Emergencies | Global Protection Cluster

Protection Cluster Presence

Active Emergencies

Conflict and violations of human rights remain the single biggest driver of protection challenges today. In 2022, 151 million people are in need of protection. This is a major increase from 113 million in 2021. It is largely driven by the worsening situation in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Sudan as well as chronic high levels of needs in Yemen, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Over the world, armed conflict continues to be characterized by high levels of civilian deaths, injury, displacement, psychological trauma and sexual violence. Alongside such widespread protection risks, we also know that particular groups shoulder disproportionate burdens – children living through conflict for instance are at risk of being separated from their families, recruited into armed groups and denied an education. Women and girls are particularly affected by gender-based violence, described as being among top concerns across cluster operations.

Severity	Very Low	Low	Medium	High	Very High
Abduction, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary or unlawful arrest and/or detention	2	1	6	13	3
Attacks on civilians and other unlawful killings, attacks on civilian objects	2	0	7	10	6
Child and forced family separation	0	7	10	6	2
Child, early or forced marriage	0	1	9	14	4
Discrimination and stigmatization, denial of resources, opportunities, services and/or humanitarian access	2	1	11	7	4
Disinformation and denial of access to information	4	6	11	4	0
Forced recruitment and association of children in armed forces and groups	1	5	7	10	2
Gender-based violence	0	1	5	9	10
Impediments and/or restrictions to access to legal identity, remedies and justice	2	1	10	11	1
Presence of mines and other explosive ordnance	4	2	4	14	1
Psychological/emotional abuse or inflicted distress	0	3	7	11	4
Theft, extortion, forced eviction or destruction of personal property	2	2	11	7	3
Torture or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment	5	5	9	5	1
Trafficking in persons, forced labour, or slavery-like practices	2	6	10	7	0
Unlawful impediments or restrictions to freedom of movement, siege and forced displacement	2	3	3	14	3

WORRYING TRENDS

Crisis Watch

SUDAN

Sudan is currently experiencing active conflict, including violent urban warfare and attacks against civilians, leading to a significant increase (+57%) in the number of people needing urgent humanitarian aid (24.7 million). The conflict has spread to various regions, with intense violence in West Darfur. The Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have initiated heavy bombardments and clashes, resulting in civilian casualties. Indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure and widespread looting have further destabilized the situation. Deteriorating socio-economic conditions have fuelled intercommunal tensions, leading to increased violence and displacement. Spill-over effects are felt in neighbouring countries, including South Sudan, putting immense pressure on already scarce resources and infrastructure, and exacerbating protection concerns.

MYANMAR

Myanmar continues to witness a deterioration of the humanitarian situation. Numbers of displaced people increased by almost 37%, from 1.2 million to nearly 1.9 million by the end of June 2023. Meanwhile, Cyclone Mocha hit Rakhine state in the North-West region, leaving 1.6 million people with humanitarian needs (among them 1.2 million for protection). The unexpected retraction of the cyclone response (distribution and transportation) plans and the temporary suspension of existing travel authorizations for humanitarian partners by the de facto authorities has impacted the humanitarian response. This sudden decision has exacerbated the already dire living conditions of the cyclone-affected population. Meanwhile, the RC/HC a.i released a statement on 12 June, urging the State Administration Council to reinstate access to allow life-saving assistance to resume.

ETHIOPIA

Since the suspension of food aid announced in June by WFP, the situation in Tigray, where the majority of IDPs rely on food aid, is of increasing concern. There has been an increase in spontaneous returns and family separations, with 1,357 children separated from their primary caregivers due to lack of food. In Abergele Yechila Woreda, children and women are engaged in collecting metals, including explosive remnants of war, to be sold. This resulted in at least 4 deaths and 8 people severely injured. Increasing cases of anxiety and distress have also been described in Adigrat, following the food aid suspension. An increase of cases of transactional sex as a negative surviving strategy has already been reported, together with begging, displacements, risks of exploitation and selling of the humanitarian aid received.

Active Emergencies

Crisis Watch

SUDAN

MYANMAR

ETHIOPIA

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