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	Tens of thousands of people missing as twin earthquakes devastate Venezuela by OCHA, UN News, agencies   27 Aug. 2026   Floods and massive landslide devastate communities in Nepal.   A major flash flood and glacial landslide has struck parts of northern Nepal and the Chinese border linking Tibet, with over 1200 people reported dead and 4,500 people reported missing in Nepal with reports indicating multiple fatalities. Hundreds of people are also reported missing in Tibet.   The glacial collapse triggered devastating flash floods and mudslides. According to data compiled by regional disaster management authorities, the catastrophe began high in the Himalayas. An enormous avalanche of ice and rock tore into the Lhende River, unleashing a 7 metre high wall of mud and water that surged downstream into the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers. The impact on the ground has been devastating, with some of the worst impacts reported in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts of Nepal.   Homes, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, health facilities and other critical infrastructure have been badly damaged. Multiple bridges have been washed away and major roads severely damaged.   Communities are grappling with the devastating impact of this disaster, with at least 93,000 people initially affected. The remoteness of the affected areas, combined with damaged infrastructure, is making it hard to assess the full scale of the disaster.   "While we are getting a clearer picture of the scale of devastation, we know that entire villages were washed away and needs will grow in the coming days. Communities that have lost homes and livelihoods will need sustained support as they recover. We call on the international community to show solidarity in the months to come”, said Jagan Chapagain, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Secretary General.   The Government of Nepal is leading the response, supported by the UN and humanitarian partners. With roads and bridges destroyed and communications disrupted, much of the relief effort is being carried out by air.   UN agencies are scaling up the delivery of food, medical supplies, shelter materials and other relief items, while humanitarian teams continue assessments to determine the full scale of the disaster and support communities in urgent need.   Among the immediate humanitarian priorities are emergency shelter, safe drinking water, basic relief items, first aid and health support, and restoring access to isolated communities.   Nepal and China have both warned of fresh ⁠risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on either side of their border threaten to burst in a region still ⁠grappling with the disastrous flash flooding. Rainfall forecast over the coming week will exacerbate the threat.   http://www.ifrc.org/press-release/ifrc-launches-chf-25-million-emergency-appeal-response-devastating-nepal-flash-floods http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/flash-floods-nepal-leave-more-17000-children-need-urgent-humanitarian-assistance http://reliefweb.int/report/nepal/nepal-rasuwa-flood-flash-appeal-4-september-2026 http://kathmandupost.com/national/2026/09/01/1-6-million-affected-by-bhotekoshi-floods-says-government-report http://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2026-000162-npl http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168213 http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/nepals-catastrophic-floods-must-be-wake-call-climate-action-death-toll-passes-1000   http://kathmandupost.com/national/2026/09/02/pm-warns-of-growing-climate-risks-as-scientists-flag-more-glacial-disasters http://nepalitimes.com/certainty-on-a-himalayan-scale http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/28/nepal-tibet-flood-climate-crisis-global-heating http://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/27/climate-crisis-mountain-areas-glaciers-nepal-tibet http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/01/nepal-tibet-flood-alaska-himalayas-andes-greenland-alps http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/01/nepal-flooding-climate-disaster http://wmo.int/media/news/record-breaking-heat-and-extreme-weather-continue   20 Aug. 2026   Ten days after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, an estimated 1.2 million people need humanitarian assistance, while some communities have still received little or no aid, UN agencies said on Thursday.   Humanitarian partners are seeking $135 million to respond to needs created by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake, which struck on 10 August, according to the UN’s 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan for Colombia.   The response aims to reach 671,000 people, initially concentrating on the hardest-hit departments of Risaralda, Valle del Cauca, Choco and Caldas.   Latest government figures cited by UN agencies indicate that more than 300 people have been killed, 426 remain missing and more than 4,500 have been injured across 472 municipalities in 15 departments.   More than 134,000 homes have been damaged and nearly 30,000 destroyed, while at least 413 roads have been affected, complicating access to some communities. Recent heavy rains in several earthquake-affected areas, including Pereira, Buenaventura and Quibdo, are worsening conditions for families in temporary or improvised shelters.   Across affected areas, at least 50 hospitals have suffered severe damage, while disruptions to electricity, water, oxygen, medical supplies and transport are piling more pressure on health services.   10 Aug. 2026   Magnitude 7.4 quake rocks western Colombia. (Agencies)   A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, leaving at least 254 people dead and 2,595 injured, with at least 2,700 people reported missing. The earthquake damaged over 1,600 buildings, leaving people trapped under debris while their loved ones and rescue workers searched through the rubble.   