Humanitarian Aid
Along with $500,000, The Weeknd is also donating $1 to WFP from each ticket sold for his forthcoming After Hours Til Dawn tour, to pull 44 million people back from the brink of famine.
At the Starobilsk Multidisciplinary Hospital in Luhansk, women are giving birth in the basement with artillery shelling nearby. This woman had a baby boy on a day the hospital issued three bomb alerts. There are an estimated 265,000 pregnant women in Ukraine, 80,000 of whom will deliver in the next three months. UNFPA remains on the ground and is preparing to increase operational capacity to deliver life-saving sexual and reproductive health services and supplies.
In response to the Russian military offensive in Ukraine which began on 24 February, the United Nations and humanitarian partners are scaling up the delivery of life saving support to people affected by the conflict. Guided by the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, humanity and independence, UN staff are working on both sides of the contact line, to provide humanitarian relief to people in need, particularly women, children, elderly people and those with disabilities. The United Nations launched coordinated humanitarian appeals. Follow the latest developments in the Security Council and General Assembly.
In the days since Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine, the world has seen the photographs of women giving birth in underground metro stations and newborns hastily being moved to makeshift bomb shelters as health facilities become inaccessible or too damaged to function. An estimated 80,000 women will give birth in the next three months in Ukraine – many of them without access to critical maternal health care. UNFPA remains on the ground and is preparing to increase operational capacity to deliver life-saving sexual and reproductive health services and supplies.
Rockets have been “raining down” on Ukraine’s cities and hundreds of people have been killed or injured since the Russian military offensive began, said the UN Secretary-General, at the launch of a $1.7 billion flash appeal to provide urgently-needed assistance. António Guterres’s comments came as latest UN data indicated that 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since 24 February: “United Nations agencies and our partners are now working 24-7 to assess humanitarian needs and scale up aid, particularly to women, children, older people and those with disabilities.”
In Yemen, people are living through the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. 20.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance or protection. Expectant mothers are particularly vulnerable as they face life threatening shortages for maternal health services.
This week WFP launches its Regional Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa, calling for US$327 million to respond to the immediate needs of 4.5 million people and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks. The money is for emergency response, with a proportion to continue to build capacities of communities and individuals to meet their own needs.
The snow fell thick and heavy in Idleb and Aleppo. Pretty white blobs of cotton. The children tried to get a grip on the slippery, slushy floor of this winter wonderland that destroyed homes in tents, schools in caravans. Yet there were snow fights, and someone made a snowperson with a heart. UNOCHA mobilizes and coordinates humanitarian assistance to people in need worldwide.
Afghanistan is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. Following the withdrawal of US troops and the international sanctions imposed on the Taliban regime, the onset of the harsh Afghan winter has brought rising prices, and food has become increasingly scarce. Schools, clinics, and hospitals across the country have stopped functioning. The United Nations is launching a joint 2022 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan and Regional Refugee Response Plan on 11 January at 11:30 CET. Watch the launch on UN WebTV.
Yemen lays tragic claim to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and aid operation. Two-thirds of the population, or 20.7 million people, need humanitarian assistance in 2021. Multiple emergencies have pummeled the country: violent conflict, an economic blockade, currency collapse, flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic in a country where only half of health facilities are operational. One woman dies every two hours during childbirth, an almost entirely preventable tragedy. More than a million pregnant and breastfeeding women are already acutely malnourished.
Legendary Sahelian artists together with UNOCHA have created and launched The Sahel Song.
“I've seen horrible things. I've seen massacres. Human suffering. These are not easy sights to see. The best way I found to deal with that is just to be determined to fix it in some fashion.”
UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly has seen some of the worst of man's inhumanity to man during a career of more than 40 years in peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and development. In this episode, he talks with podcast host Melissa Fleming about what has driven him to devote his life to helping the most vulnerable in some of the most fragile places on earth.
With more than 20 million people in need of assistance and a seven-year ongoing war, Yemen is among the world's worst humanitarian crises. But it’s not just conflict that threatens the Yemeni people. As David explains, every three days someone is injured or even killed by landmines or unexploded ordnance. During this eye-opening conversation, David shares his concerns about the dire situation in Yemen and the likelihood of being able to sustain the humanitarian response in the year ahead.
The humanitarian situation in the Sahel is deteriorating quickly and significantly. People’s needs across the region are now at unprecedented levels, and their vulnerabilities are deepening and increasing due to escalating conflict, rising food insecurity, multiplying climate emergencies and the pandemic. People across the Sahel show great resilience, generosity, solidarity and strength. But meaningful action and support are needed to shore up that resilience and help millions of people protect their communities and land. Here are 10 facts you need to know.