In a statement, UNICEF identified the latest victim as seven-year-old Ata Mai; he drowned on December 27 during “severe flooding” in an improvised camp for displaced people in Soudaniyeh, northwest of Gaza City.

He is just the latest child in Gaza to succumb to “extreme winter conditions and lack of safe shelter”, said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Teams visiting IDP camps have reported appalling conditions that no child should have to endure, with many tents destroyed by wind or completely collapsing. » he said.

Desperate search

Reports indicate that Ata was living in a camp of around 40 tents when he disappeared one afternoon. Despite search and rescue efforts supported by heavy machinery, his body was not found until hours later.

The UN agency noted that Ata’s siblings “are all under 10 years old…the family had already endured the loss of their mother during the war. UNICEF is currently supporting the family with essential assistance, including blankets, tarpaulins and psychosocial support, while assessing their broader needs.”

Besides Ata Mai, at least five other children have lost their lives this month “after being exposed to such harsh conditions,” Beigbeder said.

Across the Gaza Strip, shelter needs are dire, with more than 1.9 million people displaced and few shelter supplies entering the enclave. Specifically, displaced families sheltering in dilapidated tents or makeshift shelters faced prolonged rains, strong winds and freezing temperatures. Humanitarian teams have repeatedly reported the dangers facing undernourished young people and other vulnerable Gaza residents, whose tents have been repeatedly flooded.

In a update released Tuesday, the UN aid coordination office, OCHAconfirmed flash flooding caused by further rainstorms, “affecting people living in low-lying areas, coastal areas and those sheltering in substandard structures and tents.”

“Seawater has once again flooded tents sheltering displaced families, notably in the Al Mawasi neighborhood of Khan Younis, rendering many shelters uninhabitable,” the update noted.

The rains forced many families, often uprooted by the war, to settle on higher ground after their belongings were soaked.

Strong winds worsened the situation, destroying or seriously damaging many tents and makeshift shelters, OCHA said.

Shelter solutions remain elusive and since the beginning of December, 18 residential buildings “have completely collapsed, resulting in significant human and material losses,” according to the agency’s update.

More than 110 additional buildings suffered dangerous partial damage, posing an immediate threat to thousands of residents in and near them.

“This tragedy highlights the extreme vulnerability of children in the hardest-hit areas of Gaza, where the near-total destruction of homes and water and sewage infrastructure has left families exposed to the elements,” UNICEF said.

This development comes after a week of heavy rains, strong winds and freezing temperatures which affected around 100,000 families.

With further rain and colder conditions forecast, the situation is expected to get worse.

We continue to save lives

Working alongside humanitarian partners, UNICEF is providing essential support to thousands of affected families. This vital work includes:

• install temporary water pipes,
• distribute hygiene items, tarpaulins, blankets and dignity kits,
• ensure access to latrines,
• work to clean and reopen sewer lines, clean storm water inlets, and protect tents from flooding.

UNICEF warned that heavy rains are worsening the situation by increasing fuel needs for sewage pumping and stormwater drainage. Water levels in Sheikh Radwan Lagoon rose from 1.8 to 2.2 meters, requiring 7,000 liters of fuel per day to prevent overflows.

Threat of suspension of INGOs

Since January 1, 37 international humanitarian groups – international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) – are at risk of losing their licenses allowing them to operate across Gaza. They include major and key UN partners, including the Norwegian Refugee Council and others who have full responsibility for the five vital nutritional stabilization centers that treat children suffering from acute malnutrition.

“If INGOs are forced to stop their operations, one in three health facilities in Gaza will close their doors. » The UN and its partners in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said earlier this month.

In a statement, they insisted that the new INGO registration system “fundamentally undermines the continuation of humanitarian operations throughout the OPT”.

The new system “relies on vague, arbitrary and highly politicized criteria and imposes demands that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising fundamental humanitarian principles,” the humanitarian agencies continued.

Unless Israel reconsiders its decision, dozens of INGOs face delisting by Wednesday, December 31, 2025, followed by the forced closure of their operations within 60 days.

“The work of INGOs cannot be replaced, especially after the restrictions imposed by Israel UNRWA have already pushed the humanitarian response in Gaza to a breaking point,” they said, referring to the UN agency for the Palestinians, which, despite Israeli restrictions, continues to provide essential humanitarian services to more than two million Palestinians in the OPT.

The budget – approved Tuesday by the 193 members of the General Assembly – authorizes $3.45 billion for the coming year, covering the Organization’s three main pillars of work: peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.

The budget largely reflects the Secretary-General’s proposed reduction of 15 percent in financial resources and almost 19 percent in staffing levels.

The regular budget funds the core activities of the UN, including political affairs, international justice and law, regional development cooperation, human rights, humanitarian affairs and public information.

