Medical Students Step Up:
A New Pocket Guide for Disaster Response Teams

Despite a ceasefire declared in October 2025, humanitarian aid into Gaza fell sharply in early 2026. Over 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, and nearly 90% of water infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged. Only 10% of required 2026 humanitarian funding has been secured.

A year after the fall of the Assad government, Syria remains one of the world's most complex crises. With 2.5 million people having returned since December 2024, recovery is underway — but fragile. The EU has committed €620 million for 2026–2027, while 70% of the population still requires humanitarian assistance.

Cyclone Senyar triggered catastrophic flooding in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra in late November 2025 — displacing over two million people and killing more than 1,000. Four months on, reconstruction has barely begun. Analysts point to deforestation and mining permits as compounding factors beyond the extreme weather itself.

Heavy rains in late 2025 triggered deadly flash floods across Iran's Fars, Khuzestan, and Hormozgan provinces, killing at least seven and cutting off 139 villages in Kerman. The crisis compounded existing economic freefall — Iran's currency ranks among the three most severely collapsed globally — straining both public services and disaster response capacity.

In 2025, Syria's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan received only 33.5% of required funding — despite 16.5 million people in need. The lesson is structural: donor fatigue, protracted crises, and political complexity routinely combine to keep funding chronically below need. What can the humanitarian system do differently?

The genocide case before the International Court of Justice — filed by South Africa in December 2023 — has become the most consequential legal test of international humanitarian law in a generation. With Israel's counter-memorial filed in March 2026 and four nations intervening, the case is reshaping how the world defines accountability in armed conflict.

Humanitarian assistance for extreme weather in Southeast Asia hit a record $1.4 billion in 2023 — yet it remains just 5% of total development spending. As climate-driven floods intensify and aid budgets shrink globally, the region faces a widening gap between need and response.