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The “unprecedented crisis” in Haiti means that every number presented “is a new record,” said Ulrika Johnson, speaking from neighbouring Dominican Republic to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.
“The suffering that this is causing is immense, and I would say it is really heartbreaking to see, to witness, to listen to victims of violence,” she added.
The situation continues to unfold as funding for humanitarian operations globally dwindles following the recent decision by the United States to halt foreign aid disbursements.
A Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), authorized by the UN Security Council, is on the ground to assist the Haitian National Police in combatting the gangs. UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently proposed that the global body assume funding for structural and logistical support.
Ms. Richardson said human rights violations have risen when compared to 2024.
Over 5,600 people were killed last year, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. Sexual violence is “rampant” and UN children’s agency UNICEF reports “a staggering” 1,000 per cent increase in cases involving children between 2023 and 2024.
“The impact on women and children is enormous,” she said, noting that children comprise half of the displaced.
“They are really bearing the brunt of the crisis,” she continued. “They’re also recruited by gangs. We’ve seen a 70 per cent increase in one year of how they coerce children into gangs.”
Meanwhile, five million Haitians require food assistance, the number of children suffering from malnutrition and stunting has increased, and only a third of health institutions are operating.
Haiti is also dealing with the impact of deportations. Last year, some 200,000 nationals were sent back to the country, and many had no home to go to. Haitians are also leaving their homeland, often at great risk. Reports indicate that nearly 400,000 fled last year.
Despite the realities on the ground, and access limitations, humanitarian response continues, including in gang-controlled areas.
It is taking place even as the main airport in Port-au-Prince remains closed since November, affecting the movement of humanitarian goods and personnel both into the country and out from the capital city to the regions.
“We’ve been able to set up a logistics hub in the north, and this has been very helpful, obviously, to be able to receive humanitarian goods and then trying to bring them into the capital,” Ms. Richardson said.
In 2024, the humanitarian community launched a $600 million plan for Haiti, receiving just over 40 per cent of the funding. Around 60 per cent came from the United States alone.
“Obviously, the US temporary freeze and the stop work order has an impact on us,” she underlined.
This year’s plan will call for just over $900 million to cover assistance such as food, medicine, protection, healthcare and psychosocial support for rape victims.
She expressed confidence that if the UN and partners can mobilize this funding, “we can do our absolute best, and more than that, in terms of the seamless delivery of humanitarian aid to the people that so desperately need this aid.”
Watch our latest testimonial videos about innovative solutions and achievements of three Horizon Europe projects managed by HaDEA. The videos feature the projects MULTHEM, RECREATE and SUSPENS, showcasing their cutting-edge work in developing sustainable and lightweight materials for various industries.
MULTHEM aims to develop new, cost-effective manufacturing processes and materials that combine the benefits of metals and carbon fibre composites. The goal is to create hybrid materials with both structural and cooling features, allowing for more efficient and lightweight solutions in applications such as battery casings and electronics.
RECREATE focuses on developing innovative technologies for the reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing of fibre-reinforced composite materials. It aims to create efficient and profitable processes that transform end-of-life composite waste into new materials and parts for various industries, contributing to a more sustainable future.
SUSPENS develops high-performance, sustainable composite materials by creating over 95% bio-sourced epoxy and polyester resins combined with natural and recycled fibre reinforcements. The project aims to reduce environmental impact through innovative recycling solutions and demonstrate their effectiveness in various applications.
For valuable insights from the project coordinators, watch the videos on HaDEA’s official YouTube channel:
Background
The EU-funded projects MULTHEM, RECREATE and SUSPENS were showcased at our event “Efficient, lightweight, sustainable advanced materials – supporting EU industries to meet the Green Deal targets”, where experts from across Europe came together to discuss the latest developments in sustainable and lightweight materials. The event, held on 6th June 2024, highlighted the importance of these materials in helping industries meet the EU’s Green Deal targets. This event demonstrated the vast potential of sustainable and lightweight materials to transform various industries and drive a more sustainable future.
“At 7pm on 26 February, UNFPA was informed that nearly all of our grants (48 as of now) with USAID and the US State Department have been terminated,” the UN agency said in a statement.
“This decision will have devastating impacts on women and girls and the health and aid workers who serve them in the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”
The USAID grants were designated to provide critical maternal healthcare, protection from violence, rape treatment and other lifesaving care in humanitarian settings.
This includes UNFPA’s work to end maternal death, safely deliver babies and address horrific violence faced by women and girls in places like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
The UN agency partners with 150 countries to provide access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services.
Its goal is ending unmet needs for family planning, preventable maternal death, gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation, by 2030.
“These termination notices include grants for which we had previously received humanitarian waivers, as they were considered lifesaving interventions for the world’s most vulnerable women and girls,” UNFPA said.
