Today's top news: Central Emergency Response Fund, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Global Humanitarian Policy Forum

#Central Emergency Response Fund

Forty donors pledge over US$300 million for global emergency fund in 2026                                                                                           

At yesterday’s pledging event for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), 40 donors announced contributions of just over $300 million to support life-saving action by the UN’s global emergency fund in 2026. Several others are expecting to make contributions in the coming months. 

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, thanked partners who pledged their support, stressing that a fully funded CERF – at $1 billion each year – is not symbolic: it’s a lifeline that’s needed now. 

Donor announcements at last year’s event totaled some $351 million. The drop in pledges for 2026 reflects the increasingly dire financial outlook facing the humanitarian community as it continues to grapple with the steepest funding cuts in its history.*

So far in 2025, CERF has allocated $435 million to support millions of people who need urgent assistance in over 30 countries and territories. Throughout its 20-year history, the fund has helped hundreds of millions of people with nearly $10 billion in more than 100 countries and territories.

*Donations made to CERF through UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in need with urgent support. 

#Democratic Republic of the Congo

Intense fighting heightens needs, dangers for civilians in South Kivu

OCHA is deeply concerned by the rapidly worsening humanitarian situation in South Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2 December due to intense fighting across multiple territories, including Uvira, Walungu, Mwenga, Shabunda, Kabare, Fizi and Kalehe.

Humanitarian partners report that more than 200,000 people have been displaced across South Kivu, and at least 70 civilians have been killed during the current escalation. Most displaced families are sheltering in overcrowded sites, facing heightened protection risks and the threat of disease outbreaks.

The violence is severely disrupting food assistance. The World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to suspend its activities across the province, cutting off 25,000 people from life-saving food assistance. Host families, already facing emergency levels of food insecurity, are sharing the last of their food with displaced people.

At least 32 WFP-supported schools in Uvira have suspended classes to provide shelter to displaced families, disrupting the school meals programme and leaving more than 12,000 children without what is often their only hot, nutritious meal of the day.

WFP and other humanitarian partners plan to support newly displaced families as soon as conditions allow, but food stocks in Uvira are expected to run out within weeks due to high needs and a lack of funding.

The humanitarian impact of the crisis is now spilling across borders. Between 5 and 8 December, nearly 25,000 people crossed into Burundi – including Congolese nationals, Burundian returnees and third-country migrants – with additional arrivals also reported in Rwanda.

In Burundi and Rwanda, humanitarian partners – together with the authorities – are scaling up assistance, including hot meals, safe water and health services.

This escalation is further aggravating an already critical humanitarian situation in eastern DRC, amid a severe funding shortfall. The DRC Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 22 per cent funded, leaving a gap of nearly $2 billion – while in Burundi, less than $33 million has been mobilized against a requirement of nearly $77 million.

OCHA calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities, uphold international humanitarian law, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.

#Sudan

Escalating drone attacks imperil civilians in Darfur, Kordofan 

OCHA is alarmed by the sharp escalation in violence across Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, where a surge in drone attacks is increasingly exposing civilians to harm.

In Darfur, multiple drone strikes in recent days have killed and injured civilians. On Monday, strikes reportedly hit the towns of Kutum and Kabkabiya, in North Darfur State. Local sources indicate that in Kutum, two civilians were killed and 10 others injured.

The same day in South Darfur State, drone strikes reportedly targeted areas in and around the state capital Nyala, as well as in the town of Katila to the south-west.

In Kordofan, the reported takeover on Monday by the Rapid Support Forces of the country's largest oil field in the town of Heglig, in West Kordofan State, has forced more people to flee and deepened humanitarian concerns. Many families are now being displaced for a second time.                                                                                               

In South Kordofan State, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 185 people fled the state capital Kadugli yesterday due to heightened insecurity, relocating to areas across the localities of Abu Zabad in West Kordofan and Sheikan in North Kordofan. The situation remains tense and highly fluid.

Once again, OCHA stresses that attacks on civilians must stop immediately. All parties must protect civilians, respect international humanitarian law, and facilitate safe, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access.

Meanwhile, people displaced from El Fasher continue to arrive in the locality of Tawila, in North Darfur. Yesterday, partners received some 400 newly displaced people at the Korma entry point. Those arriving had moved multiple times in search of assistance and described robbery, looting and gunfire along the route. The UN and its partners are scaling up humanitarian aid, but needs far exceed available resources.

At the same time, IOM reports that natural hazards have displaced more than 35,000 people in Sudan this year, including due to floods and fires, adding yet another layer of hardship for communities already uprooted by conflict.

OCHA calls on the international community to urgently step up support to ensure life-saving assistance reaches those who need it most across Sudan.

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

Winter storm puts vulnerable communities in Gaza at risk

OCHA reports that with another winter storm hitting the Gaza Strip, low temperatures and rains are putting vulnerable groups at particular risk, including newborn children for whom hyperthermia is extremely dangerous.  

The UN and its partners have targeted efforts to deliver assistance to communities living in flood-prone areas, including by scaling up the distribution of winter clothes for children from 5,000 to 8,000 kits per day.  

