The alarm comes amid a sharp escalation in fighting in the Aleppo Governorate, spreading to parts of Idleb and Hama governorates and leaving the situation volatile and unpredictable. In a statement on Sunday, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen expressed grave concerns over the dramatic shift in frontlines,...
Addressing the UNHCR Executive Committee in Geneva, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said that nowhere is “uncertainty and anxiety more palpable at the moment than in Lebanon”. “Uncertainty clouds the lives of ordinary civilians in Lebanon today. Surely, if airstrikes continue, many more will be displaced and some will also decide...
The crisis in Yemen, which worsened in 2014 after Houthi rebels (known officially as Ansar Allah) seized the capital, has been marked by complex political and military tensions. More than 18 million people – half the country’s population – remain dependent on humanitarian assistance and protection. Hans Grundberg, the UN...
After over a decade of brutal fighting, the Commission Chair, Paulo Pinheiro, said that deadly dynamics are causing new waves of hostilities. “The recent direct fighting in northeast Syria around Deir-ez-Zor between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the one hand and Arab tribes, Government forces and Iran-backed militia...
FAO said 20.3 million individuals in Sudan face severe hunger, a figure that has nearly doubled since last year. Projections indicate that 42 per cent of the population endures high levels of acute food insecurity, exacerbated by disruptions in the market and skyrocketing food prices, which hinder access to...
In a first since 2020, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini visited Saudi Arabia on 28 and 29 January at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Longtime Saudi solidarity with Palestine refugees topped the agenda of his talks with the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Waleed ElKhereji, and the Supervisor-General...
UNMISS, the African Union mission, regional bloc IGAD, the so-called Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway), the European Union, and the body overseeing the peace agreement signed by the warring parties in South Sudan (R-JMEC), issued a statement on Wednesday, saying they were “gravely concerned about the escalating ongoing...
“The fears legitimately nurtured by the civilian populations who are still suffering the harmful effects of persistent ceasefire violations […] continue to be reported,” said Valentine Rugwabiza, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Central African Republic and Head of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the country, known by its French acronym,...
Impossible choices Hamstrung by funding constraints, WFP is having to prioritize assistance to ensure that vital food reaches the most vulnerable families first – often leaving refugees without support at a time where food assistance is the difference between life and death. As WFP is forced to institute ration reductions...