the Middle East could push global hunger to record levels. The ongoing conflict could cause the greatest disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, WFP said on Tuesday.
Humanitarian organizations are deeply concerned about the rising number of civilian casualties, including women and children, the large-scale displacement, and the increasing humanitarian needs resulting from the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon. UN officials and aid agencies continue to call on all parties to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, humanitarian personnel, and health workers.
More than four million people have been displaced as the United States and Israel continue to wage war against Iran, triggering a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis across the Middle East. Aid agencies warn that the conflict has already caused thousands of civilian deaths and injuries, as well as the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, and growing shortages of essential services.
Scores of Ukrainian children remain missing after being deported across Russia and occupied territories, while their families continue to search for them, according to human rights investigators. On Thursday, members of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, an independent probe into Russia’s full-scale invasion, presented their latest report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
At a time of severe cuts to the global body’s humanitarian work in emergencies and “soaring” needs, the UN’s relief chief has condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war roiling Iran and the wider Middle East. On Wednesday in Geneva, he spoke about his efforts to reach 87 million people with life-saving aid, for which US$23 billion is urgently needed.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the ongoing conflict in Myanmar continues to fuel suffering and humanitarian needs. Myanmar is experiencing one of the largest and most severe humanitarian crises worldwide, where hostilities have been marked by airstrikes and violations of international humanitarian law, triggering widespread displacement and harm to civilians.
The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in South Sudan, which coordinates aid agencies in the country, expressed deep concern on Monday regarding an order issued by South Sudan’s People’s Defense Forces on Friday. The order demanded that civilians, the UN peacekeeping mission, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) vacate Akobo County in Jonglei State, in the country’s east, ahead of military operations.
Afghan and Pakistani troops continue to fight fiercely along their shared border, marking eleven days of ongoing clashes between the neighboring countries. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) continues to verify and record incidents of civilian casualties in Afghanistan resulting from the cross-border conflict.
Military strikes and counter-strikes continue across the Middle East region as the United States and Israel wage war on Iran causing thousands of civilian deaths and injuries. On Friday, UN chief António Guterres warned that "the situation could spiral beyond anyone’s control. " Meanwhile, Tom Fletcher, the UN relief chief, described the current state of affairs as one of "grave peril," appealing for urgent protection of civilians.
