The World Health Organization says that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, highlighting the high risk of further spread and the likelihood that the outbreak may be larger than currently detected.
In Somalia, hunger is pushing 6 million people — almost a third of the population — into critical levels of food insecurity, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
After 14 weeks of intensive negotiations under UN auspices in Amman, the parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed to release over 1,600 conflict-related detainees — the largest such release deal since the start of the conflict, and a profound relief for thousands of Yemenis enduring long, painful waits for family members.
Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $12 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund for food, healthcare, drinking water and shelter, among other life-saving aid, to 200,000 people in Jonglei and Upper Nile States in South Sudan grappling with conflict-triggered displacement and food insecurity.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, aid partners operating a toll-free counselling hotline report cases involving suicide ideation rose by 90 per cent. In Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 43,000 people have potentially life-changing injuries.
In Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports an surge in gender-based violence in the first three months of this year. Almost 2,000 incidents — or about 21 cases per day — were recorded. More than 70 per cent of the cases involved rape, up from 49 per cent the previous quarter.
In Lebanon, two aid organizations successfully conducted missions to Tyre in Sector West Thursday thanks to coordination with the UN peacekeeping mission there and the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Humanitarian needs remain severe, especially in the health sector amid continued Israeli attacks.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 6.5 million people in Somalia are experiencing crisis-level hunger, acute malnutrition or are at risk of starvation due to worsening drought conditions, conflict and funding shortfalls. WFP warns that without additional funding it may be forced to halt emergency assistance.
In Ukraine, humanitarian convoys continue to reach hard-to-access communities near the front line, even as heavy bombardment in urban centres across the east are causing civilian casualties, including among first responders. In the last two days, the UN and its partners delivered two convoys to the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Food Programme and aid partners today resumed food distribution to over 71,000 people at the Plaine Savo displacement site in Ituri, the first delivery since December, after weeks of negotiations led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs secured better access.
