Humanitarian Aid

A healthcare worker dressed in a white uniform is examining a child's arm inside a wooden structure.

Decades of armed conflict in North Kivu, DRC, have devastated infrastructure and lives. Since January 2025, over 1 million displaced people have been pushed to leave camps and return to villages, but many struggle to access basic services, especially healthcare. In Kabase village, the only health facility is in ruins, with stolen essential equipment, including a vaccine refrigerator. Nurse Lukoo Joseph highlights the dire situation, stating the community cannot afford healthcare. Despite severe funding cuts, the UN aims to assist 11 million people this year but requires more support to meet rising needs. You can help make a difference. Support the DRC Humanitarian Fund.

A woman in Gaza gently holding her 18-month-old son, Mohamed, who has a rare genetic disorder.

Hedaia cradles her 18-month-old son, Mohamed, who suffers from muscular atrophy and is now skeletal due to severe food shortages in Gaza. By the end of September, it is projected that 641,000 people will face catastrophic hunger. Famine has been confirmed in Gaza at the highest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) level, which is the global standard for measuring food insecurity. An additional 1.14 million will face Emergency conditions, while 396,000 will be in Crisis. The situation is worsened by ongoing conflict and restricted aid access. Experts call for urgent aid and a ceasefire to save lives, marking the first confirmed famine in the Gaza Strip.

Imagine a hunger that never ends, one that threatens your very life. In Gaza, daily violence and collapsing hospitals put mothers and newborns at extreme risk, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) delivers essential medical care, emergency obstetric services, and psychosocial support.

Your donation helps ensure that even amidst war and devastation, mothers receive the care they desperately need and their babies have a chance to survive and thrive.

A sudanese woman with her two children seated on the ground.

Humanitarian needs across Southern and Eastern Africa have reached alarming levels this year– nearly 85 million people now need urgent assistance. But at the same time, brutal funding cuts are severely undermining humanitarian efforts, forcing aid agencies to scale back or suspend life-saving assistance. As a result, millions of people lack access to essential services and protection. By July, only 21 per cent of the US$10.5 billion required had been received. Your donation through the Regional Humanitarian Fund can help save lives and bring hope to the most vulnerable communities in Southern and Eastern Africa. You can donate to the Regional Fund.

2024 was the deadliest year ever for humanitarian workers. 2025 could be even worse. We repeat this grim line year after year – and fear it no longer shocks. Last year on World Humanitarian Day, we demanded protection for humanitarians in conflict zones. Resolutions were passed, promises were made. But nothing changed on the ground. The rules and the tools exist. Security Council resolution 2730 sets a path. A major political declaration is on the way. What we need now is the will – and the courage – from all with power or influence to #ActForHumanity.

A humanitarian food distribution scene in Haiti while several individuals are handing out white food containers.

World Food Programme (WFP) staff reflect on life in two of the toughest places on earth. At dawn in northern Haiti, far from the violence of Port-au-Prince, aid workers travel safely to support farmers and schools. While insecurity hampers food distribution in the capital, resilience thrives. Over half of Haitians face hunger yet hope persists amid hardship. In January, M23 rebels seized Goma, DRC, killing nearly 1,000 people and triggering mass evacuations. UN staff fled as chaos erupted. WFP warehouses were looted, food stocks lost. Amid displacement and violence, aid efforts stalled, leaving vulnerable groups at greater risk. The hardest part is knowing how quickly everything can collapse – and how long it takes to rebuild.

On 19 August, World Humanitarian Day honors those who risk their lives to help others and stands with millions in crisis. In 2024, over 380 aid workers were killed, many at home, with hundreds more injured, kidnapped, or detained—often in violation of international law and unpunished. As global needs grow, funding shrinks and violence rises, leaving the humanitarian system overwhelmed and failing. This World Humanitarian Day we’re relaunching #ActForHumanity with sharper urgency demanding protection, accountability and action. We’re no longer at a crossroads—we’re at the edge.

A young girl staring outside the window.

As global aid declines, vital services for children, like healthcare and immunization, are collapsing, threatening millions of lives and undermining progress in humanitarian and development efforts.

Two girls in a classroom.

After years of war and displacement, UNHCR and partners are helping residents return to Taiz, where local resilience and international support are driving the city’s fragile recovery.

A group of people carrying large bags of food on their heads.

Impoverished communities in Palestine (Gaza), Haiti, Mali, South Sudan and Sudan are at risk of famine or already facing catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity at IPC Phase 5 – the most life-threatening level on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification – according to the latest UN Hunger Hotspots report. Published jointly twice a year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), the report confirms deepening crises in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Syria, Yemen and – in a new entry to the list – Nigeria, another country where critical emergency food assistance has faced unprecedented cuts. 

Three women looking down on a cooking pot.

With funding cuts worsening food insecurity in Afghanistan, one in five people now needs emergency aid, as women and children face rising malnutrition and shrinking food assistance, warns WFP.

A baby sitting in a rug in central Myanmar, the country was hit recently by two earthquakes.

Two powerful earthquakes hit central Myanmar on 28 March 2025, destroying thousands of homes and reducing hospitals, schools and other essential infrastructure to rubble. Weeks later, millions of people are still struggling to adapt to their new reality: living in makeshift shelters that expose them to scorching heatwaves, early rains and alarming protection risks. Here are some of their stories. You can help: Support the Myanmar Humanitarian Fund. Your donation will directly help local organizations.

A person cooking flatbread over an open flame using a metal griddle.

People in Gaza are at risk of starvation, with all aid blocked from entering since 2 March. A report by 17 United Nations agencies and NGOs released last week says 470,000 people face catastrophic hunger– level 5 on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the global standard for measuring food insecurity. It also projects that 71,000 children and more than 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. Three World Food Programme (WFP) staff members share their perspectives: two who visited Deir el-Balah, in the heart of Gaza, in May, and one from Gaza herself.

Giving birth shouldn't be a fight for survival. In Gaza, Nisma had to flee her home pregnant and now struggles to feed her newborn. Hear her story and see how UNFPA—the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency—is supporting mothers during humanitarian crises.

A woman wearing a black niqab sitting on a mattress with a young boy. The woman is pointing at an open notebook that the boy is looking at.

“My life has stabilized and I’m optimistic about the future,” says Arwa. A single mother displaced by conflict in Yemen, Arwa started a small business thanks to a cash grant. She is one of 8 million people in Yemen who received life-saving support last year from around 200 humanitarian organizations – many of them local Yemeni partners. In a country devastated by years of conflict, economic collapse and climate disasters, glimpses of hope still break through. From a mother restoring her child’s health to a family salvaging their home after floods, these are the stories of seven people in Yemen whose hope was restored by humanitarian assistance.