A man opens a parcel with humanitarian aid delivered by volunteers of the City Aid Centre ahead of the holidays in the basement where he is hiding from Russian shelling of Orikhiv, a city close to the frontline, in the Zaporizhzhia region, southeastern Ukraine, 13 December 2023. (Keystone/Avalon/Dmytro Smolienko)

🇺🇦UN ‘begs’ for humanitarian aid for Ukraine as war nears two-year mark. The UN launched on Monday an appeal for $4.2 billion to respond to humanitarian needs for Ukrainians for 2024, urging countries not to forget Ukraine as focus shifts to other crises.

💼 A big Chinese delegation unnerves US diplomats in Davos. Last-minute changes in schedules show the US is worried it may get upstaged by China at the WEF’s gathering.

💸WHO appeals for $1.5bn to address crises from Gaza to Afghanistan. The World Health Organization is calling for $1.5bn in funding to respond to 41 health emergencies affecting millions of people caught up in humanitarian crises across the globe in 2024.

🎙️ ICRC’s Mirjana Spoljaric: ‘We do not know where the hostages are’ in Gaza. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross laments not having enough humanitarian space to ensure the protection of the civilian population and above all, not having access to the hostages.

🪨 Three months after earthquake, Afghan children are in dire need of support. A spokesperson for Unicef said almost 100,000 children were estimated to be in need of help after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Herat province on 7 October and a second strong quake struck the same province days later.