Today's top news: Sudan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Sudan
UN, partners work to stem dire humanitarian crisis in North Darfur
OCHA says that conditions in Sudan's North Darfur State remain appalling. More than 100,000 people have fled the state capital El Fasher and surrounding areas since late October, when the Rapid Support Forces took over the city. Many remain unaccounted for.
Those who escaped El Fasher are arriving at displacement sites where conditions are extremely dire and the scale of needs is massive. Médecins Sans Frontières said today that in just one night, the organization screened 70 children arriving from El Fasher - and every single one of them was acutely malnourished.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are working tirelessly to provide vital aid to displaced families, including food, clean water, sanitation, healthcare and psychosocial support. In Tawila, which is hosting large numbers of people who fled El Fasher, UNICEF has reached more than 3,500 patients with health and nutrition services since late October, as well as having screened nearly 800 children for malnutrition and supplied 150,000 litres of water daily to meet the needs of 20,000 people.
Meanwhile, escalating hostilities throughout the Kordofan region continue to force families from their homes. On Tuesday, more than 600 people were displaced from two villages in North and South Kordofan states, while access to the region remains severely constrained. Across North Kordofan, violence has displaced nearly 40,000 people between 26 October and yesterday, according to the International Organization for Migration. In South Kordofan, key cities - including Dilling and Kadugli, the state capital - remain under siege, leading to acute shortages of food and medical supplies for people who remain there.
OCHA continues to call for safe and unimpeded access to deliver life-saving assistance to Kordofan, Darfur and all other parts of Sudan where communities need urgent support - and appeals to donors to scale up funding to meet the growing needs.*
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Deadly strikes underscore fragility of Gaza ceasefire
OCHA is deeply concerned about strikes in which civilians in Gaza were reportedly killed and injured yesterday - including children. This isa stark reminder of how fragile the ceasefire is, and why civilians must always be protected and spared from harm.
Meanwhile, OCHA says that despite impediments that remain, aid groups are pushing hard to reach as many people as they can with critical assistance.
As of Monday, the daily number of meals distributed in Gaza has reached 1.4 million. This is up from fewer than a million meals just a month ago. The UN is currently supporting a network of 27 partners running nearly 200 kitchens across the Strip - and the scale-up continues.
Partners leading on nutrition say the number of sites offering outpatient therapeutic feeding for children with acute malnutrition has jumped from just seven before the ceasefire to 146 today.
Shelter support is also ongoing. On Monday alone, partners distributed more than 4,000 tents, 39,000 tarpaulins, 28,000 bedding items and hundreds of clothing items to families in need.
Child protection teams have been busy as well. On Monday and Tuesday, they reached more than 2,700 displaced children and 1,700 caregivers with services ranging from mental health support and counselling to recreational activities, targeted follow-ups for vulnerable children, and help to prepare for the winter.
More than 50 children at heightened risk received additional support, including registration, referrals and access to essential services. Among them were children who are unaccompanied or were separated from their families, those heading households or living with war injuries, and others lacking parental care or facing neglect.
OCHA stresses that despite all this work, what the UN and its partners can currently provide is still far from enough. The situation remains extremely dire.
On Sunday and Monday, partners leading on site management carried out a quick survey of displaced families staying along the shore in Khan Younis and the Mawasi area of Rafah. This is an area hosting more than 4,000 households. Early findings show that because there is no proper system for disposing of fecal waste, many people are forced to use the sea as a toilet. At the same time, rising sea levels are pushing into tented areas and risk submerging whole sections, while strong winds have already knocked down multiple tents.
OCHA says that while the UN and its partners seize every opportunity to help people in need, they also continue to negotiate and call for greater humanitarian access. Under the humanitarian plan for the ceasefire, aid operations rely on visas and permissions to bring in supplies - for both the UN and NGOs. In addition, a wider range of equipment and essential goods must be cleared for entry, through all available crossings and routes.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Rising violence imperils civilians in eastern DRC
OCHA is alarmed by escalating violence in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, both in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In North Kivu, hostilities have intensified in Lubero territory, where more than 45 people have been killed since 14 November following attacks on several villages, according to local humanitarian partners and community leaders.
In one particularly horrific incident that night, a health centre was attacked, leaving at least 17 people dead, including patients, according to local civil society. Partners also report that two health workers were kidnapped, medicine looted, and the facility set on fire.
This surge in violence in Lubero has forced more than 30,000 people to escape their homes in less than a week, and families continue to flee today amid fears of further attacks.
Insecurity is also hindering humanitarian access, but partners are conducting assessments and delivering assistance where they can.
Partners working on water and sanitation are rehabilitating water sources in the locality of Manguredjipa, which continues to host displaced families. Conditions remain dire: Access to safe drinking water is below 40 per cent, heightening the risk of waterborne diseases and forcing women and girls to travel long distances to fetch water, exposing them to increased risk of sexual violence.
In neighbouring Ituri province, two attempted armed attacks on the Lolwa hospital in Mambasa territory were reportedly thwarted. Since the start of the year, more than 240 civilians have been killed and over 114,500 people displaced.
OCHA condemns, in the strongest terms, these attacks on civilians and on health facilities. Once again, OCHA calls on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Attacks on civilians and health facilities are unacceptable and must stop immediately.
Haiti
Underfunding, other challenges constrain response to surging gender-based violence
OCHA warns that as Haiti continues to see alarming levels of gender-based violence, survivors and those at risk have very limited access to the essential support they need due to insecurity, access challenges and funding shortfalls.
Between January and September, over 7,400 cases of gender-based violence were reported in Haiti - an average of about 27 per day, according to partners. Sexual violence made up just over half of the cases, with nearly two thirds of these involving gang rape. Two out of every three victims were displaced people.
During the same period, humanitarian partners were able to reach just 7 per cent of the 833,000 people they aim to provide with specialized support to address gender-based violence this year - or just over 54,000 people in total. The response remains critically underfunded, with an overall gap of US$13.5 million - 70 per cent of the over $19 million needed for this year. If that funding is not received, nearly 780,000 women and girls - including survivors of gender-based violence and those at risk - will go without critical services, including the clinical management of rape, mental health and psychosocial support, case management, legal assistance, safe spaces for women and girls, and dignity kits.
Partners also warn that persistent insecurity and access challenges continue to prevent many survivors - including people with disabilities and women living in remote areas - from receiving timely, confidential and adequate support.
Despite these constraints, humanitarian organizations continue to scale up life-saving services, including psychosocial support, medical care, safe spaces for women and girls, mobile clinics, legal assistance and the distribution of dignity kits. Between January and September, more than 32,000 information and awareness-raising sessions have been conducted, and some 560 front-line workers have received specialized training.
OCHA continues to work closely with partners addressing gender-based violence in Haiti - as well as with national authorities - to ensure that survivors can safely access essential services.
Posted on 20 November 2025
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