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	Harmful information is putting lives at risk during crises by International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)   Mar. 2026   Harmful information is undermining life-saving humanitarian action at a time when disasters are affecting more people, more often, according to the World Disasters Report 2026, released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).   Between 2020 and 2024, disasters affected nearly 700 million people, caused more than 105 million displacements, and claimed over 270,000 lives – with the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance more than doubling (INFORM Severity index).   The World Disasters Report 2026 warns that harmful information and dehumanising narratives are increasingly undermining trust, putting the lives of humanitarian workers and communities at risk.   In polarized and politically charged contexts, humanitarian principles such as neutrality and impartiality are increasingly misunderstood, misrepresented or deliberately attacked online.   Drawing on evidence from crises across the world, the report emphasises that trust has become one of the most critical, and fragile, assets in humanitarian action.   Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary General, said:   “In every crisis I have witnessed, information is as essential as food, water and shelter. But when information is false, misleading or deliberately manipulated, it can deepen fear, obstruct humanitarian access and cost lives.”   Global examples of harmful information in action:   Spain: During floods in Valencia, false narratives online accused the Spanish Red Cross of diverting aid to migrants, fuelling xenophobic attacks on volunteers.   South Sudan: Rumours that humanitarian agencies were distributing poisoned food caused people to avoid life-saving aid and led to threats against local Red Cross staff, temporarily disrupting operations.   Lebanon: Overlapping crises saw false claims that volunteers were spreading COVID-19, favouring certain groups in aid distribution, or providing unsafe cholera vaccines, eroding trust and endangering vulnerable communities.   Bangladesh: Despite delivering first aid and assistance across multiple districts during a period of political unrest, volunteers faced widespread accusations of inaction and political alignment, leading to harassment and long-term reputational damage.   The report highlights that around 94 per cent of disasters are managed by national authorities and local communities without international assistance. However, while volunteers, local leaders and community media are often the most trusted messengers, they operate in increasingly hostile and polarised information environments.   Mr. Chapagain added: “Without trust, people are less likely to prepare, seek help or follow life-saving guidance; with it, communities act together, absorb shocks and recover more effectively. Maintaining trust is not optional – it is a humanitarian necessity.”   The World Disasters Report 2026 calls on governments, technology companies, humanitarian agencies, communities and local actors to recognise that trustworthy information is a matter of life and death. Recommendations include:   Technology platforms: Prioritise authoritative information from trusted humanitarian, health and local actors in crisis contexts. Provide low-bandwidth, multilingual, and locally relevant tools and transparently moderate harmful content.   States and policymakers: Invest in evidence-based regulation and support local data systems that monitor crises and harmful information, strengthening transparency, accountability and an environment that enables principled humanitarian action.   Humanitarian agencies: Embed harmful information preparedness into humanitarian operations as a core function, with trained teams, standardised tools, predictive analytics, and strong community engagement to anticipate, detect, and respond to harmful narratives.   Communities and local actors: Act as trusted messengers, support digital and media literacy, participate in rumour tracking, and ensure local perspectives shape responses to safeguard access and trust – recognising that communities are central to the solution.   The World Disaster Report 2026 is available to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and the public, providing a roadmap for building resilience to harmful information before, during, and after crises.   http://www.ifrc.org/press-release/ifrc-warns-harmful-information-putting-lives-risk-during-crises   Mar. 2026   Disinformation undermining humanitarian action. (The Lancet)   A new report by the IFRC shows how disinformation fuels hostility and leads to health-harming choices. John Zarocostas reports.   The surge in harmful disinformation is undermining humanitarian action and putting the lives of aid workers and communities at risk, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned in its annual disaster report, published on March 5. Drawing on global evidence, the report says that trust is one of the most fragile assets in humanitarian action.   In his foreword, Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary-General, said that “In every crisis I have witnessed...information is as essential as food, water, and shelter. But information can also cause harm. When false, misleading or deliberately manipulated, it can deepen fear, fuel discrimination, obstruct humanitarian access and cost lives.” Addressing harmful information “requires a shift in mindset”, the report concludes, cautioning that trust in institutions will likely continue to decline.   