#Myanmar
Death toll rises after Myanmar earthquake as aftershocks complicate response
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to support* people in Myanmar whose lives have been deeply impacted by last Friday’s devastating earthquake.
The death toll has climbed to more than 2,800 people, with thousands more injured and hundreds missing, according to publicly reported figures.
Dozens of aftershocks continue in affected areas, deepening people’s fear and preventing many from returning to their homes. The aftershocks are also complicating humanitarian response efforts.
In Mandalay City, the epicentre of the earthquake and one of the worst-affected areas, many people are completely cut off from electricity and running water.
Humanitarian workers on the ground have reported increasing cases of acute watery diarrhea among people seeking shelter in displacement sites in Mandalay and Sagaing regions, along with dozens of cases of heat-related illness.
People affected continue to need urgent healthcare and medical supplies, safe drinking water, food and other critical items. Tents and temporary shelter are vital – as well as latrines and other hygiene items – to prevent disease outbreaks. People also need psychosocial support to address mental health needs following the earthquake.
In Mandalay City, humanitarian workers provided food and cash assistance to more than 10,000 people just yesterday. The day before, more than 20,000 people received cash for emergency food, shelter and other items in Mandalay and other areas, including Wetlet, Sagaing and beyond.
Water trucking operations have begun in Nay Pyi Taw territory, serving approximately 45,000 people, although more than 300,000 need this kind of support. In Mandalay, more than 20 latrines have been constructed in displacement sites.
The health response also continues, with three tons of medical supplies, including trauma kits, delivered to hospitals in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw within 24 hours of the earthquake. Nearly 30 field medical stations have been established in the most affected areas, providing emergency care for the injured, as well as basic health services.
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to carry out assessments, mobilize logistics and pre-position supplies to ensure the response is at scale. However, funding remains critically low. The UN calls on the international community to step up at this critical moment and support the people of Myanmar.
*Donations made toUN Crisis Reliefhelp UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Myanmar with urgent support.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
No aid into Gaza for one month amid ongoing hostilities
OCHA reports that hostilities across the Gaza Strip continue to kill and injure civilians, including children.
Briefing journalists at UN Headquarters from Deir al Balah, OCHA’s Head of Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jonathan Whittall, said Gaza has become a “death trap,” with air strikes day and night, bombs falling nonstop, and hospitals overflowing with mass casualties.
Today marks one month since Israeli authorities stopped the entry of all cargo – including humanitarian aid – via the crossings into Gaza.
“That's one month of no food, no fuel, no aid, nothing. Nothing has entered,” Whittall said. “So 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed, starved – and the consequences are apparent to all of us that are here.”
He warned that the humanitarian crisis is “quite literally spiraling out of control.”
OCHA notes the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to sound the alarm over dwindling supplies and the devastating impact this is having on survivors.
All 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme in Gaza have been forced to close, and partners report that community tensions are rising, as hundreds of thousands of people now have no access to affordable bread. Shortages of cooking gas and rising wheat flour prices are preventing families from baking at home.
As hostilities continue, more than 200,000 people are estimated to have fled across Gaza since 18 March, in the wake of new Israeli displacement orders. The area covered by these directives – combined with the “no-go” zones around Gaza’s perimeter and the "Netzarim corridor" dividing north and south – now constitutes 64 per cent of the Strip’s territory.
Once again, OCHA stresses that civilians must be protected, whether they leave or stay. Those fleeing fighting must be allowed to do so safely, and they must be able to voluntarily return when the situation allows.
About 33,000 school-age children were in parts of Rafah and Khan Younis that were affected by a displacement order issued on Monday. OCHA warns that displaced people are often having to seek shelter at overcrowded sites, where access to learning spaces, recreational activities and essential services is severely lacking.
Hostilities since October 2023 have deprived more than 650,000 children in Gaza of the right to education, with many learning activities still suspended.
Partners working to provide protection support to the people of Gaza also warn that repeated displacement, overcrowded shelters and dangerous routes to access the limited aid available is putting children at risk and heightening the threat of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile, partners working to support water, sanitation and hygiene services in Gaza report that more than 125 water wells are inaccessible for operation, maintenance, repairs or rehabilitation. This leaves far fewer facilities to provide critical support, amid a severe water crisis in Gaza.
#Haiti
Attacks uproot residents in central Haiti
OCHA reports that violence is spreading in Haiti’s Centre Department, forcing civilians to flee their homes.
On the night of 30 March, armed groups attacked the commune of Mirebalais, resulting in widespread looting and the burning of homes, schools and churches. The town’s civil prison was also targeted, leading to the escape of more than 500 inmates.
This incident highlights how the activity of armed groups is expanding beyond the Ouest Department, where the capital, Port-au-Prince, is located.
Meanwhile, violence continues to intensify in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, where displacement has steadily increased since January from 170,000 people to 185,000 people at the end of March, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Thousands of displaced people are now sheltering in makeshift sites, including schools and public buildings.
The UN and its partners continue to monitor the situation, assess needs and support humanitarian response efforts as security permits.
#Sudan
Clashes fuel surge in North Darfur displacement
OCHA is concerned by reports of massive and sudden displacement of civilians in the Al Malha area, which is about 180 kilometres north of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, Sudan.
