The Irish Government is supporting urgent humanitarian efforts by Plan International in Lebanon, as escalating conflict in the Middle East drives mass displacement and deepening humanitarian needs across the region. 

Plan International Ireland, with funding of €120,000 from Irish Aid, is scaling up emergency assistance to women, girls and families affected by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Lebanon. 

Since early March, intensified hostilities linked to the wider regional conflict have triggered large-scale displacement, with over one million people now internally displaced in the country and collective shelters operating at or beyond capacity. Schools have been closed, many repurposed as emergency shelters, disrupting education for hundreds of thousands of children. 

Irish Aid funding is enabling Plan International to deliver life-saving support including dignity kits for women and girls, baby kits for infants, and ready-to-eat food for families living in overcrowded shelters with limited access to basic services. 

Plan International Ireland is deeply alarmed by the escalating military conflict in Iran and the Middle East which puts children at grave risk. 

Of particular concern are reports of attacks on educational facilities, including an elementary girls’ school in Minab, Hormozgan Province in southern Iran. We are devastated by reports that at least 148 children have been killed and many others injured. Attacks on schools – and the killing and maiming of children – are two of the six grave violations of children’s rights in conflict and against international law.

Children always pay the highest price in armed conflict and wars: they must be protected at all times. Strikes and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas inevitably put innocent lives at risk.

We echo the urgent call by UN Secretary-General for an immediate cessation of hostilities. It is critical that all parties exercise maximum restraint and strictly uphold their obligations under International Humanitarian Law. This includes the absolute protection of children, schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure and all civilians.

Children should never be targets or casualties of war. Ever.

A report released by the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan on Thursday concluded that acts by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their late-October takeover of El Fasher, Darfur, showed the “hallmarks of genocide”. 

It documents ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence and enforced disappearances.  The 18-month siege also inflicted starvation and deprivation on civilians, with investigators warning that the “risk of further genocidal acts remains serious and ongoing”. 

In response, Plan International Sudan’s Country Director, Mohamed Kamal said: 

“The UN report lays bare the horror in El Fasher. It details systematic atrocities amid a siege that starved civilians and denied them humanitarian assistance. The Mission documented coordinated and repeated identity-based attacks tied to ethnicity, gender, and perceived politics, resulting in mass killings, serious harm, widespread sexual violence against girls and women ranging from 7 to 70-years-old, torture, detention, and disappearances. 

“Sudan is facing an utterly catastrophic humanitarian emergency. Fighting continues to grip much of the country, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, with sexual violence alarmingly widespread and 4.2 million people acutely malnourished, with children worst affected.” 

“Despite very limited funding, Plan International continues to respond, providing lifesaving assistance in Darfur and the Kordofan regions. We have heard first hand from our teams in Darfur that women, girls and children have faced horrific sexual gender-based violence. The specific, and unique needs of girls and women must not be overlooked. Rape and other acts of sexual violence are being used as a weapon of war in Sudan. Alongside other interventions, we are addressing the growing need for survivor-centred support.” 

“We call on all armed actors in the conflict to immediately end and prevent the grave violations against children and guarantee the protection of civilians and humanitarian actors providing lifesaving support to the most affected, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.”  

“Sudan’s people face the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Without an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian truce, and major scale-up in assistance programs – backed by more funding and guaranteed access – conditions will continue to deteriorate. Donors and governments have a moral responsibility to act now.” 

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Partnership (IPC) alerts today of famine-level acute malnutrition detected in two more localities in North Darfur, Um Baru and Kernoi. Just three months ago, the IPC warned that famine was ongoing in Darfur and Kordofan states, with a high risk that these conditions would further spread.

The newly identified levels of acute malnutrition represent extreme, life-threatening deprivation, and famine may soon be confirmed by the IPC in these additional areas. For small children, the danger is especially acute: malnutrition gravely weakens their immunity, leaving them far more vulnerable to disease at a time when healthcare and other services have been severely disrupted, if not collapsed entirely.

We know from global experience that famine confirmations often come too late. Thousands may have already died, and many surviving children are likely to face lifelong damage.

This new alert confirms what communities and responders have been fearing for months. Starvation is rising and becoming entrenched in areas humanitarian actors are prevented from accessing. Even in places where we can operate, resources are drastically insufficient to meet overwhelming needs and halt the spread of hunger.

Plan International along with 21 international humanitarian organisations warn that other areas are likely to be facing similar catastrophic conditions. Yet escalating conflict and severe access restrictions prevent comprehensive assessments and timely response. For nearly three years, armed actors in Sudan have conducted deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure essential for survival. Sudan is also the site of a relentless war on women and girls, who continue to face systemic conflict-related sexual violence.

This violence has displaced millions from their homes and livelihoods, devastated people’s ability to produce and distribute food, and routinely blocked their access to water, healthcare and protection services.

Restricted humanitarian access, continued funding shortfalls and insufficient political will are converging into a catastrophe that should never have been allowed to unfold. Without immediate and unhindered access for humanitarian operations, alongside a rapid increase in resources, including to local actors, the spread of starvation will not cease.

Aissatu was just seven years old when she was subjected to FGM. She did not consent. She did not understand what was happening. What she did understand was fear and pain.

“Having lived through its cruelty, I now raise my voice,” she says. “I am not afraid. I feel no shame in telling those around me my truth.”

That courage did not come easily. Like many survivors, Aissatu grew up surrounded by silence — in a community where FGM is rarely questioned and where girls are expected to endure their suffering quietly.

“I know many girls drown in shame and are choked by unspoken fears,” she explains. “They are terrified of being judged or ostracised, especially by peers who cannot imagine their pain.”