The grants funded programmes in countries including Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali, Sudan, Syria and its neighbouring countries, as well as Ukraine.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the forced return of the Uyghurs, who had been detained in Thailand for over 11 years, was deeply troubling.
“This violates the principle of non-refoulement for which there is a complete prohibition in cases where there is a real risk of torture, ill-treatment, or other irreparable harm upon their return,” he said.
Contained in Article 3 of the Convention against Torture, the principle prohibits returning individuals to a country where they face a risk of persecution, torture or ill-treatment. It is also referred to in Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The right to seek asylum and of non-refoulement are also enshrined in Article 13 of Thailand’s Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, and Article 16 of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
The deported men were part of a larger group of Uyghurs who were detained in Thailand in March 2014, after leaving China, bound for Türkiye.
For over a decade, they were held in immigration detention centres under poor conditions.
According to OHCHR, five members of the group have died in custody, while eight others remain detained in Thailand.
The UN rights chief also urged the Thai Government to halt any further deportations and ensure the protection of the remaining Uyghurs in detention.
“The Thai authorities must ensure there are no further deportations and the remaining members of the group, including potential refugees and asylum-seekers, being held in Thailand are fully protected in accordance with their obligations under international law,” he added.
UNHCR also condemned the deportation, saying it had repeatedly sought access to the detained Uyghurs and assurances they would not be forcibly returned – a request that has so far been denied.
Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, reiterated that it is a “clear violation” of the non-refoulement principle and the Government’s obligations under international law.
“UNHCR calls on the Royal Thai Government to put an end to the forced return of individuals from Thailand,” she said.
High Commissioner Türk also urged the Chinese authorities to reveal the whereabouts of the deported Uyghurs.
“It is now important for the Chinese authorities to disclose their whereabouts, and to ensure that they are treated in accordance with international human rights standards,” he said.
Mr. Türk – making his closing remarks during the session reporting on the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the Human Rights Council – said he was deeply troubled by the “dangerous manipulation of language” and disinformation that surrounds discussions over the Palestine-Israel conflict.
“We need to make sure that we resist all efforts to spread fear or incite hatred, including abhorrent, dehumanizing narratives, whether they’re insidious or explicit,” he said.
“My Office will continue to work for justice for every victim and survivor by establishing and documenting the facts and standing firmly for accountability and the rule of law without exception.”
The rights body then turned its focus to Eritrea on Thursday, where despite some long-awaited progress in improving the lives of ordinary Eritreans, the country’s authorities remain responsible for widespread alleged serious crimes including inside neighbouring Ethiopia, the forum heard.
Ilze Brands Kehris, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said that the Eritrean Defence Forces have continued to carry out grave crimes in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and elsewhere with total impunity.
“Our Office (OHCHR) has credible information that Eritrean Defence Forces remain in Tigray and are committing violations, including abductions, rape, property looting, and arbitrary arrests,” she told the Council, before calling for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean soldiers.
After a rapprochement between former enemies Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2018, Asmara sent troops to fight alongside Ethiopian federal troops against separatist rebels during the two-year conflict in Tigray, Amhara, Afar and Oromia.
“In the current context, there is no likely prospect that the domestic judicial system will hold perpetrators accountable for the violations committed in the context of the Tigray conflict and in other cases,” the UN official told the Council, the world’s foremost human rights body.
In a debate seeking to address the Council’s longstanding concerns about Eritrea’s human rights record, Ms. Brands Kehris acknowledged the efforts being made by the authorities in boosting essential health services to more than one million newborns, children and women last year with the help of the UN – and in ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in December.
However, “serious concerns remain” about Eritrea’s system of indefinite forced military conscription, the UN official continued.
The practice has long been linked to abusive labour, torture and sexual violence which continues to compel young people to escape from the country, Ms. Brands-Kehris insisted.
Furthermore, “the punishment of families of draft deserters remains very common – an inhumane practice, against which no steps have been taken”, she said.
Echoing previous disturbing reports requested by the Human Rights on Eritrea’s rights record, the UN official said that detention without trial “remains the norm” – with many politicians, journalists, religious believers and draft deserters held incommunicado.
There is no evidence that impunity will be tackled for well-documented past human rights violations, the senior UN official said.
In response for Eritrea, Habtom Zerai Ghirmai, Chargé d’affaires a.i. to the UN in Geneva, denied the accusations, calling them exaggerated and misleading.
Next in the spotlight was the plight of Sudan’s war-ravaged people who have been subjected to appalling crimes by all parties to the conflict – some possibly constituting war crimes and other atrocity crimes.
Today, more than 600,000 Sudanese “are on the brink of starvation”, said rights chief Volker Türk. “Famine is reported to have taken hold in five areas, including Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, where the World Food Programme has just been forced to suspend its lifesaving operations due to intense fighting.”
Another five areas could face famine in the next three months and 17 more are at risk, he said, calling on all Member States to push urgently for a ceasefire and to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.