Local authorities estimate that 250,000 people – mostly women, children and older people – have been forced to flee their homes in the wake of recent violence. Many are now scattered across 15 villages, lacking even basic necessities.
Last week, IOM reported that approximately 75,000 people had already been displaced in the area due to the clashes. The newly reported figure would mark a very significant escalation in displacement and signal a serious deterioration in an already dire humanitarian situation across North Darfur. The UN is working with partners in the area to try to verify these reports.
This comes amid intensified hostilities across the region, including in and around El Fasher, where we continue to receive alarming reports of civilian casualties.
Displaced families are in urgent need of food, shelter, medical care and hygiene supplies. The UN and its humanitarian partners are working to dispatch convoys and scale up operations, but access and insecurity remain critical challenges.
OCHA urgently calls for the protection of civilians and reiterates that humanitarian access must be guaranteed – without obstruction – so that life-saving assistance can reach those in need. The safety, dignity and rights of displaced populations must be upheld.
Meanwhile in eastern Sudan, humanitarian partners working on health continue to respond to a hepatitis outbreak spreading among displaced communities at the Gharb Al Matar displacement site in Kassala state. Between 27 and 31 March alone, more than 60 new suspected cases were reported, bringing the total to 236 cases in less than a month.
The outbreak is being driven by overcrowded living conditions, poor sanitation and limited healthcare.
In response, local health authorities – together with the UN and its humanitarian partners – are scaling up medical interventions, and water, sanitation and hygiene support, as well as targeted awareness campaigns to prevent further spread.
#Democratic Republic of the Congo
Insecurity constrains humanitarian access in eastern DRC
OCHA reports that clashes in parts of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to harm civilians and drive them from their homes.
In North Kivu province, a resurgence of clashes between armed groups in the town of Masisi-centre since 1 April has rapidly spilled over into neighbouring areas.
Sustained gunfire and explosions have triggered widespread panic, forcing civilians to seek refuge at Masisi General Hospital or remain trapped in their homes, according to local partners.
Humanitarian access remains severely constrained amid the ongoing volatile situation there.
In South Kivu province, intense clashes yesterday in several villages of Walungu territory forced markets, shops and basic services to close, leaving civilians confined to their homes, according to local partners.
Local civil society also reports that four women and girls were abducted and raped by armed men in Kalehe territory between 29 and 30 March. While three survivors received medical care, a fourth could not access adequate treatment due to depleted medical stocks – a direct consequence of supply chain disruptions amid ongoing insecurity.
Local partners report a sharp increase in sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups in recent weeks in both North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
In the city of Uvira, despite some basic services and relief activities having resumed, health centres are confronting shortages of medication due to insecurity along the road to the provincial capital, Bukavu.
In Ituri province, local health authorities confirm that an armed group attack in the area of Dhedya in the territory of Djugu on 31 March killed two civilians. Hundreds have fled to surrounding areas.
OCHA urges all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and to ensure safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to people in need. All parties must do everything they can to protect civilians in military operations. Civilians must also be able to access the essentials they need to survive.
#Somalia
More than 100,000 flee hostilities in parts of Somalia
OCHA reports that recent fighting in Puntland State, in north-east Somalia – as well as the regions of Middle and Lower Shabelle in the centre of the country – has forced at least 110,000 people to flee their homes.
In several other areas, tens of thousands of people have also been displaced in recent months by ongoing inter-clan clashes.
Besides the fighting, climate factors are also driving displacement, given prolonged dry conditions and lower than expected rainfall in several areas.
The latest report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification published last week projects that nearly 4.6 million people in Somalia are likely to experience high levels of hunger from now until June.
Some 1.8 million children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year and will need urgent treatment. This includes nearly 480,000 children who are expected to suffer from severe malnutrition.
OCHA warns that humanitarian needs in Somalia are rising at a time when funding for aid operations is plummeting. Aid agencies are having to reduce and even suspend assistance and focus available resources on life-saving activities for the most vulnerable people.
This year, about one third of Somalia’s population – nearly 6 million people – need humanitarian assistance. However, the US$1.42 billion humanitarian appeal is just 9 per cent funded, with $131 million received to date.
#Protection of aid workers
UN Deputy Relief Chief urges action to ensure the safety of aid workers
The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, told the Security Council today that attacks on aid workers must end and perpetrators must be held to account, noting that humanitarians are being killed in “unprecedented numbers.”
According to available data, 2024 was the worst year on record, with 377 aid workers killed across 20 countries.
Msuya said Gaza is “the most dangerous place for humanitarians ever,” with 408 aid workers killed in the Strip since 7 October 2023. Meanwhile in Sudan, at least 84 humanitarians – all of them Sudanese nationals – have been killed since the current conflict there began almost two years ago.
The Assistant Secretary-General urged the Security Council and Member States to act to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and to protect humanitarian and UN workers.
She also called on them to speak out: “We need the voice of the Council and the broader UN Membership to be loud, clear and consistent in condemning harm to UN and humanitarian personnel, including local staff.”
Msuya also stressed the need for accountability, noting that perpetrators of violations must face consequences of their actions – without exception.