Search teams and civilians are picking through the remains of destroyed buildings in the country’s third-largest city, Cali. The desperate scenes recalled the searches still ongoing in neighboring Venezuela weeks after that country was devastated by two powerful earthquakes.   Besides Cali, the quake ravaged cities across western Colombia, including Pereira, Quibdo and Manizales, and was felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama.   The United Nations humanitarian agency said essential services and infrastructure in Colombia have been severely damaged. The agency said the earthquake had affected and disrupted educational and health institutions, hospitals, water and electricity services, strategic roads and airports.   The Government has activated its emergency response mechanisms and continues to assess damage and needs in affected areas.   Authorities are continuing search and rescue operations as the death toll rises. Initial reports indicate that homes and other structures have collapsed in several towns, with people trapped beneath the debris.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168178 http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168106 http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168139 http://news.un.org/en/tags/colombia http://reliefweb.int/disaster/eq-2026-000146-col   8 July 2026   Tens of thousands of people missing as twin earthquakes devastate Venezuela   UN relief chief urges scaled-up support for Venezuela’s earthquake recovery. (OCHA)   "Two weeks on: I think it's fair to say – and I was in La Guaira yesterday evening, one of the epicenters of this double earthquake – people are in shock and despair.   There is a moment on these rescue sites, and these are very noisy sites, as you can imagine, you have the noise of the diggers, the heavy machinery, the different teams trying to retrieve people from the rubble, and I was standing with groups of mothers who go to the site there every day in the hope of finding any evidence of their children.   And there are moments on the site when one of the recovery team members will raise their hand, and everything falls silent. The machines fall silent, and this is because they have heard, or they hope they have heard, the tiniest noise from beneath the rubble, and everyone stops in the hope that this is a sign of life.   And to stand with those mothers and fathers at that moment as they hope against all hope that this is maybe, two weeks later, their child, in a building of 14 stories which is reduced to a few feet in height. And then, after a couple of minutes of silence, the emergency worker raises two arms to signify that they haven't heard a sound, and the digging and the searching continues.   Those mothers asked me last night: Is help coming?   There can only be one answer to that question. It's really important to note that the key responders in this crisis have been local communities, those who went out from the first moment to search for their neighbours and their loved ones, and who are offering support with whatever limited resources they have.   Over 50 urban search-and-rescue teams from over 30 countries have come to assist, UN Agencies and NGO humanitarian organisations are on the ground doing everything they can with the resources available to support those in this time of overwhelming need. The Government is actively engaged as we work together to plan the next phase of the response.   Our team here has produced the rapid needs assessment. This is data collected from across the humanitarian family to make sure that we are working on the most urgent priorities, which right now focus on shelter; on health; on water, sanitation and hygiene; food security; protection; education; and early recovery.   The earthquakes have, of course, compounded existing needs. Almost 8 million people already in need of humanitarian support across Venezuela. And let's be clear, everything we do on the humanitarian side must be time-limited and focused on the transition across to recovery, early recovery, rebuilding, reconstruction, and long-term development.   Based on the assessments that we've made alongside the Government – these are not just UN assessments they are Government assessments with the United Nations team – the multi-sectoral needs of an additional 1.3 million people who face socioeconomic needs over the next 6 months, who require life-saving support, means we need $627 million in funding to address those urgent needs.   My key ask of Member States and donors is please translate the solidarity that we've heard, into this practical support. We're asking you to invest in the essential basic services that provide life-sustaining support - health systems, medical needs, water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, food assistance, education – as we make this pivot from search-and-rescue through humanitarian and into the vital, vital development response.   We of course will support the efforts to ensure sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets so vital to the response.   International solidarity must not finish as we move through this search-and-rescue response and into this next support phase. We have to show that we will answer the question from those mothers – that help is coming".   http://www.unocha.org/latest/news-and-stories http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/thousands-children-continue-face-multiple-risks-one-month-after-devastating http://www.nrc.no/news/2026/venezuela-one-month-after-the-earthquakes-humanitarian-funding-falls-far-short http://reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarian-republic/venezuela-earthquake-operation-update-1-mdrve015 http://reliefweb.int/disaster/eq-2026-000093-ven http://www.rescue.org/press-release/one-month-after-earthquakes-venezuela-risks-spiraling-deeper-crisis   25 June 2026   Two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitude-7.5 and 7.2, have struck Venezuela near the capital Caracas.   