“As the war in Gaza encroaches further into Rafah, I am extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of families which have endured the unthinkable in search of safety,” Mr. Griffiths said on X, formerly Twitter. The veteran humanitarian official’s comments came as media reports indicated that Israeli airstrikes overnight into Thursday in Rafah left…
“Half of Sudan’s population, 25 million people, needs humanitarian assistance,” Martin Griffiths, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in Geneva. He emphasized that far too many of those in need were children, and that 18 million people were acutely food insecure, amid one of the world’s largest displacement and protection crises. The appeal comprises…
“This morning a food convoy waiting to move into northern Gaza was hit by Israeli naval gunfire; thankfully no-one was injured,” said Tom White, Director of Affairs for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA. Accompanying the post on X, formerly Twitter, two photographs showed a stationary flat-bed lorry parked in front of a UN…
Drought is ravaging communities in Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Oromia, as well as the Southern and South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region. Severe water shortages, dried pastures and reduced harvests are impacting millions of people and livestock, with reports of food insecurity and rising malnutrition. Among those who are particularly vulnerable are people affected by the…
WFP described the situation as dire, noting that almost 18 million people across the country are currently facing acute hunger. An estimated five million are experiencing emergency levels of hunger due to conflict in areas such as Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan. Obstacles to aid delivery “The situation in Sudan today is nothing short of catastrophic,”…
“It’s difficult to imagine that Gazans will survive this crisis without UNRWA…“(we) have received reports that people in the area are grinding bird feed to make flour,” said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza and UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Citing “colossal” needs now facing over two million people…
“While we’re addressing these concerns very actively, the humanitarian work needs to go on,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at the Noon Briefing at Headquarters in New York on Tuesday. “Civilians in Gaza who are suffering, need the continued support of everyone,” he said. “The critical humanitarian work the UN does not only in Gaza,…
Tents for displaced people in southern Gaza When war began on 7 October, life changed dramatically overnight for mother-of-four Hala, as it did for the more than two million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip. She kept a diary of her experiences and shared it with the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA). It recounts her…
The death toll from intensified fighting “in the area” of the training centre in the southern city of Khan Younis in recent days has risen to 12 confirmed fatalities and 75 injured – 15 critically – said Thomas White, Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Persistent attacks on civilian sites in Khan Younis…
Reiterating urgent international calls for a ceasefire, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that there have been nearly 20,000 births since the start of widespread Israeli bombardment, in response to Hamas-led attacks in Israel that left some 1,200 dead and approximately 250 taken hostage. Chronic aid access problems have meant that Caesarean sections have been…
