HIGHLIGHTS OF THE U.N. SYSTEM,
TUESDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2024

SUDAN 
Four months after famine was first confirmed in Zamzam camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state, more areas in North Darfur and the Western Nuba mountains have been identified as experiencing famine conditions, as access to food and nutrition for millions of people across the country continues to deteriorate, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO,) World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.   
The latest Famine Review Committee (FRC) report and new projections from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) identify famine with reliable data in at least five areas of Sudan – Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps in North Darfur, and in the Western Nuba Mountains for both residents and internally displaced persons (IDPs).  
Famine is projected in five additional areas between December 2024 and May 2025 – Um Kadadah, Melit, El Fasher, At Tawisha and Al Lait in North Darfur. The report also highlights the risk of famine across 17 more areas during the same period.  
More than 24.6 million people across Sudan—more than half of the population analyzed—are now experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above.) This includes 8.1 million in Emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4) and at least 638,000 people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe.)  
These findings mark an alarming escalation of hunger and malnutrition during what is typically the harvest season, when food availability should be at its highest. The FRC’s classification of increasing hunger in such a season indicates that the harvest is not reaching everywhere given the continued conflict that limits markets and movement of goods.  
Without immediate, unhindered humanitarian access and urgent international support, famine risks spreading further in 2025, threatening the lives of millions of people, mainly children, and exacerbating what is already one of the world’s most severe food crises.  
The next hunger season is projected to begin well before the upcoming rains – the period between harvests when food insecurity typically rises - with humanitarian access hindered by both man-made blockages and logistical challenges. Immediate action to preposition supply stocks is critical to preventing human suffering on an unprecedented scale.   
Furthermore, areas of intense conflict, including parts of Khartoum and Al Jazeera, may already be experiencing famine conditions (IPC Phase 5). However, a lack of reliable or recent data from these areas makes it impossible to confirm. This underscores the urgent need for further assessments to confirm the extent of the crisis and provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance.  
The agencies urge the international community to prioritize funding for humanitarian efforts and leverage diplomatic channels to secure a ceasefire and unrestricted access. It is imperative that all parties to the conflict ensure safe, immediate, unhindered access to areas classified as IPC Phase 3 and above. Without immediate action, Sudan’s crisis threatens to escalate further in 2025, with millions more at risk.  
UNICEF, WFP, and FAO continue to ramp up their humanitarian response in Sudan, focusing on high-risk areas with integrated health, nutrition, WASH, social protection and food security interventions.

SUDAN/LIBYA 
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) calls for strengthened financial support to address the rising needs of Sudanese refugees arriving in Libya, as numbers increase and temperatures cool.  
Since the start of the year, the number of Sudanese refugees seeking safety in Libya has doubled, with an estimated 400 arrivals in the country daily.  The Sudan crisis has driven large-scale displacement across the region, with 8.4 million people internally displaced in Sudan and 3.1 million Sudanese refugees in neighbouringcountries, including an estimated 210,000 in Libya.  
UNHCR is present in Alkufra, the main entry point from Sudan, providing assistance to refugees in support of the local authorities and host communities. This includes strengthening access to healthcare, improving living conditions through the distribution of relief supplies, and strengthening access to documentation provided by local authorities to improve freedom of movement and protection.  
UNHCR has scaled up its response to address the rapidly growing needs of those newly arrived. Some 60,000 refugees have received critical relief items including mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, solar lamps and personal hygiene kits. Additionally, UNHCR has supported 16 clinics in Alkufra, Benghazi and Tripoli with critical medicine and medical supplies, rehabilitated several schools and hospitals, and engaged directly with the Sudanese refugees in the country to identify and address their specific needs.  
With more refugees arriving every day from Sudan and resources overstretched, UNHCR calls on the international community to extend critical support to Libya’s humanitarian efforts to assist Sudanese refugees. This will be essential to expanding activities across Libya, especially support to health centres in Alkufra, and improved living conditions and assistance to meet the needs of the most at-risk refugees.  
UNHCR is leading the interagency response to the Sudanese crisis in Libya. As part of that response, UNHCR is seeking $22 million to respond to the estimated needs of 449,000 refugees and host communities by the end of 2025.  
 