Today, partners leading winter preparedness efforts report that some 200 families from shoreline communities are expected to arrive at a new site identified by municipal authorities in what remains of Hamad city, in eastern Khan Younis. These households made the decision to move, given the impact of the frequent rains and the risk of flooding in their previous location.  

The UN and its partners – along with Member States – continue to distribute tents, tarpaulins, bedsheets and winter clothes to families in urgent need of assistance. Work is also ongoing to mitigate flooding by reinforcing high-risk areas with sandbags, as well as emptying storm drains and clearing sold waste.  

Meanwhile, partners leading efforts to improve access to education report that about 65 classrooms previously used as shelters for displaced people have now been cleaned and prepared so that learning activities can restart there. However, partners warn that education materials remain blocked from entering Gaza, disrupting efforts to help children resume their studies.  

In the ongoing effort to improve food security, partners report that so far in December, 260,000 people have received regular food assistance – which consists of two food parcels and a 25-kilogram bag of flour – through 60 distribution points across the Strip, including a new site that opened last week in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.  

Given the importance of animal husbandry for food security, some 3,500 veterinary kits entered Gaza on Friday for the first time since August. The UN and its partners have distributed the kits and animal fodder to over 100 herders and donkey owners. 

Today, OCHA coordinated a mission by Palestinian Civil Defense to retrieve a body in Beit Lahiya. The body was reported by a UN mission in the area at the Al Waha Junction near Al Rasheed Road, approximately 1,450 metres south of the so-called “Yellow Line.” The team retrieved the remains and transported them to Al Shifa hospital. The deceased was reportedly a fisherman.  

Meanwhile, security incidents continue to be reported in Gaza – posing a risk to civilians, including humanitarian teams. Just yesterday, there were reports of two bullets hitting the ground floor of UNRWA’s Maghazi Health Centre in Deir al Balah, located near the “Yellow Line.” Thankfully, no casualties were reported.

#Afghanistan

UN Relief Chief calls on Security Council to help stave off further aid cuts 

Under-Secretary-General Fletcher warned the Security Council that life-saving help for Afghanistan could further contract next year – at a time when food insecurity, health needs, strain on basic services, and protection risks are all on the rise. 

He noted that this winter is the first in years with almost no international food distribution – and as a result, only about 1 million of the most vulnerable people received food assistance during the 2025 season, compared to 5.6 million the previous year. 

Fletcher called on the Council to continue to support implementation of the humanitarian exception in UN Security Council resolution 2615, which provides “vital” clarity for humanitarian action, and to insist that women humanitarian staff can do their jobs without restrictions, stressing that there can be no effective response without them. 

The Under-Secretary-General also appealed for funding for the Global Humanitarian Overview launched on Monday. “Otherwise, humanitarians will be forced to make even more brutal cuts, with devastating consequences for the population.”

#Ukraine

Hostilities cause destruction, trigger evacuations from front-line areas

OCHA reports that intense hostilities in front-line regions of Ukraine continue to cause widespread destruction and prompt the evacuation of residents from high-risk areas. 

According to the latest report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, civilian casualties rose significantly in both front-line and urban areas between June and November, with a 37 per cent increase compared to the previous six months.

In Ukraine’s east, the Donetsk region has been among those hardest hit. Local authorities report that since the start of December, more than a dozen civilians have been killed and nearly 60 others injured in Ukrainian-controlled areas, with the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk especially impacted by attacks earlier this week.

With the support of UN agencies, national NGOs have promptly delivered emergency assistance to affected residents – including shelter materials to cover damaged windows and roofs, as well as psychosocial support and protection counselling. 

Amid mounting security concerns, more families are leaving high-risk areas in the Donetsk region – either on their own or through Government-led evacuations, which are being supported by humanitarians. Local authorities say that since August, nearly 72,000 people – including almost 8,000 children – have fled the Donetsk region. 

Aid organizations are supporting civilians fleeing the fighting at each stage of their journey – from leaving their home communities to transit sites and providing support at the destinations hosting them across Ukraine.

Humanitarian partners report that in the front-line region of Zaporizhzhia, some 500 people have been evacuated over the last two weeks. National NGOs have opened an inclusive interim evacuation point to provide comprehensive support to people with disabilities and limited mobility. The project received funding from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, which is managed by OCHA and continues to support local front-line responders in helping those most in need.

#Global Humanitarian Policy Forum

UN officials to convene with humanitarian policymakers for two-day forum 

OCHA and the UN Foundation will co-host this year’s Global Humanitarian Policy Forum, which will take place tomorrow and Friday at UN Headquarters.

Now in its 14th year, this year’s forum will center on the theme “Protecting Principles, Norms and Values.” It will bring together UN officials, civil society leaders and academics, among many others at the forefront of today’s crises.

Under-Secretary-General Fletcher will take part in a panel tomorrow afternoon called “The Front Line – Protecting Civilians and First Responders.”

The forum will be livestreamed on UN WebTV, and more information is available online.