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	117 million forced to flee: “An utter failure to protect civilians” by UN Refugee Agency, DRC, Norwegian Refugee Council   Mar. 2025   Global displacement crisis set to surge by 6.7 million people due to ongoing conflicts and civilian attacks: New Danish Refugee Council   This Global Displacement Forecast Report for 2025 highlights a troubling trend: the number of displaced people worldwide is expected to rise significantly from the current 122.6 million. By the end of 2026, an additional 6.7 million people are projected to be displaced globally, with sub-Saharan Africa and Asia experiencing the largest increases of approximately 3.1 million and 1.8 million respectively, followed by the Middle East with an anticipated increase of around 900.000 displaced people.   Of the 6.7 million people forecasted to be displaced by the end of 2026, some 70% will be internally displaced. This projected surge in displacement is driven primarily by ongoing conflict and violence against civilians and attacks on civilian infrastructure further compounded by the impact of climate change and ecological degradation.   In 2024, the number of conflict events increased by 11% in the 27 countries of focus with a particular increase observed in the Middle East, Ukraine and Ethiopia, and violations of international humanitarian law remained widespread. Violence specifically targeting civilians increased by 8% globally year on year, with the occupied Palestinian territory ranking highest followed by Lebanon.   The conflict in Sudan has resulted in the world’s current largest displacement crisis, with 8.8 million people internally displaced and another 6.7 million refugees. Starvation has been used as a weapon of war, pushing the country from one catastrophic famine to another.   In Myanmar, the ongoing conflict has intensified significantly since 2023, with widespread armed clashes. The situation has deteriorated into a complex, multi-front civil war with severe humanitarian consequences. Displacement is projected to increase by 2.1 million in Sudan and 1.4 million in Myanmar which means that these two countries alone account for almost half of the total number of people projected to be displaced by the end of 2026.   In Yemen, the number of additional displaced is expected to increase by almost 400,000 people by the end of 2026. Yemen is the fifth-largest internal displacement crisis in the world, with an estimated 4.8 million internally displaced, most of whom are women and children, experiencing repeated and protracted displacement and limited prospects of return.   Turning to Gaza, 90% of the population of 2.2 million was internally displaced during Israel’s 15-month-long military offensive. Many of these people continue to be displaced because of the pervasive destruction of homes and basic infrastructure as well as the risk of unexploded ordnances preventing their return.   Not only do we see a surge in conflict and displacement, but humanitarian efforts are also being significantly hampered, particularly because of insufficient funding, increasingly dangerous operating environments, and restricted humanitarian access to affected populations. Of the 27 countries covered in this report, 16 are categorised as having either very high or extreme humanitarian access constraints – illustrating the correlation between poor humanitarian access, insufficient protection of civilians and forecasted displacement.   Development assistance, including to peacebuilding, is crucial in shaping future displacement trajectories. Data show that countries receiving higher shares of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for peacebuilding tend to see lower increases in displacement. A reduction in peacebuilding tends to lead to higher conflict rates, which in turn fosters increased displacement.   Furthermore, reductions in funding have significant negative impacts on the humanitarian system’s ability to reach people in protracted displacement situations. In 2025, 307 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance globally. Recent announcements of funding cuts by donor countries such as the UK and Germany, and, in particular the US stop-work order on foreign assistance followed by contract terminations, are very concerning and likely to have severe humanitarian consequences. In a scenario where all US funding is terminated, an estimated 57 million fewer people could be reached and only 26% of the 307 million people in need worldwide would receive the required assistance.   The increase in displacement and severe funding cuts will be felt particularly in low-income countries that host the majority of displaced people, and that simultaneously face their own socio-economic and climate-related challenges. These countries, already struggling with high levels of poverty and vulnerability to climate change, are shouldering the responsibility of hosting the majority of the world’s displaced despite not receiving adequate financial and technical support to do so.   The funding cuts will also have severe repercussions for the ability of displaced people to return and successfully reintegrate. Peacebuilding efforts contribute to preventing further escalation of conflict that forces people to flee and are crucial to creating an environment which allows for safe returns and reintegration as one of the pathways to durable solutions. Peacebuilding efforts can build confidence in potential lasting peace, even if peace has not yet been fully achieved..   