Representatives from UNHCR, UNDP, ICRC, and WHO provided updates on various issues, including the prolonged uncertainty and exile for millions displaced by the third year of the Ukraine war, the socio-economic impact of the war and a new UNDP report on MSMEs, ICRC's work with missing persons in the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and updates on the global measles situation and Gaza from WHO.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has issued a rare public statement calling for a "pause" in the fighting in Gaza, as Israeli authorities have ordered the population to leave their homes without ensuring access to basic necessities like food and water. The ICRC emphasizes that international humanitarian law protects all civilians, including those who remain in Gaza, and expresses concern for the safety of its colleagues in the region. They stress the need for humanitarian organizations to be able to increase aid operations and provide life-saving relief to the people of Gaza.
Humanitarian aid convoys are en route to Nagorno-Karabakh under a new agreement with Azerbaijan, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sending its first shipment of food and fuel to the region. The delivery comes amid warnings of a growing humanitarian crisis and reports of mass displacements. Azerbaijan has called for the local leadership to disband and for residents to accept governance as part of Azerbaijan or leave. Concerns remain about the fate of tens of thousands of trapped civilians, with local officials warning of "ethnic cleansing." The question now is whether these goodwill gestures will lead to a more permanent solution and sustained access to the region.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that hundreds of missing Ukrainians are being held in Russian captivity, according to Oleksandr Vlasenko, the spokesman for ICRC in Ukraine. The information was received from the Russian National Information Bureau. The ICRC can only demand access to a person after their status as a prisoner of war is confirmed, and they have no coercive tools to apply. Public organizations claim that over 10,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war are held in Russian prisons.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has evacuated 280 children from a Khartoum orphanage affected by heavy combat in Sudan's capital. The children, who have had no access to proper healthcare since fighting broke out on April 15, were transferred to the custody of the Sudanese ministry of social development. The orphanage had housed about 400 children before the conflict started, and dozens of babies had died there since the war began due to dehydration and malnutrition. UNICEF is calling for US$838 million to address the crisis, with almost 14 million children in urgent need of lifesaving humanitarian support in Sudan.