Venezuela is in a state of emergency, with a major search and rescue operation underway, after the worst earthquakes in more than 100 years hit the country.   Rescuers are searching through rubble in a rush to save lives. In Caracas and the nearby coastal city of La Guaira, people could be heard calling for help from under the debris of collapsed buildings.   Jorge Rodríguez, who heads Venezuela's national assembly, reported over 5,300 people have died, and over 16,700 people were injured, with many buildings damaged or destroyed. (Update: 12 July)   Acting/Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said the death toll was expected to climb as rescue workers began searching in one of the worst-hit areas, La Guaira, a coastal region just north of Caracas.   "Dozens of buildings have collapsed there … and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives," Ms Rodríguez said in a national address.   Aftershocks have continued to ripple through the quake area, with at least 30 recorded after the two earthquakes, Delcy Rodríguez told state-run television channel Venezolana de Television.   The US Geological Survey, using predictive modelling to estimate the death toll, said the death toll could run into the thousands.   Authorities have not provided an official figure for those reported missing, but more than 50,000 people have been reported as missing on a website called Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela, translated as people missing in the Venezuela earthquake.   The governmental response is focused on search-and-rescue operations, emergency medical care and damage assessment. The impact has been severe and widespread, affecting critical infrastructure, public services and housing in several states, with the greatest concentration in the Capital District, La Guaira, Miranda, Carabobo and Yaracuy.   Electricity, water, telecommunications and transport networks have been severely disrupted. Hospitals are operating under emergency protocols as they treat large numbers of injured people.   The United Nations is assisting the Government in coordinating the rescue operation with many people believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings.   UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher says aid workers were "mobilizing to support the people of Venezuela following the deadly and devastating earthquakes."   He said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was coordinating the deployment of urban search and rescue teams from various countries offering help.   "The coming days and months will require a massive collective effort to support the Government-led response and help communities."   Tom Fletcher noted how even before Wednesday's quake, 8 million people in Venezuela were in need of humanitarian support, a situation that was now only likely to deteriorate.   The destruction will worsen living conditions for millions of Venezuelans in an "already severe" humanitarian crisis, the charity Oxfam warned.   "It’s an enormous catastrophe," says Stine Paus, Latin America Region Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). "There are huge needs for international support," she says.   "People will need support with shelter which is much needed, water and sanitation, and to make sure infectious diseases are not spreading. There are lots of children in need of support".   Cesar Jimenez, an aid worker for Project Hope, a health and humanitarian NGO that operates health centres in eight Venezuelan states, including in the earthquake-stricken areas of Caracas, Miranda and La Guaira said, “no country could have been prepared for a disaster of this magnitude". "You can’t even count the number of people that are looking for help. All of their buildings have been wrecked, entirely.”   Many residents spent the night in the streets or searching for their families in Catia La Mar in La Guaira state, one of the hardest hit regions of Venezuela. They spoke to news agency AFP.   "Right now we have nothing, not even the strength or the courage to go in there," Larry Rojas, 49, says as he stands in front of a collapsed building where his family are trapped.   "There are people alive in there and no one is coming to save them," a woman says as she awaits news of her daughter who was buried in the rubble of a 12-storey building.   A journalist in Caracas described seeing "desperation" from people on the streets of the capital following the earthquakes. Manu Quintero told BBC News that it felt like "the world was moving for a long time" when the earthquakes struck, adding that the two quakes felt like "one massive long earthquake".   He was speaking from the site of a collapsed 14-storey residential building, which he says contained 27 apartments, adding that rescue teams had so far found two bodies and no survivors.   The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says among the "most urgent anticipated needs" are search and rescue as well emergency shelter and health care. Safe water and sanitation, alongside essential household items, are expected to be priorities in the days ahead.   UNICEF estimates that 1.8 million people, including 680,000 children, are in need of humanitarian assistance following the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June.   Preliminary satellite analysis found that nearly a third of buildings in the worst-hit area assessed so far, Catia La Mar in La Guaira state, have been damaged.   “Three days into the response, the scale of need is becoming clearer,” said Manuel Rodriguez Pumarol, UNICEF Representative in Venezuela. “Hospitals are operating beyond capacity, thousands of children don’t have reliable access to safe water, and many schools have been damaged. UNICEF is working with the Government of Venezuela and partners to scale up support for children and families, and continued funding will be critical to sustaining that response in the weeks and months ahead.”   http://reliefweb.int/disaster/eq-2026-000093-ven http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-680000-children-estimated-be-need-humanitarian-assistance-after-venezuela http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/venezuela-earthquakes http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-venezuela http://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2026/06/120163/venezuela-quake-key-services-crippled-and-health-workers-missing http://www.wfp.org/stories/wfp-ramps-food-and-other-assistance-venezuela-earthquake-response http://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-07-07/over-100-economists-ask-us-to-lift-sanctions-on-venezuela-to-ease-the-impact-of-the-earthquakes.html Visit the related web page