Presenting his Office’s annual report on the situation in Sudan, Mr. Türk noted that the armed conflict between rival militaries that erupted in April 2023 following the breakdown in a transfer to civilian rule had generated “the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe”.
The High Commissioner’s report details myriad violations and abuses committed in Sudan and underscores the need for accountability.
“We are looking into the abyss. Humanitarian agencies warn that without action to end the war, deliver emergency aid, and get agriculture back on its feet, hundreds of thousands of people could die,” Mr. Türk insisted.
He added that the spiralling situation in Sudan was “the result of grave and flagrant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and a culture of utter impunity”.
“As the fighting has spread across the country, appalling levels of sexual violence have followed. More than half of reported rape incidents took the form of gang rape – an indication that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” Mr. Türk explained.
“Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos,” said the UN’s top human rights official.
Responding on behalf of Sudan, Minister of Justice Moawia Osman Mohamed Khair Mohamed Ahmed, rejected allegations that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) were responsible for any of the rights violations detailed in the High Commissioner’s report.
Sudanese civil society representative Hanaa Eltigani described multiple mass killings of civilians attributed to the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries including in Geneina, their shelling of Zamzan displacement camp in North Darfur and other extreme rights abuses including gang rape and the forced recruitment of children, including South Sudanese refugees.
In addition, the SAF “launched airstrikes and ground assaults, attacking Meneigo and Al-Igibesh villages in West Kordofan, bombing civilian areas in Nyala, South Darfur,” continued Ms Eltigani, Assistant Secretary-General of Youth Citizens Observers Network (YCON), insisting that while the suffering of her country’s people was “met with indifference, the flow of weapons [from abroad] continues unchecked”.
The SAF also carried out executions in Al-Jazira, Ms. Eltigani maintained, “where victims were slaughtered or thrown alive into the Nile”.
Turning to Afghanistan, the Council then heard that the de facto authorities’ oppression and persecution of women, girls and minorities has worsened, with no signs of improvement.
“Some 23 million people, almost half the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance, a situation drastically worsened by the pauses and cuts to international aid,” said Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett.
The independent rights expert, who is not a UN staff member, warned that left unchecked, the Taliban was likely to “intensify, expand and further entrench its rights-violating measures on the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls and likely religious and ethnic minorities”.
“The lack of a strong, unified response from the international community has already emboldened the Taliban. We owe it to the people of Afghanistan to not embolden them still further through continued inaction.”
The Taliban seized power in 2021 and since then have passed a raft of laws that have severely stifled the freedoms of women and girls.
These include banning women and girls from most classrooms, singing or speaking outside their homes, as well as from travelling without a male guardian.
Women were also barred from studying medicine in December. Windows in residential buildings have also been banned on the grounds that women could be seen through them.
“Afghanistan is now the epicentre of an institutionalised system of gender-based discrimination, oppression, and domination which amounts to crimes against humanity, including the crime of gender persecution,” Mr. Bennett said, presenting his report.
Mr. Bennett urged States to ensure that any normalization of diplomatic ties with the Taliban should be dependent on demonstrated improvements in human rights.
“We must not allow history to repeat itself,” Mr. Bennett said. “Doing so will have catastrophic consequences in and beyond Afghanistan.”
Independent rights experts are not UN staff, receive no salary for their work and are independent of any organisation or government.
The violence has seen exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants – and the use of bulldozers in refugee camps for the first time in 20 years which have destroyed public services, including vital electricity and water networks.
Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday forces could remain in the camps for the “coming year”.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, said that “fear, uncertainty, and grief once again prevail. Affected camps lie in ruins…Destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing roads and access restrictions are common place.”
More than 50 people including children have been killed since Israeli military raids started five weeks ago, the UN agency said, warning that the West Bank “is becoming a battlefield” where ordinary Palestinians are the first and worst to suffer.
Meanwhile, UN aid coordinating office, OCHA, also condemned the “lethal, war-like tactics” being employed by the Israeli military against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.
OCHA confirmed further civilian casualties and mass displacement after a two-day Israeli military raid in the northern town of Qabatiya in Jenin governorate that ended on Monday.
Palestinians were detained in the operation, OCHA noted, before reiterating deep concerns about the use of excessive force against civilians and the additional humanitarian needs among people left homeless.
UN partners on the ground are doing their utmost to help people uprooted by the violence despite growing “physical and administrative” challenges, OCHA said.
According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), it reached 190,000 people in January with cash assistance and has provided one-off cash assistance to more than 5,000 displaced people from the Jenin refugee camp.
In neighbouring Gaza, UN and its humanitarian partners have continued to scale up food security and livelihood support, while six children reportedly died from the cold.
Needs remain enormous amid desperate humanitarian conditions caused by 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel that left 1,200 dead and some 250 people captured as hostages.