It is separate from the budget for UN peacekeeping operations, which operates on a budget cycle from July 1 to June 30, while the regular budget follows the calendar year.

Consensus after intense negotiations

Addressing delegates as the Fifth Committee – the Assembly’s principal administrative and budgetary body – concluded negotiations, UN Comptroller Chandramouli Ramanathan praised the Committee for leading a complex and compressed process to its timely conclusion.

“It has been a year of challenges,” he said, noting that the Secretariat had been tasked with assembling a comprehensive budget in less than six weeks, producing hundreds of tables and answering thousands of questions from oversight bodies and Member States.

He stressed that, despite often difficult negotiations, the Committee had once again reached an agreement by consensus, characteristic of the budget process. “This is something remarkable that should not be underestimated,” he told delegates.

The challenges ahead

Looking ahead, the Comptroller warned that adoption of the budget marks the beginning – not the end – of a demanding implementation phase.

By January 1, 2026, he said, 2,900 positions will be eliminated, while more than 1,000 staff departures have already been finalized, which will require careful management to ensure that affected staff continue to receive their salaries and benefits during the transition.

Mr Ramanathan also welcomed what he described as a record level of potential advances from Member States for the 2026 budget and called for continued prompt payment of assessed contributions.

Years of conflict, compounded by worsening food insecurity, recurring natural disasters, the impacts of climate change and mass returns of displaced people, have left around 45 percent of the population – or some 21.9 million people – in need of humanitarian assistance next year.

Among them, 17.5 million people – more than three-quarters of whom are women and children – received priority support as part of the coordinated response.

Basic nutrition and hygiene

Food security and sanitation remain among the most urgent needs.

THE Humanitarian needs and response plan in Afghanistan projects that during the 2025-2026 lean season, more than a third of the Afghan population will face crisis level or worse food insecurity, as defined by the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC).

This means that many households will only be able to meet their minimum food needs by depleting their essential livelihoods – a sharp deterioration from the previous year.

The current drought has also led to the loss of almost 80 percent of rainfed wheat crops in several regions, leaving many families without food stocks for the winter.

Sanitary conditions are equally dire: an estimated 25 percent of households relied on unimproved water sources this year, while 37 percent lacked soap for basic hygiene.

The response will prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene needs in areas most affected by drought, cholera outbreaks, disasters and large-scale returns.

Returning home in case of crisis

Afghanistan faces one of the largest and fastest growing returnee displacement crises in the world, with an estimated five million people returning to the country this year.

More than 2.6 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan, largely due to tougher migration policies and deteriorating protection conditions.

Many returned to districts already struggling with poverty, food insecurity, drought and limited access to basic services, further straining local capacities.

More help for less

In 2026, humanitarian partners aim to reach more people with fewer resources.

The $1.71 billion required represents a 29 percent reduction from the resources needed in 2025. Still, it aims to be about 4 percent higher than last year’s target.

These changes were “driven by more precise prioritization, notable efficiency gains and a strategic move away from costly and less sustainable interventions,” notes the response plan.

This surge comes against the backdrop of an escalating conflict in eastern DRC, where renewed fighting has triggered mass displacement, eroded protection systems and worsened an already grave humanitarian crisis – putting children at increased risk of abuse, exploitation and lasting trauma.

UNICEF has called repeatedly for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access, emphasizing that conflict-driven displacement and poverty fuel violence against children across the country.

“Hidden scars”

THE report,The hidden scars of conflict and silence, documents cases in every province, highlighting that the crisis extends far beyond the active front lines. The highest figures are recorded in the conflict-affected eastern provinces – notably North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri – where insecurity, displacement and weak protection services leave children extremely vulnerable.

Significant figures are also reported in Kinshasa and the Kasai regions, where poverty, food insecurity and school dropout rates increase exposure to exploitation, early marriage and abuse.

National figures compiled by child protection and gender-based violence providers show that more than 35,000 cases of sexual violence against children were recorded in the first nine months of 2025 alone. In 2024, almost 45,000 cases were documented – almost three times more than in 2022 – representing almost 40% of all cases of sexual violence reported in the country.

UNICEF warns that the real toll is likely much higher, as fear, stigma, insecurity and limited access to services prevent many survivors from reporting abuse.

Resilience must shape the response

The report centers survivors’ testimonies and data, emphasizing that each statistic represents a child whose life has been profoundly altered by violence.

Survivors describe shame, isolation and fractured self-esteem, while also expressing their determination to regain dignity and hope. Their testimonies, collected by social workers in several provinces, illustrate both the scale of the crisis and the resilience of those affected – a resilience that UNICEF says must shape the response.

“Social workers describe mothers walking for hours to clinics with daughters who can no longer walk after being assaulted” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF. “Families say fear of stigma and retaliation often prevents them from reporting abuse. Stories like these are repeated across provinces, revealing a deep-rooted crisis fueled by insecurity, inequality and weak support systems.”

