Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
UN presses for ‘real’ humanitarian corridor at Rafah
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, welcomed in a social media post yesterday the partial reopening of Rafah crossing for people to leave and return to Gaza. He stressed, however, that this is not enough and that Rafah must function as a real humanitarian corridor so the UN and its partners can surge life-saving help.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier today that yesterday it facilitated the evacuation of five patients and seven of their companions from Gaza through the Rafah Crossing. WHO added that its role focused on ensuring the safe transfer of patients from Gaza to the Rafah crossing.
Today, more people are expected to move through the Rafah crossing. WHO has been facilitating the movement of patients and their companions, as they did yesterday. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is set to provide bus transportation for returnees from the internal checkpoint to Nassar hospital in Khan Younis. This is where OCHA – together with several UN and NGO partners – has set up a reception area, with medical, psychosocial and referral services.
Meanwhile, the UN and its humanitarian partners continue responding to existing and emerging needs across the Strip.
Humanitarian partners leading on food security report that as of end of January, around 25 partners produced and distributed 1.7 million meals every day through more than 180 kitchens – over half a million meals in the north and 1.2 million meals in the south.
The UN and its partners also report that during January, to support local food production, they brought in around 650 metric tons of animal feed, and that distribution is ongoing for both livestock holders and donkey owners that support essential services.
On emergency shelter assistance, humanitarian partners report that during January more than 83,500 families received assistance, including tents, mattresses, kitchen utensils and warm clothes. Partners working in shelter reiterate the urgent need to move beyond emergency items towards more sustainable solutions.
Humanitarian partners working in education continue their efforts to increase enrolment capacity through setting up new learning spaces, expanding existing ones, and supporting community-led initiatives. Supplies are arriving gradually, which will help with this.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza with urgent support.
#South Sudan
280,000 people forced from their homes amid renewed violence in Jonglei
OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating across the country, driven by renewed violence, the displacement of civilians and access constraints, particularly in Jonglei State.
Since the end of December, renewed fighting and airstrikes in Jonglei have forced an estimated 280,000 people to flee their homes. Humanitarian partners’ ability to deliver life-saving aid is restricted due to clashes and insecurity.
Today, UNICEF warned that more than 450,000 children are at risk of acute malnutrition nationwide as hostilities disrupt health and nutrition services, with six counties in Jonglei close to running out of therapeutic food.
Cholera is spreading in Duk County in Jonglei. Overcrowding in displacement sites and limited access to safe water and sanitation are leading to more cases of cholera. The UN and its humanitarian partners are expanding treatment capacity and preparing vaccination campaigns.
Humanitarian operations remain under serious threat. Humanitarian facilities and assets – including vehicles, boats and office equipment – have been looted or damaged to date. Aid workers have been intimidated, which significantly undermines the capacity to respond.
The Government authorized a one-day access window to one of the most affected and cut-off areas, Akobo County, on 5 February. The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) will operate a flight to pre-position supplies. This is the second flight permitted there this week, which has allowed partners to deliver critical health and nutrition supplies.
#Sudan
UN supports calls for humanitarian truce as Sudan crisis deepens
Earlier today, Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, took part in an event hosted by the United States that took place in Washington, D.C. This event focused on mobilizing resources for the humanitarian response and building support for a humanitarian truce.
In his remarks, Fletcher said that the horrific humanitarian crisis in Sudan has endured more 1,000 days, which is too long. Too many days of famine, of lives uprooted and destroyed, and women and girls enduring terrifying sexual violence.
Fletcher also noted that the Secretary-General has said that, as this devastating war approaches its third year, the urgency could not be clearer – the guns must fall silent and a path to peace must be charted. The United Nations fully supports the work of the Quad – comprising the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to secure a humanitarian truce – which includes the demilitarisation of key areas – alongside the rapid scale-up of life-saving humanitarian assistance across the country.
From the ground, OCHA warns that continued insecurity in many regions is pushing more people to flee and deepening an already severe humanitarian situation.
In South Kordofan state, an OCHA mission to the locality of Abu Jubayhah last week found that more than 10,000 displaced people are living in camps facing critical gaps in food, healthcare, water and sanitation, shelter, and education services. Most of the newly displaced families fled insecurity and hunger in the state capital, Kadugli, and the city of Dilling. Others came from West Kordofan and East Darfur states, some via South Sudan, after long and dangerous journeys marked by theft, detention and family separation. They need immediate life-saving assistance.
Elsewhere in the state of South Kordofan, the International Organization for Migration reports that more than 6,000 people were displaced last week from the localities of Al Quoz and Habila.
Moving to the state of North Darfur, humanitarian partners report that more than 1,000 people have arrived in the locality of Tawila in recent days. Families face acute shortages of food, health services and basic household items. The UN and its partners are giving hot meals through community kitchens, but more support is needed to meet other basic needs. Displacement also continues in the states of East Darfur and Blue Nile.
With humanitarian needs sharply rising and resources stretched, OCHA appeals to donors for funding so humanitarian partners can scale up life-saving assistance for millions of people across Sudan. This year's humanitarian response plan calls for $2.9 billion to reach more than 20 million people.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support.
#Ukraine
Strikes leave hundreds of thousands of people without heat
OCHA says that another wave of attacks overnight left hundreds of thousands of families without heating and electricity.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, said in social media post today that repeated strikes on critical civilian infrastructure are disrupting the daily lives of millions of people and creating life-threatening conditions for the most vulnerable, including older people and children.
Authorities report that several civilians were killed and dozens injured in the past 24 hours. The attacks also damaged energy infrastructure across eight regions. Some 2,000 high-rise residential buildings in the regions of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro are currently without heating. Many other regions are also experiencing temporary power outages.
Aid organizations are providing first aid and psychological support and setting up new warming points where people can warm up, get hot meals and charge their devices. UN agencies are providing generators and other supplies.
OCHA says that the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to support front-line communities despite limited access. Yesterday, OCHA’s Crisis Response Director Edem Wosornu joined a convoy that delivered food, medicines, hygiene supplies and solar lamps to the residents of the front-line community of Antonivka in the region of Kherson.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Ukraine with urgent support.