http://drc.ngo/resources/news/global-displacement-crisis-set-to-surge-by-6-7-million-people-due-to-ongoing-conflicts-and-civilian-attacks-new-drc-forecast/   Mar. 2025   Millions of people and hundreds of staff impacted by US aid cuts, UN migration agency says. (AP,IOM)   The United Nations migration agency said it is scaling back and suspending lifesaving projects around the world and firing staff following an “unprecedented” 30% funding cut led mainly by the United States.   “The reduction in funding has severe impacts on vulnerable migrant communities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undermining vital support systems for displaced populations,” the International Organization for Migration, based in Geneva, said in a statement.   The $1.1 billion funding cut will halt dozens of projects including food and health care for Rohingya refugees in Thailand, emergency aid to more than 40,000 people affected by conflict and cyclones in Mozambique amongst other programs, according to an IOM spokesperson.   Cholera prevention, distribution of emergency shelters and medical care in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions of people have been displaced by conflict and famine, would also be cut.   “The world is witnessing historic displacement levels, yet funding to address the root causes of displacement is shrinking,” IOM said.   The agency received more than 40% of its $3.4 billion budget in 2023 from the U.S. The IOM said it will restructure, reduce its personnel with over 6,000 employees worldwide affected.   The IOM measures are just the latest in a series of funding cuts upending the humanitarian sector and impacting some of the most fragile regions of the world after the Trump administration vowed to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding.   Oct. 2024   Five trailblazing women win UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Awards for their life-changing work. (UNHCR)   Five trailblazing women – a nun, an activist, a social entrepreneur, a volunteer aid worker, and an advocate for ending statelessness – will be honoured as winners of the 2024 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.   This year’s global laureate, Sister Rosita Milesi, is a Brazilian nun, lawyer, social worker and movement builder who has championed the rights and dignity of people on the move for nearly 40 years. The four others have been named regional winners.   “All too often, women face heightened risks of discrimination and violence, especially when forced to flee,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “But these five winners show how women are also playing a critical role in the humanitarian response and in finding solutions.” Grandi praised their dedication to driving action in their own communities, building grassroots support, and even shaping national policies.   Sister Rosita has personally assisted thousands of people on the move – helping them access legal documentation, shelter, food, health care, language training and access to the labour market in Brazil. As a lawyer, she has also been instrumental in shaping public policy.   Her work on Brazil’s 1997 refugee law, for example, helped to amplify refugee rights in line with the 1984 Cartagena Refugee Declaration, ensure that it does more to protect, include and empower people forced to flee and aligns with international standards.   “I decided to dedicate myself to migrants and refugees. I’m inspired by the growing need to help, to welcome, and to integrate refugees,” said Sister Rosita, 79. “I’m not afraid to act, even if we don’t achieve everything we want to. If I take something on, I will turn the world upside down to make it happen,” she added.   The four regional winners to be honoured this year are:   Maimouna Ba (Africa), an activist from Burkina Faso who helped more than 100 displaced children return to the classroom and put over 400 displaced women on a path to financial independence.   Jin Davod (Europe), a social entrepreneur who drew on her own experience as a Syrian refugee to build an online platform that has connected thousands of trauma survivors with licensed therapists providing free mental health support.   Nada Fadol (Middle East & North Africa), a Sudanese refugee who has mobilized essential aid for hundreds of refugee families fleeing to Egypt in search of safety.   Deepti Gurung (Asia-Pacific), who campaigned to reform Nepal’s citizenship laws after learning that her two daughters had become stateless – opening a path to citizenship for them and thousands more in similar straits.   In addition, the people of Moldova will receive honourable mention for acting as a beacon of humanity. Setting aside their own economic challenges, they rapidly transformed their schools, community spaces and homes into sanctuaries for more than one million people fleeing the war in Ukraine.   http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/five-trailblazing-women-win-unhcr-s-nansen-refugee-awards-their-life-changing http://www.unhcr.org/nansen-refugee-award http://reporting.unhcr.org/global-appeal-2025 http://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/year-turmoil-conflicts-crises-and-displacement-2024 http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-report-reveals-climate-change-growing-threat-people-already-fleeing-war http://www.nrc.no/news/2024/december/shelter-needs-doubled-in-five-years/ http://www.iom.int/iom-media-centre http://crisisresponse.iom.int/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/03/migrants-must-not-be-blamed-housing-crises-says-special-rapporteur-housing http://www.unhcr.org/news-and-stories   June 2024   117 million forced to flee: “An utter failure to protect civilians”, writes Jan Egeland - Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council.   