Gisella Lomax, Senior Advisor on Information Integrity at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told The Lancet that threats to information integrity on and off digital platforms, such as misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech, “are no longer a peripheral issue for humanitarian action—they are a direct operational and protection risk, especially in conflict and crises”.   Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told The Lancet: “Harmful information, as outlined in the report, can have a two-fold impact on delivering humanitarian assistance: it can fuel hostility and create fear towards communities and humanitarian workers, and can also lead people to make unsafe choices. One of these would be avoiding treatment for a health condition.”   The IFRC cites several examples of the impact that harmful information has had on humanitarian action. During the 2024 floods in Valencia, false narratives online accused the Spanish Red Cross of diverting aid to migrants, “fuelling xenophobic attacks on volunteers”. In Lebanon, amid overlapping crises, there were false claims, the IFRC said, that volunteers were spreading COVID-19, favouring certain groups in aid distribution, or providing unsafe cholera vaccines, eroding trust and endangering vulnerable communities.   Christina Wille, Director of Insecurity Insight, which contributed case studies to the report, told The Lancet that her organisation noticed links between false narratives and attacks on health responses during the 2019 Ebola outbreak in DR Congo. “We recorded 87 health workers killed and multiple health facilities set on fire”, Wille said. “Many of these attacks were driven by false claims about where the disease came from, how quarantined patients were being treated, and why the death toll was so high.”   Over the past decade, she said, 137 vaccination workers have been killed worldwide, including 81 during polio campaigns. Wille noted that misperceptions about the purpose and safety of vaccines have played a significant role. “Rumours and conspiracy narratives don’t just undermine public trust. In some contexts, they translate directly into resistance and targeted violence against frontline health workers.”   Lomax said that the majority of UNHCR personnel in 75 countries had witnessed hate speech and that misinformation and disinformation had negatively affected the delivery of UNHCR's mandate.   “Misinformation and disinformation are weakening the foundations of humanitarian health work. When trust in reliable information erodes, essential decisions—such as vaccinating a child, seeking care, or following outbreak guidance—can become harder for some to make”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, told The Lancet.   “At the same time, false narratives can isolate communities from those working to support them, even putting some health workers at risk. Protecting health today requires not only effective medicines and vaccines, but also safeguarding the integrity of the information people rely on”, he added.   Pascal Barollier, Chief External Engagement Officer at Gavi, told The Lancet, “vaccine mis- and dis-information is often thought of only as a problem of the Global North. This is not the case, and while it is true that vaccine confidence in Gavi-supported lower-income countries remains strong, we are hearing more and more that exposure to false or misleading content online is impacting vaccination rates.”   The IFRC calls for a shift from reactive response to resilience to counter a problem expected to intensify with artificial intelligence, enabling the large-scale creation and spread of harmful content. The organisation recommends that states and policy makers invest in evidence-based regulation, integrate harmful information management into crisis preparedness and response frameworks, invest in early warning and verification systems to deliver reliable information, and empower communities and local actors.   It also urges technology platforms to prioritise authoritative information from trusted humanitarian, health, and local actors in crisis contexts and the rapid moderation of harmful content.   http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00507-6/fulltext Visit the related web page
	Children are starving to death from dehydration and malnutrition in Sudan every day by IPC, Plan International, UNICEF, agencies   Feb. 2026   Children dying because of hunger as famine risks detected in two new locations in Sudan - Save the Children International   Two more areas of Sudan have fallen into famine-levels of malnutrition, signalling a deadly expansion of a hunger crisis in the conflict-torn country that is threatening millions, Save the Children said.   New data released today by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), global acute malnutrition rates in the Um Baru and Kernoi localities have reached nearly 53% and 34% respectively, with concerns that nearby areas may also be experiencing similar catastrophic conditions, with the extent remaining unknown due to access constraints.   This latest announcement comes on top of an already severe hunger crisis sweeping through conflict affected parts of the country, with famine confirmed in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur in August 2024. In September 2025, the expanding famine was also confirmed in El Fasher (North Darfur) and Kadugli (South Kordofan).   For famine conditions to be reached, many people must already be experiencing an extreme lack of food, with starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels evident.   