	Acute food insecurity is expected to worsen further for millions by Hunger Hotspots report World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization   17 June 2026   The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that acute food insecurity is expected to worsen further for millions of people across 13 countries deemed “hunger hotspots” between June and November 2026.   The latest edition of the Hunger Hotspots report, released twice a year through the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), identifies Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Palestine as among the world's most critical hunger hotspots in terms of severity and magnitude of hunger.   Northeast Nigeria has been added to the list of highest concern, following projections indicating that populations in Borno State may face Catastrophe levels of acute food insecurity (defined as an extreme lack of food / other basic needs, with starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels evident) during the upcoming period covered by the report. Somalia has also been placed in this category with populations in the Bay region of Burhakaba District facing a risk of Famine.   Armed conflict and violence remain the major drivers of acute food insecurity, affecting 12 of the 13 hotspots. These pressures are compounded by economic shocks, severe funding shortfalls and growing risks linked to a forecast El Nino event, which is expected to bring uneven rainfall, droughts, and flooding across countries with already high vulnerability.   The warning comes at a time of unprecedented funding shortfalls for humanitarian response. Funding for food assistance, emergency agricultural assistance and nutrition in food crises has declined by an estimated 59 percent between 2022 and 2025, returning to levels last seen nearly a decade ago. At the same time, the number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity in these countries has risen to around 266 million.   The report also warns that additional shocks are worsening the outlook for millions. This is due to recent events such as the ripple effects of the conflict in the Middle East and the Ebola outbreak in areas of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). These added shocks risk further disrupting livelihoods, markets and humanitarian access.   “The warnings in this report cannot be ignored,” said WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau. “Conflict, shocks, and disasters are forcing families to make impossible decisions about who gets to eat and who goes to bed hungry. Without action now, millions more are expected to face worsening levels of hunger in the months ahead, pushing some closer to famine. Our teams are ready to respond at speed and scale. We need resources to deliver food and access to reach people before hunger turns into catastrophe.”   Hotspots of highest concern   In Sudan, a risk of Famine has been identified in 14 areas across North Darfur, South Darfur and South Kordofan through September 2026, and is expected to persist in 13 areas through the harvest period into January 2027. An estimated 19.5 million people — 41 percent of the population — faced high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) through May 2026, including 5 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).   The situation is expected to worsen further, with the number of people in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) projected to rise to 200,000 across 15 areas in June–September 2026, up from 135,000 in February–May 2026.   In South Sudan, 7.8 million people — 55 percent of the population — are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between April and July 2026, including 2.5 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and approximately 73,000 people facing Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). Four counties are projected to face the risk of Famine through July 2026.   In Yemen, acute food insecurity is expected to remain among the most severe globally in 2026. In earlier estimates, 18.3 million people were projected to face crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above) levels of acute food insecurity, representing over half the population. This includes 5.5 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 41,000 people projected to face Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) in Sanaa-based authority-controlled areas in 2026.   According to more recent partial analysis, nearly 5.4 million people in Government-controlled areas are projected to face Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above) levels of acute food insecurity between June and September 2026.   In Northeast Nigeria the outlook is most severe in Borno State, where 15,000 people are projected to face Catastrophe (CH Phase 5) during June-August 2026. Around 2.3 million people remain internally displaced across the North East.   In Palestine, conditions in the Gaza Strip have improved since the October 2025 ceasefire but remain fragile. The entire territory faced a risk of Famine through mid-April 2026, with 1.6 million people acutely food insecure and requiring urgent assistance (77 percent of the population analysed) including over half a million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 1900 people projected to face Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). No projection was available covering the Hunger Hotspots outlook period of June to November 2026 at the time of the report’s drafting.   