Adolescent girls account for the largest and fastest share of reported cases, although boys are also victims of sexual violence and remain significantly underrepresented due to stigma and underreporting. Children with disabilities face increased risks as physical, social and communication barriers increase vulnerability and restrict access to care and justice.

Children express themselves

The scale of the crisis is increasingly reflected in the words of children.

“My role is not in armed conflict,” wrote a child from the DRC in a message to world leaders across the Prove It Matters campaignled by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and armed conflict.

As 2025 draws to a close, UN Special Representative Vanessa Frazier warned that children in the DRC and other conflict contexts face extreme levels of abuse throughout the year.

She pointed out that 2024 was already the worst year on record since the mandate was created almost 30 years ago, warning that such harm must not become the new normal. In her statement, she cited the DRC, alongside Gaza, Haiti, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Ukraine, as contexts where children continued to experience “appalling levels of grave violations in 2025.”

“We cannot change 2025”

“We cannot change the year 2025, but we can act and be resolute to change the situation for children affected by armed conflict in 2026,” Ms. Frazier said.

She called on leaders to listen to children, respect international law, end violations, release children associated with armed groups and strengthen funding for child protection, justice and long-term recovery.

Funding cuts add to risk

Although UNICEF and its partners expanded their assistance between 2022 and 2024 – reaching more than 24,200 children in the worst-affected provinces last year – insecurity and global budget cuts have forced many safe spaces, mobile clinics and community protection programs to scale back or close.

By mid-2025, only 23 percent of gender-based violence interventions were funded, compared to 48 percent in 2022, putting hundreds of thousands of children at risk of losing essential services, including an estimated 300,000 children in conflict zones in the east.

“A protected child is a secure future,” another conflict-affected child told world leaders as part of the Prove It Matters campaign.

The war, which broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), devastated civilian infrastructure, destroyed basic services and triggered one of the world’s largest displacement crises.

A nutritional survey conducted this month in the town of Um Baru in Sudan’s North Darfur state – one of the areas worst affected by fighting – found that more than half of children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition.

These are among the highest rates ever recorded in a standardized emergency assessment, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said, warning that without urgent and unhindered humanitarian access, children are at immediate risk of death from preventable causes.

The survey examined nearly 500 children and found acute malnutrition rates of 53 percent, more than three times the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold. Eighteen percent of the children suffered from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening illness that can kill within weeks if left untreated.

“When severe acute malnutrition reaches this level, time becomes the most critical factor,» said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF. “The children of Um Baru are fighting for their lives and need immediate help.»

El Fasher’s movements fuel the crisis

North Darfur has become the epicenter of Sudan’s food crisis following intensifying fighting in and around El Fasher, the state capital and last major government stronghold in the region, which fell in October after more than 500 days of siege.

Many families currently sheltered in Um Baru are newly displaced people, having fled El Fasher and its surrounding areas since October.

UNICEF said many displaced children have not been able to benefit from routine vaccinations, particularly against measles, making them very vulnerable to the disease.. The survey also recorded crude emergency mortality rates, highlighting the deadly convergence of hunger, disease and lack of basic services.

Although vital supplies such as ready-to-use therapeutic foods have been prepositioned, UNICEF stressed that nutritional treatment alone is insufficient. Holistic health and nutrition services are urgently needed given the scale of the emergency, the agency said.

A child is screened for malnutrition at a UNICEF-supported nutrition center in North Darfur, Sudan, December 2025. The color red signifies severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

Access remains severely restricted

Humanitarian access remains one of the biggest obstacles.

On December 26, after lengthy negotiations, a UN team conducted its first security assessment in El Fasher since the siege began, spending several hours visiting the Saudi hospital and speaking with residents trapped in the city.

UN staff reported a severe lack of basic supplies and services.

Humanitarian convoys carrying food and medical aid have been prevented from entering El Fasher for months, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee while those who remain face extreme deprivation.

Refugee flows to Chad continue

As conditions deteriorate, movement outside Sudan’s borders is accelerating.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that nearly 19,400 Sudanese refugees have crossed the border into eastern Chad since attacks intensified around El Fasher in late October.

Women and children make up 87 percent of new arrivalsMany arrive at the border exhausted and traumatized after fleeing violence, sexual abuse and extortion. Since the end of October, more than 2,700 unaccompanied or separated children and more than 1,100 people with disabilities have been registered.

Despite insecurity and movement restrictions along main roads, an average of around 250 refugees per day have entered Chad in recent weeks. UNHCR warned that cross-border movements expected to continue as fighting, economic collapse and protection risks intensify.

A recent security incident at the Tiné border post – where a Sudanese army drone struck a position held by Chadian troops – briefly forced the suspension of humanitarian activities, highlighting the unstable conditions under which aid is delivered.