This statement was delivered by Human Rights Watch at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) during an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic held on March 18, 2025.
Since the outbreak of conflict in Sudan in April 2023, the civil society space has changed dramatically, both in terms of a decline in the presence of formally registered national NGOs – who typically have been heavily reliant on international funding and therefore less resilient to the reducing availability of resources, and through the central role that hyper-local mutual aid groups – in particular Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) – have increasingly played in delivering assistance to crisis-affected communities.
في ظل معاناة الملايين في اليمن من صعوبة تأمين الغذاء والمأوى والاحتياجات الأساسية الأخرى، قدّمت المنظمة الدولية للهجرة، بدعم من قطر الخيرية، مساعدات نقدية متعددة الأغراض لأكثر من 18,500 شخص خلال العامين الماضيين، متجاوزةً الهدف الأصلي للمشروع الذي كان حوالي 12,000 شخص.
With millions in Yemen struggling to afford food, shelter, and other essentials, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with support from Qatar Charity, has provided Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) to more than 18,500 people over the past two years, surpassing the project’s original target of around 12,000.
Phase One of the Gaza ceasefire, from 19 January to 1 March 2025, allowed the humanitarian community to rapidly implement a prepared scale-up of its response. It enabled the daily entry of a large volume of humanitarian supplies and a steady stream of fuel.
In 2025, children in Lebanon are bearing the profound toll of the conflict that escalated across the country in 2024. A new UNICEF report exposes the deterioration of key support systems for children — such as safe learning environments, and access to healthcare, nutrition, and clean water — leading to heightened risks of exploitation, barriers to processing emotional trauma, and significant challenges to their cognitive and social development.
Ongoing turbulence and lack of investments in Syria’s civilian infrastructure threaten any attempts that Syrians are making to recover after 14 years of crisis.
Ongoing military activities and the widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure, and essential services—both during the conflict and after the cessation of hostilities—continue to hinder the safe return of displaced individuals.
On 2 March, Israeli authorities announced a halt to humanitarian aid entering Gaza, jeopardizing progress made in delivering vital, lifesaving assistance since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January.
Among key priorities for the Government identified by the Prime Minister in his statement upon the occasion were implementation of Resolution 1701, ensuring a complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, asserting the state’s sovereignty over all its territories exclusively through its forces and securing post-conflict reconstruction.
In 2024, Syrian children continued to endure the effects of the ongoing conflict, economic collapse, and displacement, culminating in the fall of the government on 8 December. The humanitarian situation remains fluid and unpredictable.
Over 586,000 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated for poliovirus across Gaza, reaching 99 per cent of the target population since the campaign began on 22 February.
The End of Year for 2024 Livelihoods sector dashboard summarizes the progress made by Livelihoods sector partners involved in the Lebanon Response Plan (LRP), identifies key challenges and priorities, and highlights trends affecting people in need.
On 18 February, the Israel Army withdrew from remaining population centres in southern Lebanon, while maintaining presence in five strategic positions along the Blue Line. The Lebanese Armed Forces deployed into vacated areas, supporting population returns.
Estimates of the number of people missing from Syria run as high as 200,000. They include persons missing as a consequence of summary execution, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, kidnapping and abduction, enslavement, sarin gas attacks, forced displacement and migration, as well as other human rights abuses.
The recent shift of power in Syria on 8 December 2024 has reshaped the humanitarian landscape, bringing both new challenges and opportunities for recovery across the country.
The scale of loss and destruction in Gaza is indescribable. For almost 500 days, Israel carried out atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza, used starvation and denial of humanitarian aid as weapons of war, and sought to destroy every part of the enclave’s infrastructure and social fabric – schools, hospitals, homes, power, water.
