Humanitarian issues

In Haiti, as the security situation deteriorates, essential UN personnel from agencies and its political mission remain in Port-au-Prince, ensuring continued delivery of critical humanitarian programmes and assistance and political support to assist Haitian-led efforts to successfully carry out the political transition.

In his first open briefing to the Security Council in five years, Gilles Michaud, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, delivered an urgent appeal for enhanced protection of UN and humanitarian personnel who face escalating risks in conflict zones.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, heavy rainfall caused flooding in multiple sites in Khan Younis and Gaza City where displaced families are staying. People’s tents and other belongings were damaged by the rains. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have been carrying out field visits to assess the impact of the latest rains.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today urgently appealed for $16.9 billion to address global food needs and the alarming gap between needs and resources. WFP’s Global Outlook 2025 shows that 343 million human beings across 74 countries are acutely food insecure, 10 per cent more than in 2023.

On 8 November 2024, in pursuance of paragraph 5 of resolution 2664 (2022), a representative of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on behalf of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 (2022) concerning Haiti on the delivery of life-saving assistance and other activities that support essential human needs in Haiti.

In Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that since the war began 19 months ago there, the first domestic UN flight travelled today from Port Sudan to Kassala. The WFP-managed flights will now offer regular flights to transport aid workers and light humanitarian cargo from Port Sudan to Kassala once a week.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that bakeries serving as lifelines for hundreds of thousands of hungry or starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are on the verge of shutting down due to lack of flour and fuel. This comes at a time when parts of Gaza are at risk of famine.

Tropical Storm Sara has brought heavy rains and strong winds to Central America, impacting nearly 180,000 people. The teams in the region, under the leadership of Resident Coordinators, are supporting Government-led efforts on the ground in the areas of coordination, technical assistance and monitoring.

The Security Council, meeting once again amid the 19-month brutal war raging in Sudan that has led to the world’s largest displacement crisis, rejected today a draft resolution intended to bolster measures to protect civilians and increase humanitarian aid access.

A convoy of 109 trucks with food supplies for the World Food Programme and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, originally scheduled for 17 November, was instructed by the Israel Defense Forces to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route on 16 November from the Kerem Shalom crossing and was looted inside Gaza.