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Reena Ghelani knows all too well the jarring silence of a crowded malnutrition ward. Now United Nations Famine Prevention and Response Coordinator, she spends every day working on the frontlines of the global fight against hunger.

“You expect children to cry if they're suffering, but they don't even have the energy to cry. And the other thing is, I found that the mothers or the fathers are also silent. You know, luckily, many children survive when they get treatment, they are able to keep living.”

A deadly cocktail of conflict, climate change, and economic shocks have driven record numbers of people around the world to the brink of starvation. In this episode of Awake at Night, Reena Ghelani reflects on the horrific impacts of hunger, on the lengths parents will go to feed a child and shares her advice for women pursuing a career as a humanitarian.

More than 3,500 children have been killed and over 6,800 injured in Gaza during the current Israel-Palestine crisis, according to the UN Children's Fund. official Salim Oweis emphasized in an interview with UN News that beyond the numbers, those are lives, dreams and futures lost because of the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip. Oweis told UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki that it was the children who were “facing the worst of times” in the enclave and called again for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Three weeks of near-constant bombardment in Gaza have left its entire population in desperate and catastrophic conditions. The is striving to reach over one million people for whom water and food are running out. One employee of the humanitarian organization describes the horror, the personal grief of losing at least seven family members and friends, her dreams for a better future, and why her work must go on in the face of it all.

After the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan, WFP has already reached nearly 34,000 survivors with emergency food assistance, which they began distributing within hours after the first quakes struck. The UN agency plans to deliver food and cash assistance to more than 100,000 people over the next three to seven months - and roll out longer-term resilience programmes to help them rebuild their livelihoods. WFP urgently needs US$18.8 million so that Afghanistan’s earthquake survivors can eat and rebuild from the country’s latest disaster, and US$400 million to help the most vulnerable survive harsh weather.

Storm Daniel hit Libya on 10 September 2023, causing floods that killed over 4,300 people with twice as many still unaccounted for. Over 43,000 people have been displaced and are in urgent need of food, clean water, shelter, healthcare, and financial support. The floodwaters have also exposed landmines and unexploded ordnance, posing a threat of disease. is working with local authorities in Benghazi to accelerate the rebuilding process and offer an environmentally sustainable recovery that engages Libyans and provides livelihood opportunities.

The World Food Programme has recently stockpiled 310 metric tons of food at the Gaza border, which is ready to be dispatched to the people in dire need. Despite immense challenges, has been providing food and cash assistance to over 522,000 Palestinians since the beginning of the current crisis, and it continues to reach out to more people every day. Nearly one-third of the population of Palestine -1.84 million people- are food insecure. The humanitarian organization aims to provide a vital food lifeline to 805,000 people over the next 30 days in Gaza and the West Bank, subject to the conditions, bringing food, water, and other essential supplies.

Against a backdrop of heightened political tensions, the Palestine economy continues to operate below potential, rendering the population in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to 's latest report.

was  more than 70 years ago, and its  include education, healthcare, camp infrastructure and social safety net assistance to Palestine refugees across the Middle East.This includes around two million people in Gaza, where UNRWA schools are now housing roughly 170,000 residents who have fled their homes in the wake of the escalating crisis sparked by Hamas attacks against Israel. UN News spoke to Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications, who described her 13,000 colleagues as “unsung heroes” who "have been on the ground providing services to people in need". 

In a volatile world, with more children in need than ever and resources increasingly stretched, and its partners must have the right support. is a highly flexible form of funding that allows donors to support the UN agency, as it responds rapidly and strategically to immediate needs in humanitarian crises. Thanks to the generous support from partners, Flexible Funding has already saved lives in six countries including Afghanistan, Haiti, Türkiye, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, and South Sudan.

Decades of armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have forced some 5.5 million people to flee their villages, leaving them in dire need of assistance to survive. Since the humanitarian operations were scaled up in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri Provinces last June, the distribution of cash assistance has significantly increased. In July 2023, the distributed cash to more than 800,000 vulnerable individuals in these three provinces, an eightfold increase within just one month. Learn about the stories of three beneficiaries of this programme: Yalala, Akela, and Nyangoma, and how they invested the money provided by the UN.

Hunger is on the rise, affecting more people than ever before. data shows that each 1% reduction in WFP's assistance could push an additional 400,000 people closer to famine.

Food-insecurity levels were already alarmingly high, with one third of people in Palestine – 1.8 million – experiencing food insecurity. In the immediate aftermath of the spike in conflict, the UN World Food Programme's emergency operation aims to provide a critical food lifeline to over 800,000 people.

The UN's (OCHA), mandated by the General Assembly, leads global emergency responses in coordination with UN entities. It ensures rapid and coherent disaster response and coordinates international responses to health crises, provides aid to those affected by disasters and conflicts, aids refugees, focuses on child welfare, supports women and girls, offers services and funds for large-scale feeding operations, and helps farmers re-establish production after emergencies, among other tasks.

Since the start of the year, extreme weather in Yemen has displaced over 200,000 people, many of whom had already been displaced multiple times. Heavy rain is now affecting nearly 2 million displaced people, threatening lives and livelihoods across multiple communities. The effects of climate crises exacerbate the vulnerability inherent in displacement, especially for women and girls. That was the case for Souad, 45, and her seven children, who had been sheltering in a mud hut they built themselves – before the flash floods demolished it. The UN rapid response mechanism in Yemen, led by , ensures life-saving assistance within 72 hours of the onset of an emergency.

On 8 September 2023, a powerful earthquake struck Morocco, claiming more than 2,800 lives and impacting more than 100,000 children according to initial reports. In any emergency, children are always among the most vulnerable. In close coordination with the authorities and UN partners, UNICEF is ready to support the humanitarian response as necessary to reach children and families affected with critical supplies and services. Longer-term, children and families affected will need shelter, safe drinking water, health and medical help, and food and nutrition support. Child protection services including psychosocial support will be critical in helping children and parents process their distressing experiences. Getting children back into school is also critical for their long-term recovery.