The Friday Humanitarian Scan #35

Severe flooding in the Tibet autonomous region of China and Nepal caused widespread destruction and mounting death tolls, UN agencies reported on Wednesday as aid efforts deployed to help provide emergency assistance.

Amid reports that hundreds of people are still missing in Nepal and China after a floodwater surge slammed into towns and villages on Wednesday, aid teams have been working to reach communities cut off by the disaster.

An MSF team has arrived in Nepal to assess the situation, people's needs, and how we may be able to respond following devastating flash floods.

A weekly read to keep you in the loop on humanitarian issues.

International Organization for Migration | Nepal – **Situation Overview** On the morning of 26 August 2026, a sudden and powerful flash flood swept through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems in central Nepal, affecting settlements across Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, including the Rasuwagadhi border crossing area. Officials suspect that the flooding may have been triggered by an upstream ice or rock avalanche, or by a glacial lake outburst, rather than by local rainfall. The exa

Pacific Disaster Center | Nepal – **Snapshot of Key Concerns** Severity: A glacial collapse on the Tibet side of the border of Nepal sent a catastrophic surge down the Lhende Khola into the Bhote Koshi River. The collapse was large enough to register seismically with USGS and trigger a massive flood downstream in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, and Chitwan districts. Timing: Morning of August 26, 2026, floodwaters traveled down the Trishuli River as far as Mugling before beginning to recede. Damage sp

The impact of the deadly flood in Nepal has been described as "immense" as the authorities there confirm that 538 bodies have been recovered from the disaster-stricken area.

Washington's ambassador to Ankara says attack on air base could have been 'aggressive . . . pre-election concept' ahead of October polls

Among tent cities pitched on the rubble of destroyed homes in Gaza, children are, by one measure, finally getting enough to eat. By another, however, many of them may never fully recover, according to a new study by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) released on Monday.

Middle East conflict adds to strains in America's heartland months ahead of midterm elections

Prospect of ousting British and potentially other European officials from US-led ceasefire hub comes amid growing criticism of Netanyahu government

The seizure of a vocational training centre in occupied East Jerusalem has left hundreds of Palestinian young people without access to skills and training that could help shape their futures. 

As hunger deepens across Gaza, humanitarian agencies continue to deliver food and other essential supplies to families in need.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government hails return of international card providers as sign of progress in reintegration with world economy

UN High Commissioner for Refugees | Lebanon | Syrian Arab Republic

Measures targeting UAE branches of Banque Misr are part of Trump administration's efforts to isolate Tehran

July 8, 2026

For millions of children in Sudan, the classroom remains out of reach as the country's civil war continues to disrupt their education. To help tackle this huge problem, the UN global education fund on Monday announced a $22 million initiative to help 200,000 youngsters return to learning.

Rather than looking away from the crisis, these photos offer another perspective, a glimpse into the lives lived within it. Children growing up between flimsy bamboo shelters, fathers teaching daughters and neighbours stopping by to talk. Together, they trace the ordinary rituals of everyday lives.

António Guterres tells FT that the world risks sliding into confrontation without global institutions that reflect the changing balance of power

In Borno state, northeast Nigeria, MSF are treating children suffering from acute malnutrition and providing mental health support to their caregivers.

A family with four children abandoned its farm in Somalia after armed groups arrived and demanded payments for the right to continue cultivating the land. They walked roughly 100 kilometers to a displacement camp. One of the children died along the way.

Some 3.7 million children in Afghanistan are suffering from wasting, one of the most dangerous forms of malnutrition, with around one million currently battling the most severe, life-threatening form of the condition.

2 major earthquakes struck Venezuela's northern coast on 24 June, causing severe damage, around 6,000 recorded deaths and tens of thousands more feared lost. The EU is supporting people affected with €15 million in humanitarian aid.

International humanitarian law (IHL) is primarily associated with the conduct of hostilities and the protection of people during armed conflict. Yet some of the decisions that determine civilian risk in a future conflict are made long before fighting begins, including where states choose to locate military infrastructure. This raises an important question: what role does… The post Before the fighting begins: IHL and the location of military objectives appeared first on Humanitarian Law & P

MSF shares findings from our investigation into abuse linked to humanitarian operations in eastern Chad, and actions we took to better prevent, detect, and respond to abuse as a result.

Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain back plan to solve Kyiv's latest funding crisis

UN High Commissioner for Refugees | Sudan | Burundi

UN High Commissioner for Refugees | Sudan | Central African Republic

In Djoungolo, a neighbourhood of Cameroon's capital which is regularly affected by cholera, MSF teams are placing the community at the heart of cholera prevention efforts.

For Fanta Toure, community-led crisis response efforts like mutual aid are not an emergent movement as some in the international aid system see it, but rather a return “to the way things are supposed to be”.

Rather than selecting the theme internally in the Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN), the network invited its partners – the Alliance for Empowering Partnership (A4EP), the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), the Feminist Humanitarian Network (FHN), and the Centre for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD) – to lead the process. Through a series of discussions, they identified the central theme of this issue emerging from practice priorities, local leadership in a changing humanitarian architecture, and brought together authors from across their networks in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Palestine, Syria, Thailand and Türkiye.

The European Commission has endorsed Greece's Social Climate Plan, the fifth plan under the Social Climate Fund. It helps vulnerable households, transport users and micro enterprises transition towards cleaner solutions and protecting them from higher energy and transport costs.

Disaster management and preparedness

A bank-backed study linking every €1 of German development aid to €2.50 in donor export returns gives politicians a convenient budget defense – but critics warn it treats partner countries' growth as an afterthought.

A strong El Niño is approaching, but aid groups say funding shortages are limiting how much they can do before floods and displacement hit.

Activists warn the EU's new investment push in Haiti prioritizes long-term infrastructure and mining over urgent humanitarian aid.

Indigenous Peoples

For the latest episode of our weekly podcast series, Rumbi Chakamba speaks with Tania Karas and Jenny Lei Ravelo to discuss two events that focused on challenges in the global water sector and the push for philanthropic investment in Asia.

We examine a new study that claims more aid leads to more exports for donor countries, the EU's development priorities in Haiti, and the racial disparities in post-USAID employment.