Across Sudan, acute malnutrition is expected to worsen in 2026 according to the alert, with a 13.5% increase in cases of acute malnutrition in children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women – from 3.7 million children and women in 2025, to nearly 4.2 million in 2026. Violent conflict ensues, undermining humanitarian service delivery and disrupting people’s access to agriculture production and livelihoods, exacerbating vulnerability and suffering.   Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – the most dangerous and deadly form of extreme hunger – is expected to increase to 800,000 cases.   Severe acute malnutrition is a life-threatening condition requiring urgent treatment, which is impossible to access across much of Sudan due to the collapse of the country’s health system, with hospitals in conflict-affected zones no longer functional due to attacks, looting, and shortages of staff, medicines, and essential supplies.   Mohamad Abdiladif, Country Director for Save the Children in Sudan, said:   “In many parts of Sudan, children’s lives are hanging by a thread, and some already dying from hunger‑related causes. Families who have escaped bullets and bombs and those who are in difficult to access areas are now facing extreme and life threating shortages of food. Every day we hear devastating stories of parents selling the last of what they own simply to keep their children alive from one day to the next. Without immediate action, more lives will be lost.   “As our frontline teams in Sudan consistently witness, extreme hunger can be both life-altering and life-ending for a child. Children facing severe malnutrition have dramatically higher death rates—succumbing not only to starvation and dehydration, but also to preventable diseases that become deadly as hunger weakens their bodies.   “We urgently need donor governments to step up now, to restore the lifeline before it breaks entirely, and to push for strong, sustained diplomatic pressure on parties to the conflict that protects civilians and guarantees safe, unhindered humanitarian access.   “Without this, any chance of restoring reliable access to food will disappear. Supporting mutual aid, strengthening communities’ coping capacities, and ensuring unimpeded, large‑scale humanitarian response are essential to prevent people from being pushed into starvation and to avert further loss of life and suffering.   Beyond immediate survival, childhood malnutrition causes irreversible long-term harm. Affected children often experience stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and learning difficulties. They face elevated risks of chronic illnesses throughout their lives, along with lasting psychological trauma.   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/children-dying-because-hunger-famine-risks-detected-two-new-locations-sudan http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-143/en/ http://www.unicef.org/sudan/stories/generational-crisis-looms-sudan   Feb. 2026   Sudan: UN expert calls for more support to Emergency Response Rooms volunteers. (OHCHR)   As war continues to ravage Sudan with horrific consequences, local Emergency Response Rooms volunteers continue to risk their lives to deliver life-saving aid across the country, a UN expert said today.   Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes in terror and are either displaced internally or across neighbouring borders, where they are at increased risk of rape and other sexual violence, trafficking, torture and ill-treatment, detention, disappearances and abductions for ransom. In addition to the enduring violence, the people in some parts of Sudan are also faced with famine, with lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation resulting in a significant increase in preventable diseases.   “In the midst of the terror of war and operating in unimaginably difficult circumstances under the constant threat of detention and violence, Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), along with youth and community-led initiatives, have remained committed to delivering life saving assistance to those in need,” said Cecilia Bailliet, the Independent Expert on international solidarity.   “Grounded in the Sudanese tradition of nafeer (collective action), the Emergency Response Room volunteers have been vital in ensuring the provision of food, water, medicine and shelter to millions, as they are able to access dangerous, hard-to-reach areas,” said the expert.   “While these solidarity networks have been crucial lifelines since the eruption of the war, more must be done by the international community and all relevant actors, to support them, and all parties to the conflict must do more to ensure access to critical humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, medical equipment, or other vital supplies, in line with international humanitarian law,” said Bailliet. “The people of Sudan deserve to look to the future with hope, and the international community must not fail them,” she added.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/sudan-un-expert-calls-more-support-emergency-response-rooms-volunteers   Oct. 2025   2025 Right Livelihood Award: Sudan's Grassroots Emergency Response Rooms   Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) are receiving the 2025 Right Livelihood Award for their grassroots network of mutual aid in Sudan that restores dignity to local communities and sustains millions amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.   Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) are a Sudanese grassroots, community-led network that has become the backbone of the country’s humanitarian response amid war, displacement and state collapse. Building on local traditions of mutual aid, ERRs operate in all 18 states, providing healthcare, food assistance, education, civilian protection and psychosocial support where many international aid organisations cannot reach. Their work has sustained millions and champions a model of humanitarian aid that offers dignity and decision-making power to local communities.   ERRs organised their first community kitchens and health services to help communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. When war broke out in April 2023, Sudan’s already severe humanitarian crisis became the world’s largest, and ERRs expanded to fill critical gaps left by a collapsing economy and state institutions.   ERRs are a nationwide network of over 735 Emergency Response Rooms and nearly 10,000 volunteers. Operating in all 18 Sudanese states, they provide healthcare, food, education, civilian protection and psychosocial support at a time when violence and lack of funding have forced many international organisations to scale down their presence.   By decentralising decision-making and drawing on Sudan’s tradition of nafeer—community mutual aid—ERRs have built a model of humanitarian action that puts communities themselves in charge of identifying needs and directing resources. Professionals like farmers, bankers, engineers and teachers all contribute their skills to create a solidarity economy rooted in dignity and resilience.   Despite bombardments, arbitrary arrests and the loss of over one hundred volunteers, ERRs continue to operate hospitals, run communal kitchens, organise education programmes, evacuate civilians from active war zones and support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Their efforts have saved countless lives while nurturing a culture of compassion and solidarity that lays the groundwork for Sudan’s future civil society and democratic renewal.   Right Livelihood’s jury said that ERRs were receiving the Award “for building a model of mutual aid amid war and state collapse that sustains millions of people with dignity.”   Sanosi Adam, ERRs’ External Communications Officer, said:   “Receiving the Right Livelihood Award is not only a recognition of our work, but also a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of ordinary Sudanese people who, in the face of war and neglect, chose solidarity over despair. This award belongs to the countless volunteers and communities who continue to risk everything to keep one another alive. It strengthens our resolve to carry forward our struggle for dignified aid and solidarity of the people of Sudan.”   Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood’s Executive Director, said:   “As Sudan endures the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) show how communities can rise to the gravest challenges, delivering aid that is dignified, effective and rooted in solidarity. In honouring ERRs, we celebrate the power of people to confront systemic crises by building just and cooperative alternatives to violence and division.”   http://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/emergency-response-rooms http://www.mutualaidsudan.org/   Sep. 2025   The Rafto Human Rights Prize 2025 is awarded to The Emergency Response Rooms of Sudan (ERRs) for their courageous work to preserve the most fundamental human right - the right to life.   The Emergency Response Rooms of Sudan are grassroot networks that emerged in the wake of the war in Sudan in 2023. They consist of thousands of volunteers who engage in collaborative, community driven efforts to meet urgent humanitarian needs of others, at great personal risk. The ERRs save lives and maintain human dignity in a place of misery and despair.   Saving lives and strengthening communities in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our times.   After the brutal war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April 2023, the Sudanese state collapsed. As a consequence, civilians have an enormous need for humanitarian assistance.   In a desperate attempt to save lives, ordinary Sudanese took matters in their own hands and formed self-help groups to offer services supporting basic life, welfare, and human dignity through Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs).   To mitigate excessive loss of life and human suffering, ERRs provide key services such as health, food, water, body retrieval and burial. They also work on monitoring, documenting, and responding to cases of sexual violence.   Sudan is now torn by death, hunger, disease, displacement and general despair. Since the outbreak of the war, more than 150 000 people have died. More than half of the country’s population –30 million people– need humanitarian assistance. 25 million face acute food insecurity. 12 million have fled from their homes.   Women and children have been disproportionally affected, including by an alarming rise in gender-based violence. In this dire situation, ERR members continue to provide life-saving mutual aid, strengthening communities and keeping a hope for a democratic Sudan alive under almost impossible conditions.   The Rafto Prize 2025 honours the Emergency Response Rooms and the thousands of individuals protecting the right to life and health, who are building hope in Sudan, at tremendous risk to their own lives.   