The Friday Humanitarian Scan #8

A year after the fall of the Assad-regime in Syria, displacement remains a daily reality for millions of Syrians. For the 1.5 million families still living in camps across Northwest Syria.

Chatham House appoints Professor Marc Weller as the new Director of the Global Governance and Security Centre News release thilton.drupal 16 February 2026 Professor Weller begins the new role immediately. Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is pleased to announce that Professor Marc Weller will from today take over the directorship of its Global Governance and Security Centre (GGSC). Professor Weller is currently Director of Chatham House’s International Law Programme, o

The UN has the funds and capacity to scale up relief and reconstruction operations in Gaza but does not have the necessary access to carry out these vital tasks, Alexander De Croo, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), told journalists on Tuesday.

Global health experts see the decision of the states of California, New York, and Illinois as both practical and symbolic.

The African Continental Free Trade Area takes center stage at the AU Summit, and the U.S. seeks to pilot a new African cross-border infrastructure corridor, promising that investments would not be exploitative.

Taipei is planning to establish an international NGO hub to counter pressure from China and strengthen its international relationships. Plus, California, New York, and Illinois are partnering with the World Health Organization.

At the African Union Summit and the Munich Security Conference, food systems leaders make the investment case underlining why food security equals global security. Plus, goodbye to the EAT Foundation.

Devex traveled to Kenya’s Narok County to bring firsthand details of the impact of female genital mutilation and the implications of foreign aid cuts on grassroots efforts to rescue survivors. Plus, critical minerals in the spotlight at the AU summit.

Opinion: Climate financing projects must consider not only infrastructure but also education and workforce systems in order to achieve a green economy.

As the U.N. marks 80 years, María Fernanda Espinosa calls for “networked multilateralism” and a female secretary-general to adapt the institution for the challenges of the 21st century.

One year after U.S. foreign aid cuts, South Africa’s public health system is struggling to pick up the pieces. Plus, aid cuts put gains against female genital mutilation at risk, and cholera prevention campaigns resume.

The Trump administration is planning a major overhaul of the State Department’s international disaster response system, proposing a new Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response to separate international relief from politically charged migration programs.

For the latest episode of our weekly podcast series, Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with reporters Ayenat Mersie and Jesse Chase-Lubitz to look back at the African Union Summit and the Munich Security Conference.

Country: World Source: European Commission Please refer to the attached file. The European Union is committing €225 million to speed up the development of next-generation flu vaccines that will offer protection across a wider range of influenza variants and quickly adapted if a pandemic strain emerges. It marks the first time the Commission will be using pre-commercial procurement to advance products through clinical trials, ensuring they meet strict safety, quality and efficacy criteria, while

Country: Somalia Source: World Food Programme This is a summary of what was said by the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Ross Smith, to whom quoted text may be attributed – at a press briefing in Geneva today. ROME/GENEVA – I would like to share the latest updates from WFP about the extremely worrying humanitarian situation in Somalia. Somalia is in the midst of a very complex hunger crisis. Two rainy seasons have failed. Conflict and i

Crises and conflicts

Masculinity

Gender equality

International relations

Border conflict

Urban life

From crowd-mapping data to AI surveillance, technology-based security tools are on the rise in Indian cities with the increasing presence of women. But real change depends on redesigning public spaces for women and challenging gender norms.

Addis Ababa is a prime example of how a city can change when walking and cycling are taken seriously. Over the past few years, the capital of Ethiopia has invested heavily in non-motorised transport as part of its wider urban transformation.

“We need less fear and resentment in the migration debate and instead more understanding of how integration can actually succeed.”

SDGs

Music

Urban mobility

Restoring the planet’s environmental health is indispensable

Art with a developmental connection – compiled for you by the D+C editorial team.

Around the world, access to education must be made easier and its quality has to improve

In view of multiple crises, state agencies must stay able to invest in crucial infrastructure and services

Empowering women and girls is crucial to achieving gender justice.

In Afghanistan, the guns have fallen silent, but the war remains buried beneath the soil in the form of deadly explosive items, including landmines and unexploded remnants of war.

