In South Sudan, the UN aid coordination office [OCHA] reported on Thursday that conflict and flooding continue to drive displacement and food insecurity higher throughout the country.
Since the start of 2026, according to the UN migration agency, IOM , more than 300,000 people have been forced from their homes, with repeated displacement making it harder for families to recover.
"We and our humanitarian partners are prioritising helping people in the worst-impacted areas" said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, at the regular Noon briefing.
The World Food Programme ( WFP ) and partners have distributed food to more than 300,000 people in the counties of Ayod, Duk, Nyirol and Uror in Jonglei state since the start of the year.
He added that " UNICEF and other partners working in nutrition have resumed delivering life-saving supplies in remote locations." Thousands of cartons of high-energy biscuits and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food have already been delivered.
Call for Donations
Meanwhile, efforts are also underway to pre-position food, health and nutrition supplies ahead of the rainy season, which runs from April to October and often cuts off access to communities.
Nearly 10 million people - more than three quarters of the population - will need humanitarian assistance in 2026. The $1.5 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for this year has so far received $351 million, or less than a quarter of what we need.
Mr. Dujarric encouraged everyone to donate, stressing that "without an urgent and sustained response, many communities face an increasing risk of life-threatening food insecurity in South Sudan."
How the Philippines is cracking down on online fraud centres, with UN support
The Philippines is pushing ahead with its bid to shut down online scam centres, with the help of the UN. To date, the Filipino authorities have liberated around 6,000 people from the centres, including well over 3,000 foreign nationals.
The UN's role, through the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, has involved drawing up new operating procedures which came into effect this week.
One of the key changes is a shift towards a victim-centred response, which aims to close gaps that once made prosecutions difficult to secure, while ensuring that victims are treated as survivors of trafficking rather than offenders.
Scam compounds spread
This shows how when a government is willing to tackle scam centers and corruption, the United Nations can provide effective help and produce results jointly," says Miklos Gaspar, Director of the UN Information Centre in Indonesia:
Mr. Gaspar explained that scam compounds have spread across Southeast Asia, luring people with fake job offers. Often, they are trapped and forced to carry out online fraud.
The operations are usually part of a wider global criminal enterprise and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has warned that organized fraud networks are increasingly sophisticated, using advanced technologies and targeting victims worldwide, generating billions in illicit profits.
Mass migration expected in Latin America and Caribbean
Violence linked to organized crime, economic shifts, changing migration policies, rising returns and deportations - and the growing impact of climate-related hazards - are set to reshape migration across Latin America and the Caribbean.
With migration across the region becoming increasingly complex and fast-changing, movements are no longer driven primarily by traditional patterns, but are now more diverse, multidirectional and dynamic, a new report from UN migration agency, IOM, revealed on Thursday.
New pathways are emerging, adding to the pressure on border areas and urban centres.
Currently, nearly 80 million international migrants reside in Latin America. In 2024 alone, 14.5 million internal displacements were recorded, primarily due to disasters, while displacement linked to conflict and violence reached nearly 1.5 million.
Preparing for the future
"This is not about predicting the future, but about preparing for different possible scenarios," said Ana Durán Salvatierra, a top IOM official in the region.
"Migration will continue to evolve. The key question is whether we react too late or prepare in advance."
Intraregional migration remains a defining feature, including continued movements from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with around 6.9 million Venezuelans living across Latin America and the Caribbean, mainly in Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador.
Rather than forecasting exact outcomes, the IOM report develops plausible scenarios and highlights practical implications for planning, coordination, and resource allocation, helping move beyond reactive responses.
