Humanitarian Crises Around the World

Crises in the Spotlight

Reuters/Joe Penney, courtesy the Thomson Reuters Foundation – AlertNet

Humanitarian Crises Around the World

The Women's Refugee Commission is extremely concerned about the current crises in the following hotspots:

Syria

Horrific violence persisting for the past two years has created a desperate humanitarian situation in Syria. Since early March, UNHCR has reported that the number of registered refugees or those being assisted as such has surpassed the one million mark. While it is impossible to obtain accurate numbers of internally displaced people (still in Syria) at this time, the UN estimates they are nearing 3.6 million.

As of March 20, there are 1,175,915 Syrian refugees that have been registered or are awaiting registration by UNHCR in neighboring countries. Over 400,000 have become refugees since January 2013. Most recent numbers show 260,000 in Turkey; 366,212 in Jordan; 375,236 in Lebanon; 117,906 in Iraq; and 43,000 in Egypt. The actual number of refugees is thought to be much higher, as many people are unable or unwilling to register. Since February, refugees have been crossing the Syrian border at the rate of 7,000 per day.

Some 40% of the refugees are under 12, and women outnumber men almost two to one. More than 70,000 Syrians, mostly civilians, have died. The threats to women's and children's safety continue to grow, and women's voices remain absent from current attempts to find a peaceful, sustainable resolution to the current conflict. 

Read the open letter to the UN Security Council from the NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security, of which the Women's Refugee Commission is a member, urging UN Member States to end the violence in Syria, to allow humanitarian agencies access to all those in need of assistance, to provide assistance to Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and to ensure that the women and men of Syria are equally involved in rebuilding their country.

Mali

Throughout 2012, violent clashes between armed rebel groups and government forces in northern Mali exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation. As Malian people are continually suffering from chronic droughts and severe food insecurity gripping the Sahel region, the outbreak of violence only compounded their situation. The hostilities forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

The French military, supported by an alliance of foreign armies, launched an intervention in January 2013 to push back against militant groups and reclaim northern territories. Despite this development, serious threats still remain. 

Northern Mali is still largely inaccessibly to humanitarian operations and facing political instability, ongoing violence, the proliferation of arms, continuing human rights violations, harsh climate conditions and the disruption of basic services. There is fear that these insecurities will destabilize the entire region. For these reasons, among many others, individuals remain displaced and continue to flee. 

It is estimated that 260,000 people are still internally displaced to other regions in Mali, and another 150,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Recent data from February 2013 says there are 68,385 Malian refugees in Mauritania, 48,731 in Burkina Faso and 50,000 in Niger.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has often been in the news over the past year due to continuous fighting between government forces and rebel fighters. In November 2012, M23 rebels overran Goma, the regional capital in North Kivu in eastern Congo, and the nearby town of Sake. The ongoing fighting has triggered mass amounts of forced migration and displacement. A unilateral ceasefire between the two parties was reached on January 8, 2013 just before the second round of peace talks.

While the rebels have withdrawn from Goma, the United Nations estimates that the renewed fighting has displaced more than 2.2 million people inside the DRC and forced another 70,000 to flee to neighboring countries. Overall, more than 400,000 Congolese refugees remain outside the DRC.

Many of the people who fled the recent violence are living in 31 camps for internally displaced persons in North Kivu, coordinated by the Camp Coordination and Camp Management cluster system. They are providing shelter for over 115,000 people, but accessibility is still a primary issue. The overall conditions at camps are often described as dire, and pose security threats for displaced persons and humanitarian workers alike.

DRC has a long history of violence and displacement. More than 5 million people have died since 1998 from violence, hunger and disease caused or complicated by war. Tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped. 

For more information on these and other crises, visit UNHCR or ReliefWeb.

Essential Resources for Humanitarian Agencies Responding to a Crisis

• Top 10 Steps to Protect the Most Vulnerable in a Humanitarian Crisis

  In any crisis, there is a series of essential steps that must be taken to protect and assist displaced persons. The Women’s Refugee Commission has developed a list of the of the Top 10 steps that must be taken by the humanitarian community and refugee-receiving countries to help protect the most vulnerable.

• Life-saving Reproductive Health Services

  Special attention should be given to life-saving reproductive health services, particularly for survivors of sexual violence, pregnant women and newborns. The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) outlines the basic reproductive health standards that must be met at the start of an emergency.

• Cooking Fuel Saves Lives: A Holistic Approach To Cooking In Humanitarian Settings

  Safe access to cooking fuel is critical in humanitarian settings. Without it, displaced people face risks to their health, safety and well-being. Every sector, including camp coordination and camp management, food and nutrition, health or livelihoods, has a role to play in this issue--and sectors need to work together. The Women's Refugee Commission has developed a set of fact sheets for every sector to outline the issues involved, the problems and solutions.

• Taking Care of Refugees with Disabilities

  Refugees with disabilities are extremely vulnerable and are often overlooked. The Women's Refugee Commission has developed a resource kit to provide practical guidance for humanitarian workers.

How You Can Help

To support the Women’s Refugee Commission’s advocacy work on behalf of the most vulnerable refugees in humanitarian crises, please donate here.