Never before in recorded history have so many people in so many countries been fleeing conflict, violence, and persecution. Every year for more than a decade, we have documented new record numbers of both refugees and those internally displaced due to the brutality of armed men, faltering conflict resolution diplomacy, and global failure to protect civilians. New wars and emergencies are added to all the unresolved crises, resulting in more than 117 million people facing desperate situations.   “How long will national, regional, and global leaders fail to take decisive action to protect civilians? From Sudan to Ukraine, and from Burkina Faso to Gaza, civilians are driven from their homes and then often forgotten, their needs neglected for years or even decades.   “In much of Europe and North America, political arguments focus on evermore punitive policies to turn away those fleeing in desperation. Many wealthy countries advance policies of keeping refugees – or even sending them – far away, thus evading their responsibilities. Each year millions are trapped in inhumane conditions.   “More than two thirds of refugees remain in neighbouring countries. A handful of nations are hosting the majority of displaced people globally. Some nations, like Iran, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Uganda, host millions of refugees despite limited resources, whilst other wealthier nations make every effort to avoid fulfilling their duty.   “This year’s figures represent yet another failure of international solidarity and coordination. As the number of those requiring help increases, we see both humanitarian and developmental funding dropping. Vast crises – such as in DR Congo, Sudan, or the Central Sahel region – continue to go unnoticed by both media and donors.   “This cannot continue. There must be a renewed effort to provide civilians with the protection they are entitled to, and to ensure that financial support matches the scale of the human suffering represented in today’s figures.   “How many more years can these numbers grow whilst much of the world continues to look the other way?”   http://www.nrc.no/news/2024/june/117-million-forced-to-flee-an-utter-failure-to-protect-civilians/ http://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/unhcr-s-grandi-urges-joint-action-tackle-soaring-displacement http://www.unhcr.org/global-trends http://www.unhcr.org/global-trends-report-2023 http://www.unhcr.org/emergencies http://reliefweb.int/report/world/ration-cuts-taking-hungry-feed-starving http://www.internal-displacement.org/news/conflicts-drive-new-record-of-759-million-people-living-in-internal-displacement/ http://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2024/ http://www.internal-displacement.org/news/internal-displacement-in-africa-triples-in-15-years-since-landmark-treaty-to-address-it   http://www.nrc.no/feature/2024/the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises-2023 http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/number-displaced-children-reaches-new-high-433-million http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-internally-displaced-persons http://disasterdisplacement.org/news-events/ Visit the related web page
	Year in Review 2023 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)   June 2024   Conflict was a major driver of human suffering and vulnerability in 2023, causing many thousands of deaths worldwide and displacing record numbers of people. As in previous years, assisting communities affected by violence was a significant component of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) programmes. We also responded to disasters and disease outbreaks, and worked to improve healthcare for refugees, migrants and other marginalised people.   The terrible consequences of war on people’s lives   In mid-April, when war suddenly broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese army and paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), our teams quickly adapted their activities to respond. Fighting was intense in the capital, Khartoum, and across large swathes of the country.   As a result, 8.5 million people have been displaced, most of them within Sudan. But over 1.8 million have also fled into neighbouring countries, including Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The war in Sudan has garnered very little of the world’s attention and support from other organisations is sometimes non-existent; in some areas, MSF is the only international humanitarian organisation present.   Assisting people injured and displaced by the war proved extremely challenging. Local authorities blocked the delivery of critical medical supplies to areas under RSF control, forcing us to temporarily suspend activities in some facilities, including surgery at Khartoum’s Bashair hospital. Visas for international teams to enter and support exhausted Sudanese staff became hard to obtain. At the end of the year, many people who remained in Sudan were struggling to obtain medical care, food and water, while those who had crossed the borders found themselves living in dire conditions in camps. Our teams in Chad and South Sudan treated thousands of Sudanese refugees for violence-related injuries and rape, and infectious diseases seen in the poor conditions of the camps.   