One in three Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from as communities brace for a harsh winter, the World Food Programme warns. The agency can only reach the most desperate families due to a huge funding shortfall and urgently needs $670 million to reach 15.2 million people.
Noon Briefings
In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is extremely concerned about the well-being of refugees and returnees fleeing the current hostilities in Sudan — as South Sudan continues to see an influx of new arrivals from across the border.
The acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen has called for a thorough and expeditious investigation into the killing of an aid worker on 5 January
In December, the World Food Programme reached more than 975,000 vulnerable people with food aid across Gaza and the West Bank. For its part, the United Nations Children’s Fund has been delivering vital supplies to Gaza, including vaccines, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and ready-to-use infant formula.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs warned that nine months of war in Sudan has tipped the country into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day. Nearly 25 million people there will need assistance in 2024 — but escalating hostilities are putting most of them beyond reach.
In the Central African Republic, where, following a violent attack two weeks ago that caused the death of 23 civilians in the Lim-Pendé prefecture, United Nations peacekeepers are continuing to provide protection to the population and helping to secure the area to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today expressed concern about the impact on civilians of escalating hostilities in the north-west of the country — as well as the potential for the violence to jeopardize cross-border missions by United Nations staff.
In Gaza, over 500,000 people are facing unprecedented catastrophic hunger and starvation, according to an analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which includes data from the World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies. WFP warns that Gaza now risks famine.
In Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it is temporarily suspending food assistance in some parts of Al Jazirah state, as fighting has spread south and east of the capital, Khartoum
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said today that 65 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in 2023, compared with 88 in 2022. The Head of UNESCO said that this drop conceals an alarming phenomenon: an increase in the number killed in conflict zones and more is online.