Speaking to journalists in Gaza City, Jonathan Whittall, local Head of Office for the UN aid coordination wing, OCHA, painted a dire picture of life under what he called a “total and complete blockade” now approaching its third month.

“The coming days in Gaza are going to be critical. Today people are not surviving in Gaza, those that aren’t being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying,” he said.

Whittall stressed that humanitarian agencies are unable to meet the soaring needs of civilians due to the collapse of supply lines. Hospitals are overwhelmed, but medicines and equipment are running out. People are going hungry, but food warehouses are empty and bakeries are closing. Clean water is desperately needed, but water wells are inaccessible.

He noted that solid waste is piling up in the streets with no equipment to remove it, and that rescue efforts after airstrikes are impossible without fuel and machinery. Displaced families are forced to live in rubble without shelter materials, and fishermen are being shot at sea, while humanitarian organisations lack the resources to assist them. “Nowhere in Gaza today is safe”, he said.

He added that children need to learn, but schools have been destroyed or are inaccessible, and that education supplies are not available. Prices of the remaining goods in Gaza continue to rise, but there is no cash available. There is no cooking gas or fuel, forcing families to burn trash to generate some energy.

A war ‘without any limits’

“This is not only about humanitarian needs, but it’s about dignity. There is an assault on people’s dignity in Gaza today,” he warned.

“We also know that humanitarian workers, first responders, you as journalists, should be protected, like all civilians, but we’re being killed in a war that appears to be fought without any limits,” he added.

Whittall emphasised that the situation in Gaza does not even resemble a war. “People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight, for all to see, documented every day by you as journalists,” he said.

He described the devastation witnessed daily — including children’s bodies thrown by explosions, families burnt alive, and colleagues killed — as part of what he termed “everyday atrocities.”

“As humanitarians we can see that aid is being weaponised through its denial,” he warned. “There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance. And humanitarian aid should never be weaponised.”

Despite the catastrophic conditions, he stressed that humanitarian organisations are continuing to operate where possible, but “we have less and less and less supplies and less and less capacity to be able to meet the growing and growing needs that are intensifying across Gaza.”

“Lives depend on the blockade being lifted, on aid being allowed to enter into Gaza, on the ceasefire being reinstated,” he said, calling for real accountability rather than waiting for history to judge the international community’s response.

Hunger and malnutrition surging

In a separate statement, OCHA warned of a “severe decline” in food availability across Gaza, as malnutrition rates escalate rapidly, particularly among children.

A UN partner organisation recently screened around 1,300 children in northern Gaza and identified over 80 cases of acute malnutrition, representing more than double the rate recorded in previous weeks.

“Nutrition partners report a critical shortage of supplies due to the obstruction of aid entry and challenges in transporting essential materials within Gaza,” OCHA said. Access to key facilities, including UNICEF’s main warehouse in Rafah, remains heavily restricted.

Journalists who visited the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) main warehouses this week found them largely empty of food supplies, including flour.

Call for accountability and action

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” UNRWA said in a separate statement, stressing that international law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, the obstruction of humanitarian assistance, and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure.

The agency reiterated its call for a renewed ceasefire, the dignified release of all hostages, and the immediate, unhindered flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza.

In 2024, 122 million people were forcibly displaced — a number expected to rise in the coming years, according to Bob Rae, President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), addressing a meeting on the pressing issue in New York on Thursday.

As population movements become much more complex due to wars disproportionately impacting civilians, climate disasters, hunger and poverty, 70 per cent of refugees live in low to middle-income countries.

Refugee rights

International responses to refugee flows are becoming increasingly politicised, especially as aid is decreasing.

Rather than focusing on addressing the root causes of such crises, the Global North has focused on border management and the control of refugee flows, “often at the expense of the rights of people on the move,” Filippo Grandi, Head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) told the ECOSOC gathering.

According to Mr. Grandi, although border management is an important aspect of national government response to the refugee crisis, the emphasis should rather be on making refugees feel more integrated within host communities.

Inclusion of refugees translates to freedom of movement, access to basic services such as healthcare, education, work opportunities, and valid documentation that allows them to work and contribute.

Representatives from Colombia and Mauritania joined a meeting convened by Mr. Rae to talk about better ways to help refugees and the communities that host them, while also finding long-term solutions to the forced displacement crisis.

Both Colombia and Mauritania have welcomed thousands of refugees into their countries, and outlined the positive impact refugees have had on their countries.

Temporary Protection Status in Colombia

In 2021, Colombia adopted a Temporary Protection Status (TPS) programme for Venezuelan refugees.

Today, 2.5 million Venezuelans in Colombia have valid documentation, which provides them access to public services, legal employment, and education.

TPS has not only allowed them to regain dignity and security, but it has also helped Colombia regulate refugee flows.

Human rights at the fore in Mauritania

For over a decade, Mauritania has been hosting large numbers of refugees, most of them from neighbouring Mali.

Committed to upholding the human rights of both refugees and host communities, Mauritania recognises refugees as citizens, providing them with the right to education, healthcare, employment, and legal protection.

Mauritania is working to improve refugee livelihoods while simultaneously enhancing the capacity of host communities by emphasising the role refugees have in local development.

By investing in the resilience of host communities and social cohesion, Mauritania ensures both refugees and host communities live in dignity.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is just one of the UN agencies working to help the most vulnerable in worst-hit central areas, but much more help is needed.

“When it rains, they can’t sleep, and when the rain stops, they still can’t sleep because they feared the wind might have their only shelter away,” said Dr Thushara Fernando, WHO representative in Myanmar.

In an update from Yangon, the WHO medic warned that the risk of waterborne disease “is becoming a reality” for all those still living under plastic sheeting with stagnant water all around.

A cholera outbreak was already reported in Mandalay just a few months ago.

Survivors “feed their babies, they eat, they drink in their tents; they don’t have even a simple mosquito net to sleep under in the night,” Dr Fernando continued.

“Water sources are contaminated, temporary toilet facilities are overwhelmed, and acute watery diarrhoea has been reported in two areas,” he continued.

Two major earthquakes hit central Myanmar on 28 March killing at least 3,700 people. About 5,100 more were injured and 114 are still missing, according to WHO. The true toll is likely much higher because of underreporting.

Aftershocks continue

Survivors and aid teams have experienced more than 140 aftershocks – some as high as magnitude 5.9 – which have added to widespread trauma and impeded humanitarian assistance.

To help, the UN health agency has delivered around 170 tonnes of emergency medical supplies to help 450,000 people for three months.

WHO is also coordinating more than 220 emergency medical teams in earthquake affected areas and it has launched a targeted dengue prevention initiative in coordination with national and local partners.

This includes the distribution of about 4,500 rapid diagnostic test kits for frontline responders and hundreds of insecticide-treated nets to protect people in the hardest-hit areas, such as Mandalay.

Critical moment

The WHO medic said that the agency continues to help deliver a range of services, albeit at a “very limited” scale. This includes trauma care, mental health and psychosocial support, along with maternal and child health services and non-communicable disease prevention.

“Without urgent, sustained funding, the risks of secondary health crises will erupt,” said Dr Fernando.

Echoing those concerns, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that early signs of acute watery diarrhoea “are already emerging” in worst-hit areas.

Access to food and essential services have been disrupted, causing worsening nutrition conditions, “especially for young children”, the UN agency’s Eliana Drakopoulos told UN News.

“With low immunization coverage and the monsoon approaching, the risk of preventable disease outbreaks is rising fast,” Ms. Drakopoulos added. “Urgent action is needed.”