Gaza: “What we are seeing is carnage” | A Call to the NATO Summit: Invest in Humanity | UN Relief Chief in DRC | and more humanitarian updates

Here are this week's top humanitarian news and stories:

We are OCHA

Wherever people are in need, OCHA is there. 

From conflict zones to areas struck by natural disasters, we work tirelessly to save lives. 

We make humanitarian action happen – no matter what.

Learn more: https://www.unocha.org/ 

On the ground in DRC: USG Fletcher’s visit

USG Tom Fletcher is visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo this week. After kicking off in Kinshasa with meetings including the Foreign Minister, he’s now in the east of the country – where over 20 million people need aid, and recent clashes have uprooted millions more.

In Minova, South Kivu, he visited a water and waste management project helping displaced families, as well as a mobile health clinic supporting communities affected by conflict. Years of violence and lack of clean water have left millions at risk of preventable diseases like cholera – especially with funding running dangerously low.

“Here in DRC, as in so many crises, women pay the highest price. Their emergency care has been suspended because of funding cuts. And sexual violence against them is a weapon of war.”

In Shasha, North Kivu, he spoke with women at a returnee center who shared painful stories of gender-based violence, including sexual violence. 🎥 Watch 👇

He later traveled to Goma to meet with humanitarian partners and communities on the most urgent needs.

Stay updated on his trip through the UN Relief Chief account.

Gaza: “What we are seeing is carnage.”  

Conditions in the Gaza Strip are deteriorating rapidly. Israeli operations – including shelling and bombing across the Strip – continue to have a devastating impact on civilians, reportedly killing and injuring scores of people, many of whom were seeking aid.   

Humanitarian operations of sufficient scale are not facilitated, leaving unaddressed the critical needs of those who have so far survived. 

On Sunday, OCHA’s Head of Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jonathan Whittall  briefed journalists about what he was seeing in Gaza. 

"These are conditions created to kill," said Whittall, warning of a pattern where people are being killed trying to reach food. 

“What we are seeing is carnage. It is weaponized hunger. It is forced displacement. It’s a death sentence for people just trying to survive. All combined, it appears to be the erasure of Palestinian life from Gaza.” - Jonathan Whittall , OCHA Head of Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

🎥 Watch:

The rapid depletion of remaining fuel stocks is jeopardizing efforts to keep Gaza’s lifelines up and running. Israeli authorities continue to restrict the delivery of fuel into and throughout the Strip, effectively choking off life-saving services for deprived and starving people. 

To meaningfully address the massive deprivation in Gaza, the Israeli authorities must allow higher volumes of supplies and more varied types of food, as well as cooking gas, fuel and shelter items, into the Strip, and facilitate the orderly distribution of aid. 

Meanwhile, caregivers warn that children are experiencing mounting psychological stress. This is driven by the deteriorating conditions, including lack of food. The UN and its partners are providing psycho-social and mental health support to children and caregivers.  

Read the latest humanitarian updates from Gaza and the West Bank. 

Donate to help families in Gaza. 

Humanity deserves a fraction of what the world spends on defence  

Humanitarians are being forced to dramatically cut assistance and protection for people in crisis as funding plummets.

So far, only 13% of required funding has been received. At the same time, military spending has increased, reaching $2.7 trillion in 2024.

That's more than 100 times the amount needed for global humanitarian aid, and the steepest rise since the end of the Cold War.

As world leaders gather at the NATO summit, we call on them to invest 1% of their defence budgets to humanitarian aid.

The Global Humanitarian Overview also warns about the horrifying toll of conflict on children. 

Tens of thousands of children have been killed or injured in the last year alone. Many more live in constant fear – displaced from their homes, cut off from education, facing trauma, hunger, and the threat of exploitation or recruitment by armed groups.

The rising scale and severity of these violations should move us to action.

Brutal funding cuts have left us with the cruel math of doing less with less – even as the world remains on fire and people die because we don’t have resources to save them.

We haven't given up. Neither should you.

