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international rescue committee
IRC Warns of 'Surging Crises and Shrinking Support' as Sudan, Palestine Top 2026 Watchlist
"The New World Disorder is here," said the head of the International Rescue Committee. "The question is whether to respond with vision, an opportunity for reinvention—or with further retreat," said the head of the International Rescue Committee.
Dec 16, 2025
The International Rescue Committee on Tuesday released its annual humanitarian crisis forecast, along with a stark warning that civilians in the countries on its watchlist "are on the front lines of a disintegrating international order and global action is needed to reverse course."
Sudan, Palestine, and South Sudan topped IRC's Emergency Watchlist for 2026, followed by Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Burkina Faso, and Lebanon. Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen also made the list.
People in some of those countries—including Sudan, Palestine, and Myanmar—are enduring genocidal violence and privation, while nearly all of the other nations on the list are experiencing war or other unrest. Some are also ravaged by climate-driven extreme weather, hunger, and other crises.
"This year’s watchlist identifies a dangerous divergence: surging crises and shrinking support," IRC said on Tuesday. "Home to just 12% of the global population, watchlist countries account for 89% of those in humanitarian need and are projected to host more than half of the world’s extreme poor by 2029."
IRC noted that "117 million people are forcibly displaced" and "nearly 40 million people are facing such severe hunger" in the watchlist countries.
"While crises grow, global humanitarian funding has shrunk by 50%," the group said. "What remains is a humanitarian system underfunded, undercut, and unprepared to meet unprecedented humanitarian crises in 2026."
The world has retreated from humanitarian aid—but violence, hunger and climate threats haven't slowed down. We must not forget about the people for whom crisis is a daily reality. This is our 2026 Emergency Watchlist: www.rescue.org/watchlist2026
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— International Rescue Committee (@rescue.org) December 16, 2025 at 6:28 AM
IRC continued:
This “New World Disorder” is replacing the post-WWII international system once grounded in rules and rights. Defined by intensifying geopolitical rivalries, shifting alliances, and transactional deal-making, this disorder is driving a cascade of crises and eroding global support for the world’s most vulnerable. Global cooperation is unraveling; together with major aid cuts, the [United Nations] Security Council has seen a surge in vetoes, stalling responses to atrocities in Sudan, Syria, and the occupied Palestinian territory. Conflict is increasingly used as a tool for power and profit. In Sudan, warring parties and their backers are profiting from the gold trade, deepening violence and devastating civilians. Meanwhile, impunity is enabled on a dangerous scale. 2025 is on track to be the deadliest year for humanitarians. Attacks on schools have risen nearly 50%, and in Gaza, hospitals, shelters, and essential infrastructure have been bombed or cut off from aid.
“What the IRC is seeing on the ground is not a tragic accident. The world is not simply failing to respond to crisis; actions and words are producing, prolonging, and rewarding it," IRC president and CEO David Miliband said Tuesday in a statement. "The scale of the crisis in Sudan, ranking first on this year’s watchlist for the third year in a row and now the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded, is a signature of this disorder."
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces—a paramilitary militia born from the Janjaweed co-perpetrators of the first Darfur genocide—continues, with all warring parties, especially the RSF, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to human rights groups. The conflict in Sudan has fueled one of the world’s most acute humanitarian catastrophes, with more than 12 million people displaced and famine confirmed in Darfur's largest refuge camp last year. More than 20 million people are facing acute hunger.
In order to respond more efficiently to global humanitarian crises, IRC recommends:
- Reinvigorating diplomacy, including by empowering the UN to collectively address global challenges by supporting the suspension of Security Council veto power in cases of mass atrocities;
- Protecting civilians and fighting impunity, including by withholding arms sales when violations occur or are at risk of occurring and supporting UN accountability mechanisms; and
- Improving the allocation and delivery of aid, including by reorganizing allocation, prioritizing most vulnerable populations when planning climate adaptation finance, and expanding donor bases.
“This year’s watchlist is a testament to misery but also a warning: Without urgent action from those with power to make a difference, 2026 risks becoming the most dangerous year yet," Miliband said.
