Meanwhile, UN agencies confirmed the deaths of three Palestinians from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare auto-immune disease that can cause sudden muscle weakness and even paralysis. Before war erupted in Gaza in October 2023, only a handful of cases surfaced every year. Mass casualties now the norm “Hospitals are overwhelmed by mass casualty incidents, with […]
At a major UN conference underway this week in Awaza, Turkmenistan, calls are growing to tackle the high trade costs, investment gaps and growing digital divide that continue to hold these countries back. Despite progress in some areas, landlocked developing nations – from Bolivia to Bhutan and Burkina Faso – account for just 1.2 per […]
The agency plans to procure over 1,200 metric tons of fortified biscuits, which will provide 200,000 primary school-aged girls and boys with sustenance for around three months. “For many children, the daily snack they receive in the first break of the day is often their only nutritious meal, giving them the energy to stay […]
The 19 July truce followed weeks of sectarian clashes, Israeli airstrikes and grave human rights violations in the southern governorate, also known as As-Sweida. As a result, more than 190,000 people have been displaced there and in neighbouring Dar’a and Rural Damascus governorates. The fighting also caused severe damage to infrastructure and to livelihoods. Electricity […]
A new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) reveals that just 8.6 percent of cropland in Gaza is still accessible, while only 1.5 per cent of cropland is both accessible and undamaged, as of 28 July. More than 86 per cent of cropland is damaged, while 12.4 […]
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said it had received first-hand accounts indicating that at least 319 civilians were killed by M23 fighters, aided by members of the Rwanda Defence Force, between 9 and 21 July in North Kivu province. Most of the victims, including at least 48 women and 19 children, were local farmers […]
And increasingly, climate change is compounding the problem – damaging roads, disrupting supply chains, and threatening already fragile infrastructure with floods, droughts, and extreme weather. But as global discussions intensify, a UN conference underway in Turkmenistan is aiming to flip the script – to help transform LLDCs from landlocked to landlinked through smarter more climate […]
While the city has been rebuilt, nuclear conflict remains a global threat, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said in remarks at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. It was the only structure left standing near the hypocentre of the bomb, which marked the first use of an atomic weapon in war. Survivors, family members […]
The development – which also applies to the occupied West Bank – is a result of the Israeli requirement introduced on 9 March impacting international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). “Unless urgent action is taken…most international NGO partners could be de-registered by 9 September or sooner – forcing them to withdraw all international staff and preventing them […]
Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča briefed a Security Council meeting on Tuesday called by Israel to discuss the plight of hostages still being held in the war-ravaged enclave. It comes after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released images and videos of two emaciated hostages, Evaytar David and Rom Braslavsky, sparking outrage and condemnation. ‘An affront to […]
It is a grim milestone for Sudan, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. But with insufficient funding, lack of access to key regions and intensifying violence, milestones like this have become the grim norm. “This is not hypothetical. It is a looming catastrophe,” said Sheldon Yett, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Sudan. And […]
The Security Council is meeting to discuss rising concern in Israel and elsewhere over the dire conditions facing the hostages who remain in Gaza. It follows the release of recent videos by Hamas and other Palestinian militants showing emaciated captives, which the UN Secretary-General called “an unacceptable violation of human dignity.” A senior UN political […]
With 96 per cent of households lacking clean water, many malnourished children are not surviving long enough to receive hospital care. James Elder, Spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told at a news briefing in Geneva that it would be a mistake to assume the situation is improving. “There’s a sense through the world’s […]
“The world wants and indeed needs a plastic conventional treaty because the crisis is getting out of hand – and people are frankly outraged,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN agency leading the talks. “We know that plastic is in our nature, in our oceans, and yes, […]
The children picked up the unexploded ordnance in a nearby field, mistaking it for a toy, and brought it back to their village where it later detonated, UNICEF said. The ordnance is likely one of the many unexploded shells left over from the military clashes between Pakistan and India in May, according to news reports. […]
He expressed particular concern over the plight of women and girls sent back to Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule for four years. On 31 July, Pakistan confirmed that Afghan refugees would be deported under an ongoing ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’. UNHCR has received reports of arrests and detention of Afghans across the country, […]
Some 21 months have passed since the 7 October armed attacks on Israel which sparked the current brutal conflict. Thousands have died and much of Gaza has been laid to waste, but life must continue, according to the correspondent, who is remaining anonymous for security reasons. “Those who live here in Gaza don’t need long […]
“I used to easily receive aid distributed by the UN,” Abir Safi, a displaced person from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, told UN News. “Now, we get nothing. I risk my life by going to the Zikim crossing and returning with an empty bag. All I want is to return to my children with […]
With many victims believed to be Ethiopian nationals, this heartbreaking incident highlights the “urgent need to address the dangers of irregular migration along the Eastern Route,” one of the busiest and riskiest migration routes in the world mainly used by people from the Horn of Africa, said the IOM in a statement on Tuesday. “Every life […]
It has now been 842 days since conflict between troops from the military government and their former allies-turned-rivals in the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted in Sudan, turning the country into the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Heavy fighting continues in North Darfur State, with multiple civilian casualties reported in recent days – most notably […]