In April 2026, WFP assisted a total of 738,000 people across all programmed activities, including 460,000 conflict-affected individuals reached through emergency food and cash assistance.
In 2025, South Sudan continued to face multiple, overlapping shocks and trends that worsened the humanitarian situation and increased the needs of vulnerable communities.
إثر اختتام الجلسة العامة لمنتدى التضامن الإقليمي، وهو مساحة جماعيّة تضم فاعلين من المجتمع المدني من منطقة جنوب غرب آسيا وشمال أفريقيا، يجمعهم التزام سياسي وحقوقي عميق بالعدالة والكرامة والتحرر يؤكد المنتدى على أهمية التضامن كقيمة إنسانية وكأداة مقاومة أساسية لمواجهة التحديات الخطيرة التي تعرفها المنطقة على أكثر من مستوى.
Six months on from the announcement of the ceasefire in Gaza, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is being forgotten as the world’s attention shifts elsewhere in the Middle East, despite conditions within Gaza deteriorating at an alarming pace.
The operational environment in Lebanon remains highly volatile, with renewed insecurity further undermining already fragile ceasefire conditions. Airstrikes and recent displacement orders, primarily in southern suburbs of Beirut, South Lebanon and Nabatieh, triggered additional movements.
Critical funding shortfalls are forcing the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to significantly scale back its operations in Syria. WFP has reduced its emergency food assistance by 50 percent, from 1.3 million people to 650,000 in May, and halted a nationwide bread subsidy programme that has supported millions daily.
Since 2 March 2026, the conflict in Lebanon displaced over 1.1 million people, including more than 390,000 children,1 placing additional strain on already fragile systems in a context already affected by an economic crisis and protracted displacement.
Between 1 February and 31 March 2026, the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported 494 Palestinians killed and at least 489 injured in the Gaza Strip, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire in place since 10 October 2025.
Despite generous support from our donors, 50 per cent of UNICEF’s response remained unfunded in 2025. Urgent additional support is needed in 2026 to sustain and scale lifesaving services for the most vulnerable children.
In 2025, the MENA region faced overlapping crises including conflict, displacement, economic collapse, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks, placing children at risk and disrupting access to services.
Between January and March 2026, the Syria Protection Sector continued its coordinated, country-wide protection monitoring exercise at community level through its network of partners, using the harmonized Key Informant Interview (KII) tool.
Demonstrating strong operational agility and within less than 24 hours of mass displacement, WFP activated cash transfers and food assistance in shelters, reaching 440,000 conflict-affected individuals in March, while maintaining its regular programmes to reach in total 893,000 individuals.
In Yemen's northern Hajjah and Hudaydah governates, shrinking humanitarian funding and the withdrawal of services is leading to the closure or reduction of health services, leaving families with fewer options for care.
The conflict in the Middle East and wider region is obstructing key delivery routes for humanitarian supplies, delaying lifesaving shipments for at least 130,000 people in Yemen.
As of 31 December, over 1.3 million Syrians have returned back home since December 2024, with more than 3.7 million registered Syrian refugees continuing to reside in host countries in the region.
Lebanon continues to confront a massive humanitarian crisis, despite the entry into effect of a 10-day ceasefire on 17 April, with hundreds of thousands of people remaining internally displaced and in urgent need of assistance.
Following the escalation in hostilities across the Middle East beginning on 28 February 2026, cross-border movements into the Syrian Arab Republic (hereafter referred to as Syria) increased, particularly from neighbouring Lebanon.
Six months on from the announcement of the ceasefire in Gaza, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is being forgotten as the world’s attention shifts elsewhere in the Middle East, despite conditions within Gaza deteriorating at an alarming pace.