Find out how you can help and #InvestInHumanity.

Further displacement and funding cuts heighten humanitarian needs in Sudan

The catastrophe in Sudan defies words.

Over two years of relentless fighting has torn apart lives, and pushed millions into hunger, disease and despair. A catastrophic famine is ravaging the more remote areas, while a nightmare of sexual violence persists for women and girls across the country. 

People are continuously forced to flee. 10 million people are internally displaced within Sudan. 

OCHA’s Head of Office, Markus Werne, met displaced families in Port Sudan. They all want one thing: to return home.

Photojournalist Giles Clarke, with support from OCHA and @UNDP, documented the scale of the war’s brutality, focusing on the mass displacement and the effects of the war on civilians.

Here’s what he witnessed – in his own words: https://bit.ly/4ctfoPa

Funding cuts are severely undermining the humanitarian response in Sudan. UNFPA, for instance, has been forced to withdraw from over half of the 93 health facilities it was supporting across the country. The shortfall in resources is putting essential services, and the lives of people who rely on them, at serious risk.

You can help. Give today to support Sudan’s people. 

OCHA published Annual Report for 2024

2024 was tough. Conflict, climate shocks, and funding cuts pushed millions to the edge – and humanitarians to the limit. It was also the deadliest year on record for aid workers, with 377 killed.

Despite it all, humanitarian teams reached 116 million people in 33 countries. That’s healthcare for children, shelter for families, food for communities – and hope in places that need it most.

With support from CERF and thousands of partners, we moved faster, backed local organizations, and helped people prepare for future crises.

As we head into an even more challenging 2025, we’re adapting: aiming to be faster, leaner, and more people-centered than ever. Thanks for being with us on this journey.

Read the full 2024 Annual Report.

When funding fails, people suffer

Around the world, severe funding shortfalls are undermining humanitarian operations and putting lives at risk. 

Children are facing growing hunger and abuse. Services that protect and support survivors of gender-based violence are shutting down due to a lack of resources. Refugee support is being suspended, leaving people forced to flee without access to shelter, healthcare or safety.

Humanitarian organizations are being forced to make impossible choices – knowing that each reduction has real and lasting consequences for the people we serve.

Swipe to see this week’s toll on the ground. ⬇️

Your support can make a difference. Give today.

UN Deputy Relief Chief warns Security Council that funding cuts are hindering humanitarian response in Afghanistan

UN Deputy Relief Chief Joyce Msuya told the Security Council on Monday that the people of Afghanistan face persistent and acute humanitarian needs compounded by decades of conflict, entrenched poverty, an ever-harsher climate, severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, and a highly constrained funding environment.  

“The high levels of needs in Afghanistan outpace the funding available to support people. We are halfway through the year, and the humanitarian response plan is under 21% funded.” - Joyce Msuya, UN Deputy Relief Chief

Women and girls are bearing the worst impacts of the crisis, being erased from public life.

"Afghans need our solidarity. We must not fail them," urged Msuya. Watch 🔽

Find out how you can help.

Attacks continue to kill and injure civilians in Ukraine

Attacks have intensified in the regions of Dnipro, Sumy and Odesa, while the Donetsk, Kherson and Kharkiv regions also report multiple civilian casualties and damage to homes, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure. 

There was also a sharp escalation in attacks over the weekend, with strikes hitting the capital, Kyiv, and multiple other regions. Humanitarian Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, denounced the attacks. 

Humanitarians responded rapidly and delivered emergency shelter kits, hot meals and psychosocial support. They also registered people affected for cash assistance.

Our team visited the site of the attacks in #Kyiv. We spoke with affected families and aid workers responding on the ground. 

Watch how humanitarians are helping people cope and recover.

Donate now to help humanitarians reach families in need.

More humanitarian updates & interesting reads to explore

• Chad: UN fast-tracks support for displaced people, host communities 
• Syria: UN condemns attack on church in Damascus 
• Haiti: Gender-based violence increases as more people displaced 

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