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that attacks on hospitals in the North Gaza governorate in recent days are having a devastating impact on civilians who remain in besieged areas. OCHA is deeply concerned by reports that the Israeli military entered the Indonesian Hospital in North Gaza today, forcing its evacuation. In recent days, attacks have also been reported in and around Al Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals, the two other facilities that are still minimally functioning in North Gaza. 
Meanwhile, the Israeli siege on Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and parts of Jabalya, in North Gaza governorate, continues for a 79th straight day. The UN and our partners have been pushing to access the area on a daily basis in order to provide support to thousands of people who remain there in dire conditions. 
However, so far in December, the Israeli authorities have rejected 48 of 52 UN attempts to coordinate humanitarian access to besieged areas of the north. 
Although four humanitarian movements were initially approved, they faced impediments. Since the intensification of Israeli military operations in North Gaza on 6 October 2024, none of the UN-coordinated attempts to access the area have been fully facilitated. 
OCHA notes that across the Gaza Strip, just 40 per cent of requests for humanitarian movements requiring coordination with the Israeli authorities have been facilitated this month. 
Meanwhile, new estimates by the UN and its partners suggest that at least 5,000 households were staying in an area of eastern Gaza city that was subject to a new Israeli evacuation order yesterday. In the wake of that directive, a few hundred families were observed moving west. Overall, some 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip's territory is under active evacuation orders. 
In central and southern Gaza, a new assessment by partners working to mitigate hunger in Gaza found that during the first half of December, bread and pulses dominated households’ diets for the third month in a row, with other types of food mostly absent. They report that 90 per cent of families experienced a further reduction in access to food compared to November amid reduced availability and skyrocketing prices. 
As of mid-December, the UN and partners have distributed 420,000 cooked meals each day in central and southern Gaza, where an estimated 1.7 million people are currently staying. 
 
SYRIA 
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the UN and partners continue to scale up the response in Syria, as security and logistical conditions permit. Although the security situation remains volatile and varied across the country, the humanitarian community is doing all it can to support the people in Syria at this critical juncture. 
As of 20 December, partners report that more than 720,000 people have been newly displaced since the escalation of hostilities in Syria on 27 November. Meanwhile, more than 420,000 displaced people have returned to their communities, mostly to Hama and Aleppo governorates. 
Explosive ordnance contamination remains a significant threat to civilians moving between former areas of control. On Sunday, incidents involving unexploded ordnance resulted in multiple casualties – with children among the injured – in Dar’a governorate, while incidents in Little Orm village in Aleppo governorate wounded eight children. Partners are working around the clock across the country to identify, mark and clear unexploded ordnance contamination. 
While bread production and distribution have generally normalized in most Syrian cities, some areas continue to face significant shortages. A limited number of bakeries are operational in Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor and Homs, which has caused shortfalls in bread production in these governorates. 
Syria’s health system remains overwhelmed by a surge in patients, as well as shortages of medical supplies and health personnel. Partners also report that access to mental health support remains inadequate, despite high levels of psychological distress and trauma, particularly among children. 
 
MOZAMBIQUE 
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the UN and partners today launched the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Mozambique, as well as a Flash Appeal for Cyclone Chido. The Flash Appeal requires $88 million to scale up humanitarian operations to meet the most immediate and pressing needs of 320,000 people directly impacted by Chido. 
OCHA notes that the cyclone caused widespread destruction to infrastructure, with more than 70,000 homes destroyed and over 32,000 homes damaged, according to the National Institute for Disaster Management. More than 50 health units have also been damaged, severely limiting people’s access to routine and emergency medical care across affected districts. 
So far, the UN and partners – in close collaboration with the Government – have assisted more than 63,000 people with humanitarian supplies, including food, shelter and healthcare. However, the scale and scope of Cyclone Chido’s devastation has overwhelmed the existing capacity of humanitarian agencies, which are coping with already stretched resources. Additional funding for the response is urgently needed.  
The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Mozambique calls for $352 million to address the impacts of the ongoing conflict as well as the projected effects of climate change in Mozambique during the 2024-2025 rainy season.