In Somalia, around 6 million people were projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity between April and June 2026, including nearly 1.9 million projected to face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels. There is also now a risk of Famine identified in Burhakaba District. This reflects the broader deterioration in acute food insecurity conditions in the country, stemming from multiple years of drought, record-low crop production, conflict and the ripple effects of the Middle East conflict.   Hotspots of very high concern   Afghanistan remains a hotspot of very high concern, facing consecutive droughts, high food prices, and escalating conflict.   In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, acute food insecurity remains severe, driven by conflict in eastern provinces and large-scale displacement. The resurgence of Ebola is adding a dangerous new layer of risk, threatening to worsen acute hunger by disrupting markets, mobility and humanitarian operations.   Haiti, previously among hotspots of highest concern, has moved into the very high concern category, reflecting limited and localized improvements including slowing inflation and better access along some road corridors, though conditions remain very fragile.   Other hotspots   Myanmar and Mali are identified as hotspots, where conditions are expected to deteriorate as conflict, economic pressures and climate variability compound vulnerability. Lebanon and Madagascar have been added to the list of hotspots as a result of the escalation of hostilities in late February 2026 and adverse and erratic weather conditions, respectively.   Overall, the report points to a worsening outlook for millions of people in the second half of 2026, with unprecedented levels of catastrophic hunger persisting or threatening multiple contexts. It also highlights the importance of acting early to prevent the most severe outcomes.   Through the Global Network Against Food Crises, FAO and WFP are calling for urgent, coordinated action to scale up humanitarian assistance, ensure safe access, invest in livelihoods and strengthen resilience.   The report underscores that early action saves lives, protects livelihoods and is significantly more cost-effective than responding after crises have escalated.   Without stronger political commitment, predictable financing and collective action, hunger crises are likely to deepen across the world's most vulnerable regions in the months ahead.   http://www.wfp.org/news/new-fao-wfp-report-warns-worsening-hunger-puts-13-hotspots-significant-risk http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots   Definition of IPC levels of food insecurity — crisis, emergency, and catastrophe/famine   * IPC3 refers to “crisis” levels of food insecurity, in which households have high acute malnutrition; or are marginally able to meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets or through crisis-coping strategies   IPC4 refers to “emergency” levels of food insecurity in which households have large food consumption gaps which are reflected in very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality.   IPC5 refers to “catastrophe/famine” levels of food insecurity in which households have an extreme lack of food. Starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident.   June 2026   Crises are intensifying in multiple countries, driving rising humanitarian needs - United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.   In the first five months of 2026, crises grew and intensified in multiple countries, driving rising humanitarian needs. By the end of May 2026, over 252 million people were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection.   Situations of violence, including conflict—which remains the main driver of humanitarian need globally—escalated, with civilians and civilian infrastructure under direct attack, international humanitarian law repeatedly defied and people forcibly displaced from their homes.   Despite humanitarians’ best efforts, underfunding in 2026 will leave millions of people without essential assistance, while attacks harming aid workers and assets prevent civilians from accessing the assistance and protection they need to survive. These cuts and attacks are not isolated disruptions; they represent the rupturing of a lifeline for people in crisis.   For women and girls, the cost of inaction is particularly acute. It means giving birth without skilled care, surviving violence without access to support services, withdrawing daughters from school, losing access to reproductive healthcare, and facing heightened risks of exploitation, abuse and child marriage.   It also means the erosion of community-based networks and women-led organizations that often provide the last remaining lifeline when formal systems falter.   Funding cuts have forced humanitarians to make excruciating decisions regarding prioritization, cutting a lifeline for tens of millions of people in need. Based on collective needs analysis and intense discussions by country teams, assistance in 2026 is focused on those facing the most severe needs.   However, while necessary, this leaves tens of millions of people without any hope of support.   In Somalia, for example, alarming food insecurity has been compounded by declining humanitarian assistance: only 17 percent of people in need received humanitarian food security support in January 2026 while 125 treatment sites for severe acute malnutrition and 360 sites offering treatment for moderate acute malnutrition have been closed due to under-funding.   