Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Haiti, Ukraine, Malawi

Occupied Palestinian Territory

As more than 1.1 million people in Gaza face extreme levels of food insecurity, there is no alternative to the large-scale delivery of aid by land. But despite these urgent and overwhelming needs, hostilities and access impediments continue to hamper our efforts to get life-saving assistance to civilians in Gaza at the scale needed to save lives.

Aid organizations need additional entry points and supply routes into Gaza – and safe and sustained access throughout the Gaza Strip – to reach everyone in need.

This includes access to the north: our colleagues say that between the 16 and 22 March, 9 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, but 5 were denied.

OCHA reports that 15 humanitarian partners reached a daily average of 550,000 people in Gaza with food assistance last week [between 18 and 24 March] – but just three per cent of these supplies went to northern Gaza. More than half was distributed in Rafah Governorate, with the rest going to other areas, including Deir al Balah.

As famine looms – and amid the ongoing bombardment of Gaza – the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the delivery of food, nutrition supplies and medicines must be allowed and accelerated.

In a social media post, he said health facilities must be protected – not attacked – so that health workers can care for patients severely weakened by hunger, illness and injuries.

To continue on the health front, Al Shifa hospital remains besieged for the eleventh day. WHO planned two missions there in the past days, but they were not facilitated by the Israeli authorities. WHO will continue trying to reach Al Shifa to provide the necessary and urgently needed medical supplies.

Lebanon

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, has expressed deep concern over the ongoing attacks on health facilities and workers in the south of the country, stressing that civilians and health care must be protected.

Ten paramedics were among nearly a dozen civilians killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Tyre district yesterday.

WHO in Lebanon has condemned the repeated targeting of health workers, 17 of whom have been killed since October 7th.

Of the 66 civilians reportedly killed in Lebanon over the past six months, nearly 20 per cent were killed in just the past 36 hours, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

The ongoing hostilities also continue to drive displacement, with more than 91,000 people displaced since the escalation of hostilities, as of this Tuesday. That’s according to the International Organization for Migration.

Haiti

The response continues even as the situation remains tense and volatile.

Yesterday, UNICEF condemned an arson attack on a school in Port-au-Prince on 25 March, which is depriving more than 1,000 children of their right to education in that school alone.

Schools in Port-au-Prince are paying a heavy price because of the ongoing violence. UNICEF estimates that more than 1,000 schools have closed or suspended classes due to recent violence and insecurity.

The health sector is also severely affected, with at least half of all health facilities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area either closed or having their operations severely disrupted.

The World Food Programme (WFP) continues its daily hot meal programme for displaced people in Port-au-Prince. Yesterday, WFP reached the largest number people in a single day this month, distributing 22,000 meals. Thanks to local partners, WFP was also able to access 10 new sites for displaced people. Since early March, WFP and its partners have reached more than 54,000 displaced people with more than 263,000 hot meals in 38 sites.

Also, since early March, more than 2 million liters of drinking water have been distributed by our partners, reaching more than 60,000 displaced people in 29 displacement sites.

For its part, UNICEF and its partners have conducted more than 700 medical consultations in displacement sites over the last two weeks. Between 18 and 25 March, UNICEF provided psychosocial support to more than 600 children at displacement sites.

The recent events are curtailing people’s access basic social services. The violence is also hampering aid operations, including access to the port where there are humanitarian supplies which remain at risk of being looted.
We need safe and unhindered access, as well as urgent and flexible funding.

The Humanitarian Response Plan, calling for $674 million, is currently only 6.6 per cent funded, with $45 million received.

Ukraine

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, strongly condemned yesterday’s attacks in cities in the northeast and the south of the country killing and injuring civilians, including small children. Homes, a school and a hospital were also damaged in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.

Also yesterday, another wave of attacks resulted in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. The Kharkiv Region was most affected, with local authorities reporting scores of casualties, as well as damage to schools and health facilities.  

Aid workers mobilized emergency support in Kharkiv to complement the efforts of first responders and municipal services. They delivered food, provided psychological support and distributed warm blankets, sleeping bags and shelter materials.

These latest strikes come after a week of daily attacks on cities across Ukraine, which have taken the lives of people and severely impacted vital services, according to local authorities.

Malawi

The UN and our partners are supporting the Government respond to severe drought, which has prompted national authorities to declare a state of emergency in 23 of the country’s 28 districts.

Nearly two million farming families – that’s almost nine million people – and more than 40 per cent of the country’s agricultural land has been affected by El Niño conditions, with inadequate rains and prolonged dry spells – as well as flooding – severely damaging crops and food production. That’s according to Government figures.

The humanitarian community in Malawi is scaling up emergency assistance – including food and nutrition supplies, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene support. They are also providing health, protection, education and livelihood assistance, despite limited funding.

Malawi is experiencing a food security crisis as several countries in southern Africa grapple with the effects of a severe drought. Last month marked one of the driest Februarys in the region in more than four decades, leading to widespread crop failures in some areas.