Back-to-back cyclones in Madagascar have left more than 400,000 people in need of food assistance, according to estimates by the UN World Food Programme (WFP), while roads, power lines and homes have been severely damaged.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Israel’s decision to resume land registration procedures in a large part of the occupied West Bank, his Spokesman said on Monday. 

The Tawila camp for internally displaced in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region is home to more than half a million people who live in makeshift huts of sticks, hay and plastic sheeting.

Asia Pacific Programme hosts event on Japan and the Global South  News release jon.wallace 16 February 2026 The event, held in partnership with Japan House in London, discussed Tokyo’s efforts to engage with Global South countries at a time of flux in international affairs. Ben Bland, Director of Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific Programme, chaired an event at Japan House on 27 January 2026 to discuss Japan’s foreign policy and the contest for influence in the Global South.The event discussed ho

February 5, 2026

Following five years of research and consultations, the ICRC published a new, updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV) of 1949 in October 2025. GC IV is the cornerstone of protection for civilians in international armed conflict and occupation – protections that remain urgently relevant amid patterns of urban warfare, strikes on essential services,… The post Protecting civilians in good faith: a joint symposium on the updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention ap

At least 52 people have died after Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar on 10 February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday, citing the authorities.

Civilian suffering shows no sign of letting up in Ukraine as the four-year-mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion nears amid attacks on energy infrastructure, blackouts and freezing temperatures, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

Lisa Hastert – Regional Information Officer covering Asia-Pacific for the European Union’s humanitarian aid office. From the mountains of Nepal to the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, from typhoon-hit coastlines in the Philippines to conflict-affected areas in Myanmar.

This year, major wildfires have devastated parts of Chile once again. In January, multiple large fires ignited in the south-central Ñuble, Biobío, and La Araucanía regions, amid extreme heat, strong winds, and an ongoing drought.

Chatham House partners with African Mining Indaba 2026    News release jon.wallace 18 February 2026 Chatham House staff and associate fellows engaged with national and industry leaders throughout Indaba 2026, the African mining event.  Chatham House was a strategic partner for the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 Conference, held from 9-12 February in Cape Town, South Africa.Throughout the Indaba week, Chatham House staff and associate fellows engaged with national and

Artificial intelligence solutions that transform the way food assistance reaches people facing hunger were on display during an exhibition at an AI meeting this week in New Delhi, India. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Wednesday for warring parties in Sudan to take urgent steps to protect civilians after at least 57 people were killed in separate drone strikes over two days this week. 

The updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV) includes a number of important updates to its treatment of Common Article 3 (CA3). These relate primarily to three areas: the treatment of coalitions in non-international armed conflict (NIAC); the provision of support by one party to another; and questions of gender and the… The post “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”: the ICRC’s approach to Common Article 3 in its updated Commentary appeared first on Humanitarian Law & Po

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its emergency response in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, where escalating conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and pushed hunger to critical levels.

Nearly three years into Sudan’s war, violence is intensifying, famine conditions are looming in parts of the country, and civilians remain trapped between shifting front lines, senior UN political and humanitarian officials told the Security Council on Thursday, warning that the risk of further mass atrocities remains alarmingly high.

The UN Security Council meets this morning to discuss Sudan as the war nears its third year, with fighting intensifying across multiple regions and civilians facing deepening humanitarian catastrophe. Senior UN political and humanitarian officials are expected to brief ministers on a conflict marked by shifting front lines, advanced weaponry and widespread displacement. The meeting comes amid fresh warnings that atrocities in Darfur, including acts bearing the “hallmarks of genocide” in El Fashe

Country: Ukraine Source: UN Women Please refer to the attached file. In January 2026, the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group in Ukraine, co-chaired by UN Women, NGO Girls, and CARE Ukraine, assessed the evolving and cumulative effects of foreign assistance cuts on women’s organizations. This assessment builds on a rapid impact assessment conducted in February 2025 following the United States’ decision to reduce foreign assistance, allowing for a comparative review of how trends, risks,

Country: Central African Republic Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Please refer to the attached file.