That urgent action won't be coming from the United States, where the Trump administration has dramatically slashed international humanitarian assistance despite warnings that such cuts would cause millions of deaths. One of many examples stands out for sheer crassness: As South Sudanese babies and others died of cholera following the closure of local health clinics, US officials celebrated successfully slashing aid budgets and services with congratulations and cake, according to a report published Monday by ProPublica.
"Civilians in watchlist countries are paying the price today. The IRC stands with them to deliver practical solutions that save lives and restore hope," said Miliband. "But the New World Disorder is here, and winds are picking up everywhere. Disorder begets disorder. The question is whether to respond with vision, an opportunity for reinvention—or with further retreat.”
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Israeli Assault Has Left 50,000+ Gaza Kids Orphaned or Separated From Parents: Report
"In Gaza, children are the most vulnerable group, and their basic needs, especially their sense of safety, have become non-existent," said one relief worker.
Oct 09, 2024
The International Rescue Committee said Wednesday that the number of children who have been orphaned or separated from their parents is likely three times higher than the amount estimated by the United Nations earlier this year, with thousands of children caught up in the chaos of escalating Israeli attacks and evacuation orders in recent months.
Official estimates of orphaned or unaccompanied children range from about 17,000-19,000, but the IRC said that "based on previous experience of other crises," the number is likely as high as 51,000.
The IRC said that the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) continued assault on Gaza, where it has repeatedly attacked civilian infrastructure and so-called "humanitarian zones"—in many cases with U.S. weapons—risks creating a "forgotten generation."
The group's report came out as IDF attacks on northern Gaza entered their fifth day, forcing thousands of people to flee to the supposed safe zone of Al-Mawasi, which has been targeted repeatedly by Israel in recent months. Dozens of people have been killed in the IDF's recent escalation in the north.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also reported that at least seven schools being used as shelters for displaced people had been evacuated due to Israeli attacks.
Along with evacuations, the arrests of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza have exacerbated the rise in the number of unaccompanied children, said the IRC.
The group said its humanitarian workers have encountered children living alone in hospitals and that unaccompanied and orphaned children are at high risk for exploitation, child labor, and starvation, especially as Gaza's entire population of 2.3 million people faces acute food insecurity.
"In Gaza, children are the most vulnerable group, and their basic needs, especially their sense of safety, have become non-existent," said Faten Abu Mousa, child protection manager for the IRC in Gaza.
"Children in Gaza cannot wait any longer, prolonged restrictions on humanitarian aid and continued fighting means that a generation of children will now experience life-long health and developmental issues."
The group said it has partially focused its work on providing mental health and other support services to children, especially those who have lost or been separated from their parents or caregivers.
Even before Israel's latest escalation in Gaza, which passed the one-year mark on Monday, at least half a million children in the enclave were in need of mental health and psycho-social support, said the IRC.
"Now, the burden of witnessing profoundly distressing events, multiple displacements, and lack of safety means that every child, parent, and caregiver in Gaza is experiencing trauma, which could require long-term mental health and psycho-social support," said the organization.
The IRC warned that its aid teams have seen "increased rates of severe and acute malnutrition in children under five" across Gaza with humanitarian operations in northern Gaza "severely restricted" due to the current wave of attacks.
"Even if a child survives acute malnutrition, they will often face long-term health impacts, and require lifelong support," said the group, warning of the risk of stunting—when a child's growth and cognitive development are behind for their age—and wasting, when a child's weight is too low for their height due to rapid weight loss from lack of nutrition.
"In these cases, the child's risk of death is more than 11 times higher than that of a healthy child especially because their weakened bodies are not able to fight off common diseases," said the IRC.
Children across the enclave have also missed an entire of year of schooling, and the trauma and destruction of Israel's bombardment is likely to set back children's education for up to five years in Gaza, where education and high literacy rates have long been a source of pride.
"Children are bearing the brunt of this war, and it's clear that without an immediate and lasting cease-fire in sight, the long-term impacts will only become greater," said Bart Witteveen, IRC country director for the occupied Palestinian territory. "The international community must act immediately to safeguard children, not just in the immediate term, but also taking into account their long-term health needs, whether related to mental health, healthcare, or education. Children in Gaza cannot wait any longer, prolonged restrictions on humanitarian aid and continued fighting means that a generation of children will now experience life-long health and developmental issues."