The prize is also a recognition of the significance of their grassroot mobilization and collective effort in ensuring basic human rights in times of conflict. The need for protection of human rights and humanitarian assistance is becoming greater by the day. In these trying times, we must all stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan.   http://www.rafto.no/en/the-rafto-prize/emergency-response-rooms-of-sudan-err http://www.refugeesinternational.org/advocacy-letters/safe-passage-protection-for-civilians-under-siege-in-el-fasher/ http://www.mutualaidsudan.org/ http://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/el_fasher_emergency_loc/ http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/emergency-response-rooms-in-sudan http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/04/15/eight-stories-about-mutual-aid-mark-two-years-war-sudan   Aug. 2025   Children are starving to death from dehydration and malnutrition in Sudan every day - IPC, Plan International, UNICEF, agencies   In response to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on the situation of famine in Sudan, Plan International Sudan’s Country Director, Mohamed Kamal, says: “We are already seeing signs of mass starvation in camps where mothers arrive unable to feed their children and today’s IPC forecast is a grave warning the situation is only going to get worse. Our fears are becoming a reality.   “This is the worst hunger crisis is the world right now – the conflict is entering its third year and the IPC have warned the situation is expected to deteriorate dramatically between July and September, with children most at risk. 24.6 million people in Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity with 8.1 million facing emergency levels.   “Famine was detected in 5 areas in El Fasher and the Western Nuba Mountains and these areas are particularly difficult to reach to provide humanitarian aid as the security situation is so severe here. With the impending rainy season due, travel will be further hindered which will also drive-up food insecurity levels in the months ahead.   “Children are starving to death from dehydration and malnutrition in Sudan every day. Hundreds of thousands are malnourished. A 10-year-old girl recently told us that for months her only meal has been lentil soup every day and that she dreams of fruit.   “For girls and young women, the impact is especially severe – girls often eat last and least and are at greater risk of early marriage, as families struggle to feed their children.   “The inaccessibility of safe water has led to a widespread outbreak of cholera in many parts of the country with over 32,000 suspected cases recorded this year. Cholera can be deadly for malnourished and dehydrated children.   “Last month we saw an attack on a joint UN humanitarian convoy in North Darfur in which aid workers were killed and life-saving food and nutrition supplies destroyed rather than reach starving families. It is getting increasingly hard to operate in the most at need regions.   “As the conflict continues, farming is disrupted and Sudan faces serious economic instability and high inflation which limits people’s access to food. This has been compounded with overseas aid cuts as community kitchens who relied on this money can no longer operate.   “This is the world’s largest humanitarian emergency the international community must urgently support a peaceful resolution to this conflict, which has been devastating the people of Sudan for over 2 years.”   Dr. Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director at Plan International said:   “Hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine, while tens of millions more have dangerously little to eat. Without a permanent ceasefire that allows aid to reach all parts of the country and a rapid, large-scale increase in humanitarian funding, countless more children will die from hunger and preventable disease. Now is the time to act to save lives.”   http://plan-international.org/news/2025/07/11/children-starve-famine-risk-persists-sudan/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-132/en/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Alert_Sudan_July2025.pdf http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/en/?maptype=77108 http://www.wfp.org/news/one-year-after-famine-first-confirmed-sudan-wfp-warns-people-trapped-el-fasher-face-starvation http://www.icrc.org/en/news-release/sudan-attacks-kordofan-states-hundreds-deaths-displacement-collapse-services http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/famine-tightens-grip-on-sudan-ingos-call-for-immediate-access-for-aid http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-sudan-reduced-skin-and-bones-unicef-calls-urgent-action http://www.unicef.org/sudan/press-releases/over-640000-children-under-five-risk-cholera-spreads-sudans-north-darfur-state   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/sudan-un-human-rights-chief-appalled-continued-killing-civilians-el-fasher http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/sudan-un-expert-concludes-official-visit-port-sudan-expressing-alarm http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/number-severely-malnourished-children-doubles-north-darfur-nutrition-crisis-deepens http://www.savethechildren.net/news/sudan-children-reveal-harrowing-violence-latest-north-darfur-mass-displacement http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/ipc-alert-famine-affected-areas-sudan http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-women-food-insecurity-and-famine-risk-sudan-gender-snapshot-21-july-2025   * IPC Child Acute Malnutrition Classification latest: http://tinyurl.com/4n25jjbz Visit the related web page
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