Citing the Gazan health authorities, OCHA said that six children from the Gaza Strip have died in recent days because to the severe cold, bringing to 15 the total number of youngsters killed by the winter conditions.
Meanwhile, more than 800 trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday alone, OCHA said. Since the start of the ceasefire on 19 January, WFP has brought more than 30,000 tonnes of food into Gaza. More than 60 kitchens supported by the UN agency across the Strip have handed out nearly 10 million meals, including in North Gaza and Rafah in the south.
The biggest aid provider in Gaza, UNRWA, has reached nearly 1.3 million people with flour and reached about two million people with food parcels since the start of the ceasefire.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also reported that it has delivered animal feed to northern Gaza for the first time since the escalation of hostilities.
The aid delivery last week has helped 146 families with livestock in Gaza City alongside another 980 in Deir al Balah.
Between the start of the ceasefire and 21 February, FAO distributed more than 570 metric tonnes of animal feed across the Gaza Strip to some 2,300 families with livestock.
OCHA noted in addition that aid partners working in education have identified additional schools in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah that were used as shelters for displaced people. “These schools will be assessed and repaired to prepare for their reopening,” it said.
New food security assessments indicate that 4.4 million people – nearly a quarter of the population – could face “crisis” levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or higher) between April and June 2025, marking a sharp increase from 3.4 million people currently experiencing acute hunger.
“Worsening drought, erratic rainfall and ongoing conflict are eroding livelihoods, pushing families deeper into crisis,” said Etienne Peterschmitt, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Somalia.
The hunger crisis is expected to be most severe among internally displaced persons (IDPs), pastoralists with limited livestock and farming households that have exhausted their food supplies.
Somalia has suffered consecutive climate shocks, with below-average rainfall in late 2024 severely reducing crop yields, depleting water sources and leading to livestock losses. The effects of erratic rainfall and riverine flooding in key agricultural areas – such as Hiraan, Middle Shabelle and Middle Juba –further devastated crops.
As a result, food prices remain high, worsening food insecurity for millions of Somalis already struggling with poverty and conflict-driven displacement.
According to the latest report by the global food security tracker, IPC, 1.7 million children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025, including 466,000 with severe acute malnutrition – an increase of 9 per cent compared to last year.
Nearly two-thirds of these cases are concentrated in southern Somalia, where food insecurity is most extreme.
“Past climate events demonstrate that children are the most affected, facing severe malnourishment and diseases that increase their risk of death and long-term developmental issues,” said Nisar Syed, Officer-in-Charge for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Somalia.
He underscored the need to urgently implement better prevention measures, emphasising a multi-sector approach.
This must combine immediate humanitarian response with long-term investments in resilience and health systems, he added.
Somalia’s food crisis is driven by multiple, overlapping factors: the 2024 Deyr rainy season (October–December) brought below-average rainfall, impacting both agropastoral communities and urban dwellers reliant on local food markets.
The upcoming Gu season (April–June) is also forecast to be drier than normal, raising fears of further crop failures.
At the same time, conflict and insecurity continue to displace families and disrupt livelihoods. Fighting in central and southern Somalia has hindered access to markets and aid, making it harder for affected communities to access food and basic services.
“Recurrent climate shocks, protracted conflict, disease outbreaks and widespread poverty, among other factors, have aggravated the humanitarian crisis in Somalia,” said Crispen Rukasha, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Somalia.
“Aid agencies are doing their best to save lives, but they urgently need adequate funding to meet the most critical needs at this juncture in Somalia,” he stressed.
Droughts are a constant threat in Somalia, in the horn of Africa.
The agencies warned that without swift intervention, the situation could deteriorate to catastrophic levels.
Though they are working to scale up food assistance, nutrition and livelihood support, programmes could be forced to scale down or stop altogether amid “critically low” funding.
The 2025 Somalia Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, which requires $1.42 billion, is currently only 12.4 per cent funded.
“Famine was narrowly avoided in 2022 due to large-scale humanitarian support, which is needed again to provide immediate assistance while implementing longer-term solutions,” said El-Khidir Daloum, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Somalia.
“However, funding shortfalls are forcing us to prioritize and reduce assistance at the worst possible time,” he added, urging greater international support.
The European Ombudsman will open nominations for the fifth edition of the Award for Good Administration this October. The Award ceremony will take place in 2026.
The Award recognises actions by the EU public administration that have a visible and direct positive impact on the lives of citizens. In addition to an overall award winner, a number of category winners are also selected.
The Award will be open to any EU project and any team in any EU institution, agency, or body. Nominations can be made by EU staff, citizens, businesses, associations, and civil society groups.
The overall winner of the last edition of the award in 2023 was Eurojust and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for helping civil society to document war crimes and crimes against humanity.
More information
2023 award winners and ceremony
