KHARTOUM, Sudan ¡ª The Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) today announced the return of its Sudan Country Office to the capital Khartoum. The announcement was made by Carl Skau, Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s Deputy Executive Director, following a meeting in Khartoum with Kamil Idris, Prime Minister of Sudan. In attendance, was Abdallah Al Wardat, Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s new Country Director in Sudan. The agency¡¯s planned return to the capital comes three years after Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s former premises were looted and destroyed at the beginning of the war in 2023.
CAIRO / BEIRUT / ROME ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is warning that surging food and fuel prices driven by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could have ripple effects that will worsen hunger for vulnerable populations in the region and beyond. The escalation has already had a devastating impact on civilians bearing the brunt of the violence through mass displacement, loss of life, and the destruction of essential infrastructure.
As the conflict disrupts supply chains, drives up costs and weakens the purchasing power of families, people already on the edge could be pushed further towards severe food insecurity.
Below is a summary of Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s assessments of the early impacts of the conflict on food security and humanitarian aid - and how Â鶹ÊÓƵ is adapting and scaling up its emergency operations across the region to meet rising needs.
Yokohama - The Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) welcomes a contribution of US$67.3 million from the Government of Japan to provide assistance to vulnerable people affected by conflict, natural disasters, and economic crises in 27 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
This is a summary of what was said by Samer Abdeljaber, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe (speaking from Cairo via Zoom) ¨C to whom quoted text may be attributed ¨C at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
GENEVA ¨C The humanitarian situation across the Middle East is changing quickly driven by ongoing security developments. The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ is operational, positioned, and ready to scale as needs grow. We have activated emergency preparedness measures across the region and we can move fast.
Chisinau, Moldova ¨C Over four years of humanitarian assistance in the Republic of Moldova, the Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ), with funding from the European Union (EU), has played a pivotal role in supporting the most vulnerable Ukrainian refugees, alongside the Moldovan families and communities that have welcomed them during one of Europe¡¯s longest displacement crises.
JUBA, South Sudan ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is scaling up its emergency response to reach the growing number of people forced to flee spiralling conflict in South Sudan¡¯s Jonglei state. These life-saving food distributions, transported along river routes, come amid increasing insecurity that is hampering humanitarian efforts and threatening to drive hunger in the region to unprecedented levels.
PORT SUDAN, Sudan 18 February 2026 ¨C A United Nations (UN) inter?agency convoy led by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ), the United Nations Children¡¯s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has reached Dilling and Kadugli, South Kordofan, with life-saving humanitarian supplies to assist over 130,000 people. This marks the first major delivery of assistance to the area in three months.
JUBA, South Sudan ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is today calling on all parties to the conflict to urgently halt military operations, de-escalate the situation, and allow safe humanitarian access to deliver life-saving food assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in South Sudan¡¯s Jonglei State.
MAPUTO, Mozambique ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is scaling up to deliver life-saving food assistance to reach 450,000 people affected by the country¡¯s worst flooding in decades - just months after Mozambicans recovered from the worst drought in its recent history. The agency urgently requires USD 32 million for the next three months to deliver vital food and nutritional support to families reeling from flooding.
DAKAR, Senegal ¨C Amid a deepening hunger crisis across West and Central Africa, the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) has reached over 3.3 million of the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa with emergency food and nutrition assistance between June and September 2025, thanks to critical funding from the European Union¡¯s (EU) Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
KINGSTON, Jamaica ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ), in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), today launched a cash assistance programme for Jamaicans severely impacted by category 5 Hurricane Melissa in October.
KINGSTON / HAVANA / PORT-AU-PRINCE ¨C One month after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean, the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) has reached more than half million people with emergency food assistance and is pivoting toward recovery. Â鶹ÊÓƵ is working with governments and communities to lay the foundations for long-term resilience; introducing cash-based support where markets are functional, restoring livelihoods and repairing essential services.
KAMPALA ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) welcomes a contribution of DKK 15 million (approximately USD 2.3 million) from the Government of Denmark. This funding will support emergency food assistance for nearly 80,000 newly arrived refugees in Uganda through cash transfers for three months, ensuring they can meet their immediate food needs and begin rebuilding their lives.
BUJUMBURA - The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) has welcomed a contribution of US$1 million from the Government of Japan to provide lifesaving food assistance to 18,000 people affected by floods and droughts in Burundi.
JUBA, South Sudan ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) began airdropping emergency food assistance to thousands of families in South Sudan¡¯s Upper Nile State, where surging conflict since March has forced families from their homes and pushed some communities to the brink of famine.
GAZA, Palestine ¨C The UN Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) continues to deliver life-saving food assistance inside Gaza despite deteriorating security, limited access, and growing desperation of communities in need of food assistance. A recent Â鶹ÊÓƵ assessment shows nearly one person in three is not eating for days, placing more people at risk of starvation. More than 700,000 people have been forced to relocate since March 18 as an estimated 85 percent of Gaza is now considered an active militarized zone.
Over the last four weeks, Â鶹ÊÓƵ has been able to dispatch just 9,000 metric tons of food aid inside Gaza - a tiny fraction of what a population of 2.1 million hungry people needs.
