Conference primer - Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Migration: 2024

One of the largest humanitarian events of its kind, it gathers participants from the UN, NGOs, Member States, the private sector, the military, academia and beyond to discuss and solve common challenges in humanitarian affairs. During the event, networks and partnerships hold their annual meetings and consultations, share their expertise and collaborate on best practices to address shared problems.

The invasion of Ukraine sparked a crisis in Europe, contributed to record levels of global displacement, and initiated an increase in food and energy costs that challenged people and economies still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The situation in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen remained desperate for many, while worsening violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Haiti, a coup d’état in Burkina Faso and protests in Sudan deepened already stark humanitarian needs. Famine, caused by a once-in-a-generation drought, again loomed large in the Horn of Africa. And following an unprecedented heatwave, Pakistan experienced a cataclysmic monsoon that submerged one third of the country. Communities in the Sahel continued to toil between the violence caused by non-State armed groups and climate-related threats to livelihoods, and Nigeria experienced record flooding in June that killed hundreds of people and displaced millions across the country.
Martin Griffiths, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

The Advisory Commission was created by UN Resolution 302 (IV) on 8 December 1949. It is tasked with advising and assisting the Commissioner-General of UNRWA in carrying out the Agency’s mandate. Consisting of four members when it was first created, today the Advisory Commission (AdCom) is made up of 29 Members and 4 Observers.

The Rights Mapping and Analysis Platform (RiMAP) is a digital Platform designed to provide information about laws and policies relating to the rights for refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless persons. RiMAP provides a structured methodology and an online Platform for collecting and analysing legal data and challenges around specific rights categories. Two current features of RiMAP are the Refugee Treaty and Legislation Dashboard (RTLD) and the IDP Law and Policy Dashboard. Work on a Statelessness Law and Policy Dashboard is underway.

UNHCR and Environment, Disasters and Climate Change: https://www.unhcr.org/environment-disasters-and-climate-change.html
Search Refworld for publications on refugees and climate change: https://www.refworld.org/
Overview of UNHCR's role for climate change and disaster displacement: https://www.unhcr.org/protection/environment/5975e6cf7/climate-change-disaster-displacement-overview-unhcrs-role.html
2018 study In Harm's Way: International protection in the context of nexus dynamics between conflict or violence and disaster or climate change: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5c2f54fe4.html

The 3RP is co-led by both UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the United Nations Development Programme – UNDP.

While the Grand Bargain is a separate and independent process from the IASC, the official website is hosted by the IASC structure, and maintained by the Grand Bargain Secretariat.

The system is used in emergency-affected countries and fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings that are priority areas of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme. The dashboard aggregates global data and allows users to filter the data for tailored analysis.

The data combines the latest analyses by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the Cadre Harmonisé (CH), initiatives that use a similar analytical approach that produces relevant, consensual, rigorous, and transparent findings on current and projected acute food insecurity. These figures include 38 countries (21 IPC, 17 CH) and capture all IPC and CH analyses that are presently valid. Country analyses with validity periods that expired within the last three months are also included.

This is the third time the Famine Review Committee (FRC) has reviewed an analysis conducted by a multi-agency, multi-sectoral analysis team to determine the current and projected acute food security situation in the Gaza Strip.
The first analysis, conducted in December 2023, concluded that there was a risk of Famine within the projection period of December 2023 to May 2024, and that the risk would increase for each day that the intense conflict and restricted humanitarian access persisted or worsened.
The second review was published on 18 March 2024 and confirmed that Famine was projected and imminent in the North Gaza and Gaza Governorates, and that the risk of Famine persisted in all other governorates of the Gaza Strip.

Following publication of the global report, a wealth of statistics is disaggregated into regional reports. SOFI is jointly produced with fellow UN agencies IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO.

These countries were selected due to their proximity and exposure, in addition to the availability of data about them. The brief demonstrates how the impact of the war may add to pre-existing vulnerabilities in these countries, which have yet to fully recover from recent shocks.
Furthermore, the brief highlights the interconnectedness of economies across the region and stresses the need for proactive policy responses regarding the Gaza war. It attempts to estimate the economic cost on the Middle East, including in the occupied Palestinian territory, based on the current regional low-intensity war scenario. The brief also estimates the potential impact on human development in the selected countries and proposes immediate and short-term response measures to mitigate the economic impact.