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2024’s year in crisis: 10 first person accounts

A selection of written and audio stories from those at the heart of conflicts and disasters around the globe.

A collage of different scenes: children play at a beach in Gaza, smoke billows in Sudan, the profile of a woman, a man conducting an interview with a hand recorder, a view of Nabatieh, Lebanon, a mixed media collage. Nour ElAssy/TNH, Handout via Reuters, Paloma Laudet/TNH, Peter Orner, Zainab Chamoun and, Nizar Al Rifai/TNH
    GENEVA

    Some of the most powerful stories we published in 2024 were first person accounts from journalists, aid workers, and people whose lives had been turned upside down by the humanitarian crisis engulfing them.

    As The New Humanitarian looks to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and disaster – placing them at the centre of the conversations that shape their lives – we also produce occasional podcasts drawn from such accounts, available here.

    Here’s a selection of first person stories from the year, in no particular order:

    Children play at a beach during sunset.

    Amid all the darkness: How kindness helped me survive one year of Israel’s genocide in Gaza

    Gaza-based writer Nour ElAssy reflects on how small moments of human kindness have helped to preserve humanity through 12 months of hell.

    An image of a young person with a megaphone in a room full of protest signs about the environment.

    “Happy COP”: Only for some

    I travelled to Azerbaijan from Syria hoping for some progress towards climate justice. I left Baku more than a little disappointed and bemused.

    A group of people sit outside, smiling and in mid conversation.

    ‘Culture of solidarity’: Why I’m hosting Congolese relatives who fled the M23 conflict

    Hosts are a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

    This is a mixed media image of a photograph overlayed by a hand-drawn illustration of a window and a computer next to a cup of water.

    A Ukraine diary: Reflecting on two years of war

    Nizar Al Rifai, who kept a diary of life on the front lines during the first month of Russia’s invasion, looks back and worries about the future.

    Drone video obtained by Reuters showed a fire raging in the Sudanese city of Omdurman on Monday (May 15) where intense battles are being fought despite Saudi and U.S.-brokered talks between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

    A Sudanese journalist describes the horrors of a war she cannot cover

    For Khartoum-based reporter Hawa Rahma, the risks are now too high and her priority is protecting her family.

    In the foreground we see a paper sign left by migrants warning others of gangs of thieves. The sign reads: “Están robando más arriba, formen grupos grandes!!”/“They're robbing further up, form big groups!!”. In the background we see a group of migrants walking.

    A reporter's journey through the Darién Gap

    Peter Yeung writes about his experiences on the perilous Colombia-Panama jungle route that more than half a million migrants traversed in 2023 alone.

    This photo is taken in a dark room. We see the back of the silhouette of a person wearing a head covering.

    Three Mozambican women’s stories of enslavement by jihadist insurgents

    They are trying to rebuild their lives despite a lack of assistance.

    This is a long shot of a street in Omdurman, Sudan showing a member of the Sudanese Armed forces walks between damaged buildings on April 7, 2024.

    A mutual aid volunteer reflects on a year of war in Sudan

    The humanitarian system must make more space for mutual aid.

    A collage with photos from Zainab Chamoun showing different scenes, like the skyline in Nabatieh, trees, Mouli (the writer's cat), old family images, and a photo of the writer's father in his garden.

    In Lebanon, longing for home as the bombs fall

    What I left behind in southern Lebanon, and the loss I carry with me.

    A photo showing Jean Marseille as he interviews a woman on the street.

    Intimate accounts of life in Haiti from a ‘fixer’ for foreign journalists

    For more than two years, Jean Marseille sent audio recordings documenting the hurdles of daily life in Haiti. His dispatches are now a book.

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