Today's top news: Ukraine, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Yemen

Olena, 85, stands outside her damaged home in Kharkiv, Ukraine, supported by humanitarian aid after a May 2024 attack.
Olena, 85, is comforted by a humanitarian worker outside her damaged home in Kharkiv, Ukraine. A May 2024 attack claimed her neighbours' lives and shattered nearby windows. With humanitarian aid, including cash assistance, Olena replaced her windows and stayed warm through the winter. Photo: OCHA/Yurii Veres

#Ukraine

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi – together with the Government of Ukraine – today in Kyiv launched the humanitarian and refugee response plans for 2025.

Fletcher paid tribute to the humanitarian workers in Ukraine, calling them heroes who work under pressure and in dire conditions. Some 600 of partner organizations – more than two thirds of them Ukrainian – work tirelessly to deliver critical aid to millions of people.

He noted that relentless attacks against energy systems, homes and other civilian infrastructure have rendered many hospitals inoperable, reduced people’s access to their livelihoods, deprived people of heat and water during the winter, and hindered children’s access to education.

For his part, Grandi said that countries hosting Ukrainian refugees abroad have done incredible work over the last 3 years to provide safety and a sense of normalcy to support these refugees in restarting their lives in their new communities, all the while hoping for conditions to change in Ukraine to allow them to go home. The humanitarian community must continue to sustain this hope, he noted.

As the world enters 2025 and Ukraine is approaching a fourth year of full-scale war, Fletcher and Grandi said the people of Ukraine, both at home and abroad, need the world to stay the course with them to rebuild their lives and preserve hope for a better future.

Fletcher and Grandi met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and stressed the value of close coordination with the Government to ensure humanitarian aid reaches everyone in need.

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said that in preparation for the ceasefire, humanitarian agencies have been mobilizing supplies to scale up aid delivery across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement yesterday, Fletcher said this is a moment of hope for the millions of people whose lives have been devastated by this conflict – but he stressed that the stakes could not be higher, and should be under no illusions how tough it will still be to get support to survivors.

Fletcher urged all parties to adhere fully to international humanitarian law. This means protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure; allowing aid workers safe, unfettered access to people in need whoever and wherever they are; and removing all obstacles to the entry of essential aid. It will also be critical to enable entry of commercial supplies.

Fletcher urged the Security Council to use its collective voice and weight to insist the ceasefire is sustained, international law is respected, and obstacles to saving lives are removed. He also appealed to Member States to ensure that humanitarian operations are funded to meet the overwhelming needs.

The Under-Secretary-General called for accountability for the atrocities committed.

Meanwhile, OCHA continues to receive reports of Palestinians killed due to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners facilitated the medical evacuation of 12 patients and nearly three dozen companions from the Strip. Most are suffering from cancer and immunological disorders, and they will now receive treatment in Albania, France, Norway and Romania.  

WHO stressed that as the ceasefire takes hold, it is urgent that more countries step forward to receive additional patients for specialized treatment. More than 12,000 people are awaiting medical evacuation outside Gaza, where the health system has been shattered by more than 15 months of conflict.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it has 80,000 tons of food waiting outside Gaza or on its way in – enough to feed more than 1 million people. WFP noted that while the ceasefire brings hope, the UN and its partners need unrestricted movement of humanitarian teams and supplies to reach those in need.

In a statement welcoming the ceasefire yesterday, UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell stressed that aid must be allowed into Gaza at scale through all reliable entry points, and the security environment in the Strip must be urgently addressed. She said this will allow UNICEF to increase the screening and treatment of children suffering from malnutrition and help some 420,000 children under 5 get caught up with vaccines.

Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported today that more than 1,070 UNRWA health staff continue to work in health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across Gaza, providing more than 16,000 health consultations in a day.

The agency’s medical teams are also ensuring specialized support for patients. On 11 January alone, they provided care for nearly 1,100 pregnant and post-natal women at high risk, dental and oral health services for almost 600 patients, and physiotherapy for more than 300 patients.

#Syria

OCHA reports that in Syria’s Aleppo governorate, the humanitarian response continues, as logistical and security conditions permit. Some areas there continue to face hostilities, including in the vicinity of the Tishreen Dam, with ongoing challenges to humanitarian access.

This afternoon, 18 trucks carrying food for more than 40,000 people from the World Food Programme (WFP) crossed through the Bab Al-Salam border crossing from Türkiye to northern Aleppo.

Today, OCHA completed a cross-border mission to Azaz in northern Aleppo to assess two displacement camps hosting more than 500 families living in tents. Humanitarian partners have provided food assistance to the camps; however, aid was significantly reduced last year due to underfunding.

People expressed hopes to return to their homes but have been unable to do so, as their villages were destroyed during past hostilities.

In the city of Menbij, in the north-east of Aleppo governorate, humanitarian access remains constrained, with NGOs operating in the region continuing to face restrictions.

Following a joint assessment mission to Menbij with WFP last Thursday, OCHA reports there is a dire need for fuel, flour and staffing. Most essential services – including electricity, waste management, healthcare and bakeries – are non-functional.

Education partners report that 350 schools remain closed in the city and rural areas, affecting more than 125,000 students and 3,500 teachers.

#Yemen

The UN and its partners yesterday launched the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Yemen, where 19.5 million people need vital aid and protection. This is an increase of 1.3 million people compared to last year.

This year’s plan seeks US$2.5 billion to provide 10.5 million of the most vulnerable people with life-saving assistance, including food, clean water and healthcare.

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Julien Harneis, said humanitarian action has been effective in alleviating the worst impacts of the country’s crisis. But he stressed that the humanitarian community cannot do this alone – and much more is needed to reduce needs, achieve peace, revive the economy, and build the resilience of communities.

In 2024, donors provided $1.4 billion to the Yemen humanitarian appeal, enabling some 200 aid agencies – two-thirds of them local Yemeni organizations – to reach more than 8 million people.