On 7 October, Hamas, the organisation governing the Gaza Strip in Palestine, launched a massacre inside Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. Israel declared war on Hamas and started bombing Gaza. Since then, Israeli forces have relentlessly shelled and attacked residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Israel also imposed a total blockade, cutting off supplies of water, food and other essential goods. Tens of thousands of people have been killed. Over 1.7 million people in Gaza are estimated to be forcibly displaced and living in unsafe, unhealthy conditions; 1.5 million people are crammed into Rafah, on the border with Egypt.   Many healthcare facilities are no longer functioning, due to damage from shelling and incursions and/or a lack of fuel, which is needed to run generators. Those that remain partially functional are overwhelmed with patients and have few staff and almost no supplies. Healthcare infrastructure and personnel – including our own – have been repeatedly hit by airstrikes or bullets. Since 7 October, five MSF staff have been killed in Gaza; we deeply mourn the loss of Mohammed Al Ahel, Alaa Al Shawa, Dr Mahmoud Abu Nujaila, Dr Ahmad Al Sahar and Reem Abu Lebdeh.   Reorienting our activities to respond has been difficult. Supplies have been hard to get, and the physical space in which we can safely deliver care has diminished. The war has also had an impact on the West Bank, where occupation-related violence has increased; our teams offer mental health support and treat patients for trauma injuries.   At the end of October, conflict escalated in Myanmar, leading to an acute humanitarian crisis. Thousands of people were displaced, and many healthcare facilities ceased to function following attacks and evacuations. Despite insecurity and restrictions on access, our teams delivered assistance to displaced people in northern Shan and Rakhine states through mobile clinics, and when forced to suspend direct activities, through community health workers and teleconsultations.   Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, MSF worked to address the immense medical and nutritional needs and support people affected by conflict in Amhara region. As the war in Ukraine showed no sign of abating, we focused on ambulance services and providing treatment for both physical and mental trauma, including surgery, physiotherapy and mental health consultations.   Providing care amid chronic violence   In an almost-forgotten conflict, civilians continued to bear the brunt of the horrific violence perpetrated by the M23 and other armed groups across northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. Millions of people have been displaced, often multiple times, within North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces, or forced over the borders into Uganda and Rwanda by the fighting between M23 and the DRC armed forces. Our teams delivered medical care to people living in appalling conditions, including many patients with war wounds and victims of sexual violence.   Explosive violence continued in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in 2023, with armed groups fighting each other and the police for control of the city’s neighbourhoods. People were routinely kidnapped and held for ransom or shot on the streets. The high levels of insecurity reduced both people’s access to healthcare and MSF’s ability to provide it – sometimes it was too dangerous for our staff to travel to work, and on repeated occasions during the year we had to suspend or close facilities or services.   Our facilities in Tabarre and Turgeau stopped activities during the year, following serious incidents where patients in our care were forcibly removed by armed groups – one from an operating theatre and another was pulled from the back of an ambulance and killed in the street.   State forces and armed groups continued to fight across the Sahel region of Africa, destroying communities and livelihoods, and cutting off people from healthcare and basic services. Anti-Western and particularly anti-French government sentiments and changing geopolitical contexts across Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and other countries in the region posed many security and logistical challenges for our teams in 2023. These included gaining access to the areas where needs were highest and bringing in staff and supplies.   The violence sadly did not spare our staff; we mourn the loss of our colleagues Komon Dioma and Souleymane Ouedraogo, who were killed on 8 February when an armed group attacked an MSF vehicle in which they were transporting supplies near Tougan, Burkina Faso.   Responding to disasters   In February, when two powerful earthquakes struck southern Türkiye and northwestern Syria, killing tens of thousands of people, MSF immediately launched an emergency response. In both locations we provided medical and mental healthcare as well as safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, shelter, and food.   We also sent teams to assist people affected by Cyclone Freddy in Malawi and Mozambique, in March, and Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar, in May, by offering medical consultations and supplying clean water, and building and repairing latrines.   In September, our teams provided healthcare and medical supplies after the town of Derna in Libya was partially destroyed by floods. In the same month, we offered mental health support to survivors of an earthquake in southwestern Morocco. Following another earthquake in October, this time in Herat province in western Afghanistan, we helped treat the wounded and donated essential supplies.   