Middle East and North Africa offers a comprehensive, evidence-based analysis of one of the world’s most complex and dynamic mobility landscapes where labour migration, protracted displacement, environmental stressors and socioeconomic transitions converge.
Children in Gaza are exposed to harsh winter conditions, including cold temperatures, heavy rainfall, strong winds of 30-40 km/h (19-25 mph), and contaminated floodwaters.
For the first time since October 2023, WFP provided full food rations to beneficiaries in Gaza in January through its General Food Distribution programme, up from the previous 75 percent entitlement.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders (MSF) warns that ongoing restrictions on humanitarian movements in parts of Jonglei State, South Sudan, are directly preventing lifesaving referrals of at least 20 critically-ill patients in need of urgent specialised care, placing their lives at immediate risk.
On 11 January, a ceasefire agreement was announced, following which initial, limited return movements were observed, particularly to the Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood. Returns to Ash-Sheikh Maqsoud remain gradual, pending authorization and completion of UXO clearance.
Since 6 January, clashes in Aleppo Governorate have continued between government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). As of 10 January, the Aleppo Health Directorate reported a total of 23 deaths and 104 injuries.
Nearly three years of continuous violence, severe access constraints, and reduced funding have turned Sudan into the worst humanitarian crisis globally. An estimated 33.7 million people will need humanitarian aid this year.
Since 6 January, hostilities resumed in Aleppo City between the Syrian Government Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Fighting in the densely populated neighbourhoods of Ash-Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh home to approximately 500,000 people, has reportedly resulted in at least nine casualties (including at least one child and two women), 55 injuries, and extensive damage to homes, public infrastructure, and key health facilities including Zahi Azraq Hospital and a private hospital.
Following the capture of Al Fasher at the end of October, over 106,000 people were displaced to surrounding localities, primarily Tawila. UNICEF scaled up interventions in North Darfur, with nine health facilities and two mobile clinics in Tawila providing essential services.
Two infants died due to extreme cold in two IDP camps in Harim, northern Idleb countryside, following a snowstorm that hit northern Syria on 31 December 2025, affecting 90 IDP sites across Aleppo, Idleb and Al-Hasakeh governorates, impacting around 158,000 displaced people.
After more than a decade of conflict, Yemen remains one of the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. The country continues to face the compounded impacts of conflict, climate change, economic collapse, and the near-total breakdown of public services and institutions.
In November, an estimated 5.97 million people (42 per cent of the population) face Crisis or worse Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3+, including about 1.3 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).
Despite severe access constraints, WFP’s sustained delivery of food assistance has continued to achieve measurable improvements in Gaza’s food security, with the latest IPC update confirming that famine conditions are no longer present anywhere in the Strip.
Over 1.9 million internally displaced persons and close to 1.3 million Syrian refugees have returned to their areas of origin or other locations across Syria. Around 57 per cent of the returnees are children.
Twelve months after the fall of Bashar Al-Asad’s government, people and communities in southern Syria now have more options to access healthcare, as teams from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are working in this part of the country for the first time in almost 12 years.
The situation in Hadramawt Al Wadi has continued to stabilize following the recent shifts in territorial control earlier this month. Reports indicate a decline in hostilities, supported by reported prohibitions on carrying weapons within city centers.
Escalating violence and sieges in Kordofan are trapping civilians, destroying essential services, driving famine risks and displacement, and severely restricting life-saving assistance.
An estimated 5.97 million people are currently in IPC Phase 3 or worse, including 28,000 in Phase 5 (Catastrophe). Projections indicate this could rise to 7.56 million during the 2026 lean season, with 3.26 million women and children acutely malnourished or at risk.
The little that is known about current conditions in El Fasher is beyond horrific. Anywhere between 70,000 and 100,000 people could remain trapped inside.
After more than 14 years of war, in December 2024 the government of former Syrian leader Bashar Al al-Assad fell, leaving large-scale destruction, massive displacement, economic hardship, and a lack of basic services, including health care.