The consequences are already visible across crises, in lives lost, services reduced, and protection weakened:   Resourcing constraints have weakened healthcare systems that detect dangerous pathogens, prepare countries for and prevent outbreaks, and guide vaccine decisions. In South Sudan, more than 1.35 million people in Jonglei State lost access to health services due to service disruptions.   Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH) are causing disease and despair in multiple countries. In Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory, collapsed sanitation systems, overflowing sewage, extreme overcrowding, and widespread rodent and insect infestations are exposing civilians to disease, suffering and untenable living conditions amid soaring temperatures.   Funding gaps are forcing millions of people to survive in unsafe, degrading, and increasingly dangerous living conditions. In the Horn of Africa the upcoming rainy season is increasing concerns about aging, temporary shelters located in areas exposed to strong winds, flooding, and poor site conditions. Chad, hosting over 927,000 Sudanese refugees, is struggling to relocate families into sites where services are already severely overstretched.   Protection and education systems are collapsing in multiple contexts due to lack of resources. In Somalia, 86 per cent of Gender-based violence support facilities have shut down. In Chad, severe funding shortfalls are forcing the closure of Women and Girls Safe Spaces, leaving survivors of gender-based violence without clinical care or safe entry points.   In Colombia, local organisations have been forced to scale back drastically. Between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of Education in Emergencies programmes have been reduced or completely suspended, directly impacting the provision of essential elements of education responses in crisis-hit regions.   At the same time, an erosion of protection, including flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, are exposing humanitarian and healthcare workers to greater danger and severely hampering efforts to provide assistance and care.   There has been a collapse of protection for aid workers. In 2025, at least 326 humanitarians were recorded as killed across 21 countries (an average of almost one each day), bringing the total number of humanitarians killed in three years to over 1,010.   Of those over 1,000 deaths, many were in Gaza and the West Bank, 130 in Sudan, 60 in South Sudan, 25 in Ukraine and 25 in the DRC. Member States’ efforts to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice when death and injury result from apparent violations remain grossly inadequate. This pervasive impunity undermines the protection of aid workers across crises.   Access constraints severely hampered humanitarian response in multiple countries. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, aid delivery remained limited by crossing restrictions, denied or delayed movement approvals, fuel shortages, and disruptions to supply chains.   In Somalia, fighting was the primary cause of access restrictions in the first quarter, including hostilities, inter-clan clashes, political and election-related tensions that hindered humanitarian delivery by restricting the movement of personnel and supplies amid prepositioning for the drought response.   Attacks harming healthcare personnel and facilities have become a defining feature of conflicts, despite clear obligations under international humanitarian law and the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 2286, which was adopted in May 2016 to advance the protection of medical care in armed conflict.   From 28 February to 4 May, an average of 5 attacks per day on health care were reported in 2026. In Ukraine, more than 3,000 attacks were recorded on the health-care system in 1,534 days of war, from primary health care centres to maternity hospitals, and from ambulance teams to pharmaceutical warehouses.   In Sudan, attacks against hospitals, clinics, ambulances, patients and health workers since April 2023 have killed more than 2,000 civilians. In Lebanon, almost 190 attacks on healthcare were verified, killing 128 healthcare workers and injured 332 others, were recorded in just three months in 2026. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, attacks on healthcare facilities have deprived more than 55,000 people of medical care, displacing thousands and interrupting ongoing response efforts.   For millions of people, the consequences of global inaction are neither abstract nor in the future; they are already here, and they are immediate and they are life-threatening.   Conflict between States is at its highest level since World War II.   In the Middle East, over 7,000 people have been killed, including 3,637 in Lebanon, 3,375 in Iran and 29 in Israel, while civilian infrastructure has come under attack by all parties to armed conflict across the region. In Lebanon, an estimated 1.4 million people require urgent life‑saving assistance and protection, as displacement becomes increasingly prolonged and pressures on host communities and essential services intensify.   In Sudan, at least 160 children were killed and 85 maimed in the first three months of 2026, while people continued to flee the horrifying war internally, and across borders as refugees.   In Haiti, escalating violence has forced record levels of people from their homes, with 1.5 million people internally displaced by June, including over 300,000 in the capital, Port-au-Prince.   In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 70 children have been killed between January 2025 and mid-May 2026 in the West Bank, while in Gaza, more than 250 children were killed and 260 injured from the announcement of the ceasefire in October 2025 to May 2026.   In Ukraine, May 2026 marked the highest monthly civilian casualty toll - at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 injured - since July 2025, while attacks with long-range weapons struck cities and towns far from the frontline.   