Assisting marginalised people   Authorities in Afghanistan and Yemen have increasingly marginalised women and girls from society and severely reduced their access to education and healthcare. We already face a shortage of qualified female healthcare staff in Afghanistan – needed to provide healthcare to female patients – and is something that we can only expect to worsen with the ban on female secondary and higher education.   Both countries require women to travel with a (usually male) relative when they leave the home. In Yemen, paying transport costs for two people to visit a hospital, rather than one, is unaffordable for many families, while in Afghanistan, women often have to wait for someone to be available to accompany them or their child to a health facility.   In 2023, we continued to assist people who had made the dangerous journey through the Darién Gap, the heavily forested region between Colombia and Panama, on their way north to Mexico and the United States. Over half a million people – including many families and children – made the crossing, twice the number in 2022.   Our teams treated patients for conditions and injuries caused by their arduous journeys, as well as many victims of violence and sexual assault, in Panama and other countries along the migration route, including Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.   We treat refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who have been subject to inhumane migration policies. From the Aegean – where we provide care to people arrived on the Greek Islands – to the United Kingdom – where we opened a new project for asylum seekers in November – and from the Balkans to Libya, European migration policies have a severe impact on the lives of people seeking safety.   Meanwhile, the situation has not improved for the nearly 800,000 Rohingya who fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017. We continue to run a range of medical services for Rohingya refugees, who still live in overcrowded camps and face increasing hostility from the government and local communities. In addition, global funding cuts to aid – upon which they rely to survive – have reduced the amount of food distributed and driven up demand for our services.   Challenges and triumphs in treating diseases   Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed a rise in disease outbreaks, in part due to the severe toll it took on health systems and routine vaccination campaigns. In 2023, we treated thousands of patients for vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, cholera and hepatitis. Our teams struggled to respond to an outbreak of diphtheria, a potentially deadly bacterial infection, which affected Guinea, Nigeria, Niger, and Chad, because of a global shortage of both vaccines and antitoxins used for treatment.   During the year, we responded to an alarming number of people with malnutrition. MSF teams responded to crises in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Yemen, DRC, Afghanistan and Burkina Faso. People become malnourished for a variety of reasons; conflict cutting off supplies or preventing farming, poor harvests, high food prices, or insufficient food assistance for displaced people.   However, there was good news regarding tuberculosis (TB) during the year. In November, we published the positive results of the endTB clinical trial, which identified three new, safe drug regimens for multidrug-resistant TB, that are more effective and reduce treatment time by up to two-thirds. Some of these drug regimens use bedaquiline, the price of which has been a barrier to scaling up treatment.   Through the work of MSF’s Access Campaign, the manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, dropped some of its secondary patents on the drug in September, allowing for affordable generic versions to be used in low- and middle-income countries. The same month, the Access Campaign’s pressure on Cepheid, which makes a diagnostic test system, widely used in MSF projects, and its parent company Danaher, paid off when they agreed to a 20 per cent price reduction for some tests, including for TB.   In December, following three years of strong advocacy efforts by MSF, the World Health Organization added noma to its list of neglected tropical diseases. Noma is an infectious but non-contagious bacterial disease affecting mostly children, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. It is both preventable and treatable, but without treatment, it kills 90 per cent of people. Being on the list should shine a spotlight on the disease, facilitating the integration of noma prevention and treatment activities into existing public health programmes, and encouraging the allocation of much-needed resources to help tackle it.   We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the more than 69,000 MSF staff, who worked in over 70 countries in 2023 – often at great risk – to deliver medical care to people in need.   * By MSF Directors of Operations - Ahmed Abd-elrahman, Oliver Behn, Dr Marc Biot, William Hennequin, Dr Sal Ha Issoufou, Kenneth Lavelle, Teresa Sancristoval   http://www.msf.org/latest-portal http://www.msf.org/year-review-2024 http://www.msf.org/year-pictures-2024 http://www.msf.org/year-pictures-2023 Visit the related web page
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