Organisations such as Christian Aid and World Vision have responded to the launch in December of the United Nations Global Humanitarian Overview 2025, the abridged version of which can be downloaded here, in English and Spanish.
In a statement reported in the Church Times, they commented: “We are witnessing unspeakable human suffering due to the proliferation of conflicts lacking political solutions and the normalisation of IHL (international humanitarian law) violations….Indiscriminate attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers, the bombing of schools and hospitals, and the use of starvation and sexual violence as methods of warfare are devastating communities worldwide. Climate shocks, economic fragility, and protracted conflict are exacerbating humanitarian needs, leading to unprecedented levels of displacement and an escalating global hunger crisis.”
In the report’s Foreword, Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, says: The suffering behind the numbers is all the more unconscionable for being man-made. Wars in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine are marked by the ferocity and intensity of the killing, the complete disregard for international law, and the deliberate obstruction of our humanitarian movement’s effort to save lives. Displacement of people has again reached new highs. Again, the most vulnerable are the worst betrayed: around one in every five children in the world—approximately 400 million—are living in or fleeing from conflict zones. And women and girls are too often the worst hit, amid inadequate health care and an epidemic of gender-based violence.”
Read the article in the Church Times here.
“O God, we pray for countries experiencing the turmoil of conflict
and political instability. We ask for peace to be restored.
Please grant wisdom and integrity to world leaders
so that they will work for the good of the people they govern and serve.
We pray that citizens everywhere would have their rights preserved,
so they can live peacefully, free from fear. Amen.”
The picture above is from a cemetery in Kharkiv, Ukraine.