Country: Lebanon Source: Oxfam Please refer to the attached file. This Nationwide Vulnerability Assessment provides a comprehensive, multi-sectoral and intersectional analysis of vulnerability across Lebanon. Conducted using a mixed-methods design, the assessment combines a nationally representative household survey (n=1,549) with in-depth qualitative evidence from Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) across regions, different population groups, genders, ages, and d

Country: Haiti Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Please refer to the attached file. In Haiti, at least 26 gangs operate in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, as well as in several municipalities in the Artibonite and Centre departments. The majority of them are involved in child trafficking . Based on quantitative and qualitative data, this report – published jointly by the Human Rights Service (HRS) of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the

Countries: Poland, Ukraine Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Please refer to the attached file. Methodology The interviews were conducted at the household level, with each respondent answering on behalf of all household members. Respondents were required to be at the age of 18 or above and have fled Ukraine following the onset of the full-scale invasion (24 Feb 2022). Interview locations varied across the country, with the largest share conducted in public spaces such as parks and street

Country: Somalia Source: World Food Programme MOGADISHU, Somalia – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is sounding the alarm that its life‑saving emergency food and nutrition assistance in Somalia is at imminent risk of grinding to a halt without new immediate funding commitments. The organization’s resources are expected to be depleted within weeks without urgent replenishment. This warning follows the declaration of a national drought emergency, triggered by severe water shortages, c

Country: Chad Source: World Food Programme Please refer to the attached file.

Countries: Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, Uganda Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Please refer to the attached file. Regional Overview Sudan is the world’s largest displacement and protection crisis, with the violence creating a humanitarian catastrophe across the country and region. After nearly three years of conflict which began in April 2023, some 4.4 million Sudanese refugees remain displaced in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt,

Country: Mali Sources: Education Cluster, Save the Children, UN Children’s Fund Please refer to the attached Infographic.

Country: Philippines Source: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations On 19 February at 08.39 UTC (16.39 local time), Kanlaon Volcano on the island of Negros (Visayas, central Philippines) erupted. The event, characterized by a moderately explosive eruption, generated an ash plume that rose to approximately 2 km above the crater. Pyroclastic flows also descended the upper slopes of the volcano, traveling up to 2 km from the vent. Acc

Country: Indonesia Source: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations In the recent days, the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) on central‑southern Java, experienced heavy rain and strong winds, which caused severe weather‑related incidents and landslides that resulted in casualties and damage. According to the ASEAN Disaster Information Network (ADINET), in the town of Bantul three people have been injured, 208 were affected as well

Country: France Source: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Since 18 February, a storm has lashed south-west France, from Brittany to Normandy, bringing heavy rainfall, flooding, and strong winds. The storm has caused widespread disruptions, including power outages, traffic delays, and structural damage. In Chalonnes-sur-Loire, one person is missing after a boat capsized on the Loire River, while two others were rescued. Over 2

Country: Afghanistan Source: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Since end of January the province of Zabul in south-eastern Afghanistan has been affected by continued severe winter weather, causing extensive damage. The IOM needs assessment identified close to 1 200 individuals in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Hardest hit are the districts of Shah Joy, Shinky, Tranak Wa Jaldak and Qalat city. ECHO partner INTERSOS is

Country: occupied Palestinian territory Source: International Organization for Migration Genève/Amman, 18 février 2026 – L’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM) et Muslim Charity viennent en aide aux familles palestiniennes déplacées à Gaza en fournissant des tentes d’urgence aux personnes qui n’ont pas d’abri adéquat ou sûr. Grâce à une contribution de 300 000 dollars de Muslim Charity, l’OIM achètera et livrera 448 tentes d’urgence, permettant d’abriter environ 2 464 personnes

Country: World Source: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Please refer to the attached Map.

Country: Togo Source: World Food Programme Please refer to the attached file.

Country: Burkina Faso Source: Education Cluster Please refer to the attached file.

Country: Pakistan Source: World Food Programme Please refer to the attached file. HIGHLIGHTS In December, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based Annual Headline Inflation reached 5.61 percent (YoY), down from 6.15 percent (YoY) in November. Month on Month CPI decreased by 0.45 percent in December 2025 compared to November 2025. Annual food inflation increased by 3.2 percent compared to December 2024. Compared to November 2025, in December wheat and subsidized wheat flour prices were slightly highe