#Central Emergency Response Fund
With global humanitarian funding being scaled back precipitously, OCHA announced today that US$110 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to boost life-saving assistance in 10 of the world’s most underfunded and neglected crises across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
More than 300 million people around the world urgently need humanitarian aid, but funding has been dwindling annually, with this year’s levels projected to drop to a record low.
Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that for countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don’t mean that humanitarian needs disappear.
The new funding will go towards Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Honduras, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela and Zambia. Resources will also support vulnerable people from climate shocks.
#Afghanistan
OCHA warns that Afghanistan continues to face a severe humanitarian crisis defined by decades of conflict, entrenched poverty, climate-induced shocks and rising protection risks, especially for women and girls.
In 2025, more than half of the population – almost 23 million people – needs humanitarian assistance. This number is one of the highest globally, second only to Sudan – where 30 million people need aid and protection this year.
Both food insecurity and malnutrition remain stubbornly high. During the first quarter of this year, nearly 15 million people – one in every three Afghans – will experience high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. Nearly 3.5 million children under 5 and over 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to become acutely malnourished.
Explosive hazards continue to pose a lethal threat, with an estimated 55 people killed or injured every month – most of them children.
Funding cuts are already significantly constraining the humanitarian community’s efforts to provide life-saving assistance to those most in need. In the past month, more than 200 health facilities have closed, depriving 1.8 million people of essential health services. Malnutrition services for children have also been impacted. Our humanitarian partners warn that aid funding cuts will cost both lives and livelihoods – and undermine development gains.
The UN and its partners are urgently reprioritizing our programmes to ensure we can continue reaching the communities and areas most in need. This includes preparing for a potential increase in returns from neighbouring countries and needs arising from current flooding and heavy rains, which will continue in the coming months.
In addition to the funds allocated from CERF today, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund will provide an additional $30 million to support the most urgent life-saving priorities in the country.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA continues to warn that the already catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip risks deteriorating even further unless the flow of aid resumes without delay. International humanitarian law is clear: Civilians' essential needs must be met, including through the unimpeded entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance.
Shelter partners report that tens of thousands of tents are unable to enter, at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are in need of shelter support and exposed to winter weather.
With no supplies entering Gaza, food security partners report price fluctuations in the markets. In the south of Wadi Gaza on Tuesday, the price of a 25-kilo bag of flour was ranging from the equivalent of $11 all the way up to more than $27.
The humanitarian community in Gaza continues to do everything possible to sustain the response. Since 19 January, health partners have supported the provision of primary and secondary services to 1.3 million people.
The UN and its partners also continue to carry out needs assessments of previously inaccessible sites to mobilize response efforts, though these will depend on the entry of more aid into Gaza.
In the West Bank, OCHA warns that the situation remains deeply alarming, with partners reporting graphic scenes of displacement, demolished homes and damaged streets due to the continuing Israeli forces' operations in the northern West Bank.
OCHA underscores once again that international law must be respected at all times and demands that Palestinians be protected.
#Democratic Republic of the Congo
OCHA is alarmed by the recent surge in violence in Ituri Province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to humanitarian partners and local authorities, clashes and attacks by armed groups in Ituri have killed more than 200 civilians since January. Nearly 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes, mainly in the areas of Djugu, Irumu and Mambasa.
The violence forced more than 100 schools to close, depriving over 30,000 children of their right to education, and created enormous humanitarian needs. It has also disrupted aid operations in some areas and overwhelmed sites and communities hosting internally displaced people.
In the latest attack, on 3 March, armed men burned down houses in the village of Ndengesa, in Irumu Territory, killing three people and forcing residents to flee.
Meanwhile, in North Kivu, health authorities report that cholera cases have spiked by nearly 40 per cent since last week, with the provincial capital Goma worst affected.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are supporting the cholera response but remain deeply concerned that limited access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare will fuel further spread of the disease.
In Tanganyika Province, local authorities report that nearly 18,000 people have fled into the province from neighbouring South Kivu since mid-February. The displaced families urgently need food, water and other basic survival items.
OCHA and its humanitarian partners continue to carry out needs assessments to gauge the impact of recent fighting in eastern DRC and provide vital assistance, including healthcare for the injured, as well as food and other support to returnees. Between February 25th and yesterday, humanitarian partners distributed water, sanitation and hygiene kits and essential household items to more than 88,000 people in the territories of Nyiragongo and Rutshuru, in North Kivu Province.
Yesterday, the World Food Programme distributed food to 17,000 people in sites around Goma and to nearly 15,000 people in Sake on Monday.
#Ukraine
OCHA says the UN and its partners are providing emergency assistance to people affected by deadly attacks in the east and south of Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
Last night, a strike in the city of Kryvyi Rih, in eastern Ukraine, killed four civilians and injured more than 30 others, including a child, according to local authorities. Significant damage was also reported, with more than a dozen residential buildings, two kindergartens, multiple shops, a post office and private vehicles affected.
In the Odesa region, an attack late last night destroyed an electricity substation, and damaged a boiler unit and more than a dozen houses. The town of Pivdenne – which is home to 40,000 residents, including 5,000 displaced people – was left without electricity, heating and water.
Hostilities and attacks across Ukraine over the past two days have killed nine civilians and injured more than 40 others, according to authorities in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Sumy. Homes and education facilities have also been damaged.
In Kryvyi Rih City and the Kharkiv and Odesa Regions, aid organizations have been providing first aid, hot meals, mental health and psychosocial support, and shelter materials for families whose homes were damaged.