And when fighting re-erupted between Afghanistan and Pakistan in late-February 2026, it displaced over 100,000 people in Afghanistan, at a time when communities across the country were already struggling to cope with cross-border returns and rising hunger, which has hit women hardest and forced families to take desperate decisions, including selling their daughters into early marriage.   Across several crises, refugees and internally displaced people began to return home, including in Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan. However, they often arrived to lack of functioning basic services, damaged houses and many other challenges.   The human toll of drone warfare, which increased exponentially between 2020 and 2024, was one of the defining trends in armed conflict in early 2026. The expansion in drone use is fundamentally reshaping the way wars are waged, with catastrophic consequences for civilians.   In Sudan, armed drones caused 80 per cent of civilian deaths between January and April 2026, with at least 28 drone attacks harming markets and 12 drone attacks harming health facilities in that four-month period alone.   In Ukraine, short-range drones killed 80 civilians and injured 481 in April 2026, the highest monthly civilian toll from this type of weapon since the start of the invasion. In the Russian Federation, infrastructure and civilian objects have been hit and civilians have died including as a result of drone attacks.   In Colombia, there was a 445 per cent increase in attacks using weaponized drones between 2024 and 2025, with significant humanitarian consequences.   Humanitarians are increasingly in the line of drone fire. In a single week in May, four humanitarian convoys were hit while carrying life-saving assistance to civilians in need in Ukraine. In March, an aid worker was killed in a drone strike on a residential building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.   Olena, surviving on the frontlines of war in Ukraine:   “This cannot be called life,” said 80-year-old Olena, as she reflected on the past four years of the ongoing war in Ukraine. “It is not life when every day, every moment, there is shooting and you are frightened. It feels like there is a ‘hunt for people’ with drones, a human safari,” - she said. “Is that life? No.”   And yet, Olena wakes up to meet every morning. She makes breakfast for herself and her daughter. She waits for news from her family. It is her daily ritual which she helps her hold on. For families in Kherson and other front-line communities, survival has become an act of quiet endurance.   Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Olena and her husband had built a quiet, steady life in a close-knit neighbourhood in Kherson. But all of that changed, when parts of Kherson were occupied, including their neighbourhood. Electricity, water, mobile communication — everything stopped.   Checkpoints appeared. Armed men patrolled the streets. People stayed indoors, speaking in whispers, measuring each movement against fear. Even after Russian forces left, Kherson never truly left the front line: artillery and drones can reach within minutes. And in early-2023, Olena’s home was damaged by shelling.   Today, Olena lives in a rented apartment in Kherson with her daughter. Their pension barely covers expenses. For families living within range of artillery and drones, war is measured in sleepless nights and shattered homes.   “I don’t mourn the loss of property,” Olena’s daughter said. “I mourn the people the war has taken. Everything else can be rebuilt. But lives cannot be returned.”   Conflict-related sexual violence, marked by extreme brutality, has continued to surge, overwhelmingly targeted against women and girls. In 2025 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were more than double the previous year’s figure.   In Haiti, armed groups use sexual violence to spread fear, subjugate, and punish the population. In Myanmar, rape, gang rape and other forms of sexual violence are used as a tactic of war, including during village raids, at check points, in fields, homes and detention settings and online.   In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), sexual violence against children has become entrenched, systemic and increasingly widespread. In Sudan, sexual violence continues to surge, with the number of women and girls requiring support after experiencing gender-based violence nearly doubling in two years and quadrupling since the start of the war three years ago.   Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan: Shadia, escaping the siege of El Fasher   Shadia, a displaced mother from El Fasher, relates surviving detention and assault before fleeing to Tawila. Her story reflects widespread abuses reported during the RSF takeover that forced mass displacement across North Darfur.   For many people, siege is an ancient word – something from history books. But for Shadia, it is painfully real. She lived through the 500-day siege of El Fasher, trapped with thousands of others in a city cut off by war, with dwindling food and medicines, with troops surrounding them.   The farms around the city were emptied through fear and violence. Those who tried to leave in search of food or to bring supplies back risked being killed, detained, or raped.   Shadia remained in El Fasher as the city starved and collapsed around her, until one desperate attempt to find vegetables outside the city ended in rape.   After her assault, she escaped to Tawila by foot, more than 50km away. Her husband did not escape. When El Fasher fell in October 2025, she was finally reunited with her children. Today, she lives with them in a small, crowded tent in a displacement camp.   Across Sudan, over 12 million people, mostly women and girls, are at risk of gender-based violence – an 80 per cent increase since 2024.   