Humanitarian groups have called for a lasting cease-fire in Gaza for a year, but the conflict has spread to other parts of the Middle East in recent weeks, with Israel invading Lebanon last month and killing more than 2,100 people there in recent attacks, Iran retaliating against Israel last week, and some U.S. lawmakers pushing for an attack on Iran.
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UNRWA Says There Is 'Nowhere to Go' as Israel Orders Evacuation of Gaza Safe Zones
"People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale," the U.N. agency wrote on social media.
Aug 16, 2024
Following a series of evacuation orders this week, Israeli forces issued another on Friday for areas in central and southern Gaza, including "safe zones," leaving Palestinian families gripped with fear and with "nowhere to go," according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Israel's Arabic spokesperson announced on social media that people in six neighborhood blocks in various towns, several of which were part of a proclaimed humanitarian zone, must "immediately move," leading to a scramble of evacuations in those areas.
"Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go," UNRWA wrote on social media. "People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale."
#Gaza: New evacuation orders have been issued by Israeli authorities, even inside the so-called “humanitarian zone”.
Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go. People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale. pic.twitter.com/Myi6z6Ix87
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 16, 2024
Friday's evacuation orders were for areas in eastern Deir el-Balah, al-Qarara, al-Mawasi, al-Jalaa, Hamad City, and Nasser, Al Jazeera reported.
An Israeli military strike on al-Mawasi, previously a humanitarian zone though long the target of Israeli strikes, killed four Palestinians including three children, the news outlet reported on Friday.
The Israeli army said Hamas had used the areas to fire mortar and rocket attacks, and explained that it had issued warning flyers and text message alerts to reduce the impact on the Palestinian civilian population, according to Reuters.
Bombings and evacuations have continued this week—at least 80 Palestinians were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter on Sunday—even as peace talks proceeded in Doha, Qatar. A two-day session of talks finished Friday, with the United States, Egypt, and Qatar saying progress was made and they hoped to seal a deal between Israel and Hamas next week. Hamas didn't directly participate in this week's talks because the militant Palestinian group said Israel had added new demands to a proposal it had already agreed to in principle.
The death toll of Palestinians during the 10-month war, based on figures from Gaza's health ministry, reached 40,000 this week—what the U.N. called a "dark milestone."
"Most of the dead are women and children," U.N. rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement. "This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war."
"On average, about 130 people have been killed every day in Gaza over the past 10 months," he added, saying the "scale of the Israeli military's destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, and places of worship [is] deeply shocking."
Türk said that both Israel and armed Palestinian groups including Hamas had committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. The armed Palestinian groups killed more than 1,100 Israelis in a shocking and horrifying massacre in southern Israel on October 7 in which they also took some 250 hostages.
Israel's sustained assault on Gaza over the last 10 months has not only killed a disproportionate number of children but also displaced most of those who've survived—and separated many from their families.
A report released Friday by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) documents the scale of the separation crisis and its psychological toll on unaccompanied children. UNICEF estimates that roughly 17,000 Gazan children are unaccompanied, but the IRC warns that the real figure may be much higher.
Unaccompanied youth are at risk of labor exploitation, starvation, and mental health problems that can plague them for the rest of their lives. Gazan children, shocked by the war, are "clinging to others during loud sounds, wetting the bed, having nightmares, and are wanting to sleep under the bed to feel secure," the report says.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Israeli strikes were leaving "children without parents and parents without children," and has previously reported that the war has wiped out entire Palestinian extended families.
Israeli violence against Palestinians has not been restricted to Gaza. Israeli settlers attacked the West Bank town of Jit on Thursday night, setting fire to cars and houses, killing one Palestinian man and seriously injuring another. Jack Lew, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said he was "appalled" by the attack and the perpetrators should be held accountable, but Israeli human rights group B'Tselem responded on social media by saying that the Israeli state and its leadership should be held accountable.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Wednesday reported that it had recorded about 1,250 settler attacks on Palestinians since October 7. The settlements are illegal under international law, according to the International Court of Justice.
The push for a peace deal is aimed not just at ending the carnage in Gaza and defusing West Bank tensions but also preventing a wider war in the Middle East. Israel is bracing for retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah after it conducted assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Tehran and Beirut in late July.
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