UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has said it is “deeply alarmed” by the worsening humanitarian situation in Burundi, which has reached a crisis point following a rapid influx of refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing a new wave of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

Since early December, over 84,000 Congolese have crossed into neighbouring Burundi, fleeing escalating clashes in DRC’s South Kivu region where M-23 militias continue to make major inroads against government forces. Congolese refugees and asylum-seekers in Burundi now number more than 200,000m, said UNHCR’s Representative in Burundi, Brigitte Mukanga-Eno.

Thousands of people crossing the border on foot and by boats each day have overwhelmed local resources, creating a major humanitarian emergency that requires immediate global support, Mukanga-Eno told reporters in Geneva on Friday. Women and children are particularly affected, arriving exhausted and severely traumatized, bearing the physical and psychological marks of terrifying violence. 

“In Burundi, transit centres and informal sites where new arrivals are hosted have far surpassed capacity, in some cases by nearly 200 per cent,” while “acute water and sanitation shortages are increasing the risk of outbreaks of life-threatening diseases, including cholera and Mpox,” Mukanga-Eno said.

Across the border in the DRC’s South Kivu, violence, drone attacks and bombardments have forced more than 500,000 Congolese from their homes, many “displaced several times this year alone.” 

Speaking at an end year press briefing in Geneva, UNHCR, WHO and other UN agencies also warned that as 2025 draws to a close, humanitarian needs in Africa, the Middle East, and worldwide “remain staggering” and recent gains against famine in Gaza since a US-brokered cease-fire between Hamas and Israel last October are “extremely fragile.” In a separate press release, WHO meanwhile declared that “attacks on health care in Sudan are becoming deadlier and more widespread.”

Gaza – famine threat rolled back, but hunger remains 

On a more positive note, the threat of famine in Gaza has eased somewhat since the October cease-fire opened the gates to more aid –  but hunger remains a constant threat for most Gazans. 

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Gaza confirms that no areas of the Strip are currently classified in famine, but UN officials described this welcome progress as “extremely fragile.”

“At least 1.6 million people – or 77 per cent of the population – are still facing high levels of acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip,” including “over 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women projected to suffer acute malnutrition,” said four UN agencies, including WHO and UNICEF, in a press release Friday, which coincided with release of the latest IPC report, containing a snapshot of the situation today as well as projections for 2026.  

All four Gaza governorates are still described as facing Phase 3 or 4 hunger conditions marked by “large food consumption gaps, high levels of acute malnutrition, and an elevated risk of mortality.”

While “the ceasefire has improved some deliveries of food,” UN agencies said “most families are still grappling with severe shortages,” with “more than 730,000 people” displaced and “heavily reliant on humanitarian assistance,” the UN agencies said.

“Gaza’s children are no longer facing deadly famine, but they remain in grave danger,” UNICEF’s Lucia Elmi warned at the Geneva press briefing. She added: “Food is now in markets, but many families simply cannot afford to buy it. Health facilities are barely functioning, clean water and sanitation services are  scarce, and winter is bringing increasing suffering to displaced people huddling in makeshift shelters. These fragile gains could vanish overnight if fighting resumes. We need sustained humanitarian access, restored basic services, and above all, lasting peace.” 

Only 50% of Gaza health facilities functioning even partially

Only fifty per cent of Gaza’s health facilities are partially functional, and that “much more is needed to address the vast health needs,” warned WHO’s Tarik Jašarević, also speaking at the Geneva press event. 

Access constraints facing Gazan Emergency Medical Teams have, however, eased, with denial rates decreasing to about 20 per cent, compared with 30 – 35 per cent before the ceasefire, according to the Health Cluster. There are 343 EMT staff in Gaza, including 73 international staff and 270 national staff, OCHA stated, in a related press release on Friday.

Since the cease-fire there has also been an increase in the number of medical evacuations. But more than 18,500 patients, including 4100 children, still are awaiting  evacuation, Jašarević added.  According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1000 patients had died while awaiting medical evacuation between July 2024 and November 2025.

Last week, at least ten Gazans reportedly died due to heavy rains, underscoring the life-threatening conditions that families were facing in Gaza, Jašarević said.

That included three children who died of hypothermia in a context of cold temperatures and lack of medical infrastructure and medicine, said Ricardo Pires, for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), citing other reports. The severe storm conditions affected nearly 55,000 households, and forced the evacuation of 370 families from shoreline sites, said OCHA, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in a separate press statement. An estimated 70% of Gazans are living in tents following the massive wartime destruction of housing, half a million in flood-prone areas.

Sudan

Meanwhile, WHO issued a stark warning over the increase of attacks on health care in Sudan, saying they are “becoming deadlier and more widespread, cutting off access to lifesaving services and placing health workers and humanitarian operations at serious risk.”

The latest incident occurred on 14 December when nine health workers were killed and 17 injured in an attack on a hospital in Dalanj, a town in South Kordofan state, WHO said. Dalanj is a key administrative and health hub for surrounding communities, where health workers provide critical referral care.

Earlier this month, on 4 December, a kindergarten and the Kalogi Rural Hospital in South Kordofan were also hit, with 114 people killed – including at least 60 children – and 35 injured. Health staff were treating casualties when the attack occurred at the hospital, which serves as a key referral health facility for surrounding rural communities. Evacuations of injured patients to Abu Jebaiha Hospital took place amid ongoing fire.

In Nyala, South Darfur, at least 70 health workers were detained, alongside around 5000 civilians, over the past few months according to reports in early December. This incident followed multiple attacks on health facilities in El Fasher in October 2025, including targeted attacks on a maternity hospital that killed more than 460 patients, their families and other civilians, and the abduction of six health workers from El Fasher and surrounding localities in November 2025.

Since the conflict began in April 2023, WHO has verified 201 attacks on health care in Sudan, resulting in 1858 deaths and 490 injuries,” with 2025 accounting for “more than 80% of all deaths from attacks on health care verified by WHO in complex humanitarian emergencies globally.”

“Health workers have been providing health services with exceptional courage and dedication under extremely challenging conditions,” said WHO in a press release. 

WHO called “for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians, health workers, health facilities and humanitarian operations in Sudan,” and urged “safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access in line with international humanitarian law.”  See related story here: 

‘Beyond Horrific’ Conditions in Sudan’s El Fasher; Gaza Swamped by Flooding 

Image Credits: © UNHCR/Bernard Ntwari, IPC , OCHA , Google Maps .