The escalation of conflict in Iran and across the Middle East has far-reaching effects, causing global supply disruptions and rising humanitarian costs. The war has severely restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that carries about one fifth of global oil and gas and a significant share of fertilizer trade.   The disruption has sharply increased fuel, transport and insurance costs, raising humanitarian operating expenses and constraining fertilizer supplies and represents the beginning of a systemic agrifood shock that could trigger a severe global food price crisis within six to 12 months.   At the same time, the disruptions are significantly increasing the cost and complexity of humanitarian operations at a time when global humanitarian action is desperately under-funded, with longer shipping times, higher fuel and logistics costs, and growing constraints on supply chains reducing the efficiency and reach of response efforts.   Evidence from partners, including WFP, IRC, IFRC, CARE, and other organizations indicate that rising fuel, transport and logistics costs are already increasing the cost of delivering assistance, which may translate into fewer people reached, smaller rations and reduced service packages.   These new pressures come when acute food insecurity and malnutrition are already alarmingly high. Hunger has doubled over the past decade, with 266 million people across 47 countries facing crisis-level conditions in 2025, while an estimated 35.5 million children and about 9.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished across 23 countries/territories, including 10 million children facing life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.   Hunger is also highly concentrated: ten countries—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen—accounting for some two thirds of the global total.   Across crises, women and girls are often the last to eat and the least likely to access scarce resources.   Following the unprecedented declaration of two simultaneous famines in 2024—in parts of Sudan and in Gaza in the Occupied Palestinian Territory—people are projected to face Catastrophe (IPC/CH Phase 5) levels of food insecurity in 2026 in Sudan, Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria and the Gaza Strip, while the Burhakaba district of Somalia was declared to be at risk of famine in May 2026.   If hostilities in the Middle East persist, around 45 million more people may fall into acute hunger, with the largest projected increases in Africa and Asia.   Meanwhile, climate shocks continued to wreak havoc on people’s lives in the first half of 2026. In December 2025, severe and prolonged flooding affected large parts of southern and central Mozambique, affecting around 724,000 people and driving humanitarian needs requiring a response in 2026. Rivers burst their banks, displacing communities and damaging or destroying homes, health facilities, water systems and other critical infrastructure.   Then, in early 2026, Madagascar was hit in rapid succession by Cyclone Fytia on 31 January and Intense Tropical Cyclone Gezani on 10 February, causing widespread devastation across the northern, western, and eastern regions of the country. The disaster significantly worsened an already fragile humanitarian situation, with more than 681,000 people affected and 632,000 now requiring urgent assistance.   In Cuba, severe fuel shortages due to external measures compounded the needs triggered by Hurricane Melissa (October 2025), affecting access to water, health care, sanitation, education and food, while also limiting partners’ ability to distribute assistance already in‑country.   In Somalia, a severe and prolonged drought—combined with insecurity, cuts to humanitarian assistance and the ripple effects of war in the Middle East—has caused a rapidly intensifying emergency.   Against a backdrop of sustained warming and increasing climate extremes, El Nino conditions, predicted to start in June 2026, are set to increase the risk of extreme weather over the coming months. Although no two events are the same, the 2026 El Nino could well increase the risk of heat waves, severe droughts and torrential rains in multiple parts of the world.   On top of conflict and climate crises, a new Ebola outbreak was declared in May 2026 in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda. The resurgence of the virus in DRC is unfolding amid overlapping crises that heighten transmission risks, including conflict, mass displacement, and limited access to healthcare.   Women are disproportionately exposed to infection through their caregiving and frontline health roles. Clashes are driving mass displacement, pushing exposed contacts into overcrowded camps, and cutting off critical epidemiological corridors. Attacks on health facilities and threats to frontline workers are making case detection, contact tracing and safe burials highly complex.   This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, emerging only a few months after the end of the last epidemic in December 2025. The epidemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 17 May 2026, underscoring the urgency of the situation. There is currently no vaccine and no approved treatment for this strain of the Ebola virus, the Bundibugyo virus.   Humanitarians are asking the global community, including Member States, individuals, organizations, companies and parties to conflict:   * Protect civilians in armed conflict, including the aid workers striving to assist them and the medical mission. Uphold international humanitarian law consistently, not only with words, but with concrete actions.   * Fully fund the hyper-prioritized Global Humanitarian Overview immediately, while striving to fund the entire GHO by the end of 2026.   http://humanitarianaction.info/document/mid-year-review-global-humanitarian-overview-delivering-people-crisis-against-odds http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2026 http://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-humanitarian-assistance-report-2026-enar Visit the related web page
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