Tag Archives: suffering

‘The people of Haiti are in a perfect storm of suffering,’ warns UN chief

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Six million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while 1.3 million people – half of them children – having been forced to flee their homes, he added.

‘Shamefully overlooked’

Haiti now ranks among the five hunger hotspots worldwide that are of “highest concern,” said the UN chief. Yet it remains the world’s least funded humanitarian appeal. Less than 10 per cent of the $908 million needed has been received.

The UN chief lamented the level of international neglect, describing Haiti as “shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded,” as armed groups continue to block humanitarian access and attack aid workers.

Due to the lack of resources, around 1.7 million people risk receiving no humanitarian assistance at all. “This is not a funding gap. It is a life-and-death emergency,” he said, urging donors to act before lifesaving operations grind to a halt.

Across the country, basic services have collapsed, and mass displacement has left children without education, healthcare or any sense of safety. As of April, gang violence had interrupted the schooling of some 243.000 children, as attacks on schools continued.

‘Unimaginable suffering’

The head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, told ambassadors Haiti’s youth are enduring “unimaginable suffering amidst the brutal armed violence.”

She noted that last year the UN in Haiti had verified more than 2,000 grave violations against children – a nearly 500 per cent increase on the previous year.

The Caribbean nation last year was among the five worst offenders worldwide, Ms. Russell added, including cases of summary execution.

Even more concerning, she said, was the 700 per cent increase in cases of recruitment and use of children by armed groups, alongside a 54 per cent increase in killing and maiming, according to Ms. Russell.

Children now account for a staggering 50 per cent of all active gang members in Haiti.

“I ask Members of this Council to use all available leverage to protect children,” she said, and to support “concrete actions” which will prevent violations from spiralling still further.

‘Signals of hope’

Despite the bleak outlook across Haiti and soaring levels of violence and lawlessness, “there are emerging signals of hope,” said the Secretary-General.

Closer coordination between the Prime Minister’s Task Force, the Haitian National Police and Security Council-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) is improving operations on the ground, he said.

But, more decisive international support is required to protect and expand these fragile gains.

The Kenyan-led mission was authorised by the Security Council in October 2023 and aims to help over-stretched Haitian authorities stem the gang violence and restore national security, especially in the capital.

Mr. Guterres welcomed efforts by the Security Council to advance his proposal to strengthen the MSS through UN logistical and operation support, and urged ambassadors “to act without delay and authorise an international force, supported by the UN through logistical and operational backing, and predictable financing.”

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World News in Brief: Haiti funding cuts bite, civilian suffering intensifies in Myanmar, Belarus deaths in custody alert

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Ongoing violence is compounding the country’s food crisis, disrupting local food production in critical areas such as the commune of Kenscoff and the Artibonite department, often considered the breadbaskets of Haiti.

While the UN and its partners are responding “wherever and whenever possible,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said this Wednesday that humanitarians have only been able to reach 38 per cent of the population they aim to support.

Multiple roadblocks

“This is due to ongoing violence and insecurity, severe underfunding of the response, and the obvious access challenges,” he said.

Over halfway through the year, Haiti is the least-funded of the many humanitarian appeals that the UN coordinates – despite shortfalls for food security in the country being at extreme levels – with just over two per cent of the $425 million needed this year received to date.

Myanmar: Intensifying conflict impedes humanitarian aid

Almost four months after Myanmar’s devastating earthquake, the UN is deeply concerned over the plight of civilians caught up in the country’s devastating and continuing conflict between the military regime and opposition armed groups.

As fighting intensifies, civilians are particularly vulnerable, with increasing attacks on infrastructure.

According to reports, an air strike hit a monastery in Sagan Township in Sagaing Region on 11 July, killing 22 people and injuring at least 50 others. The monastery had been providing shelter to displaced people who had fled nearby villages.

A displacement camp in North Shan State was also reportedly hit by an airstrike over the weekend.

‘Broader pattern’

“These incidents are part of a broader pattern of attacks affecting people across Myanmar,” said Mr. Dujarric, with frequent reports of people being killed, injured or displaced by violence.

Such insecurity also impacts the ability of humanitarian teams to reach people in need: with one in three people now facing acute hunger, and the current monsoon season having caused flooding, “the UN urgently calls on all parties to respect human rights and international humanitarian law,” he said.

Belarus: Rights experts urge probe into deaths in custody of opposition activists

Top independent human rights experts called on Belarus on Wednesday to launch urgent investigations into the deaths of several people jailed for political dissent.

The experts – who are known as Special Rapporteurs – highlighted the case of 61-year-old businessman Valiantsin Shtermer. He died in May 2025 while serving his sentence in a so-called “Correctional Colony” in Šklou.

Mr. Shtermer had been jailed for making critical remarks about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite his serious medical condition, he was allegedly denied adequate care in prison.

Fifty-year-old opposition activist Vitold Ashurak meanwhile, also died shortly after being placed in an isolation in the same prison.

According to the Special Rapporteurs, Mr. Ashurak was a member of the Belarusian National Front who was jailed for violating public order during protests related to the disputed 2020 presidential elections.

We must not ignore these deaths

“These deaths must not be ignored,” said the experts, who added that there were strong grounds to believe that they resulted from abuse or neglect linked to the exercise of fundamental rights.

“It is of the utmost importance to thoroughly investigate the alleged instances of ill-treatment and neglect that resulted in the deaths of Shtermer, Ashurak, Puškin and other persons designated as political prisoners by human rights defenders,” the Human Rights Council appointed experts underscored.

“There are strong reasons to believe that these individuals lost their lives in retaliation for exercising their civil and political rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”

The independent experts voiced concern that some opposition figures had been stigmatised and labelled as “extremists” or even “terrorists”.

Special Rapporteurs report regularly to the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.

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Gaza: ‘Unbearable’ suffering continues, UN official tells Security Council

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Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East Khaled Khiari said more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed since mid-June alone, many of them while seeking aid.

Citing figures from the Gazan health authorities, he reported that the total number of Palestinian fatalities since 7 October 2023 had surpassed 56,500.

“The level of suffering and brutality in Gaza is unbearable,” Mr. Khiari said. “The continued collective punishment of the Palestinian people is unjustifiable.”

Killed trying to access aid

Mr. Khiari cited multiple incidents involving the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) opening fire near food distribution points.

On 17 June, at least 50 people were killed and 200 injured in Khan Younis when an IDF tank opened fire on a crowd waiting for UN World Food Programme (WFP) aid trucks.

Once again a week later, IDF troops reportedly opened fire near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, this time killing 49 Palestinians and injuring 197 others.

“We strongly condemn the loss of lives and injuries of Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza,” Mr. Khiari said. “We call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”

He emphasised that the UN “will not participate in any aid delivery modality that does not comply with the fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality,” a sentiment which other UN officials have repeatedly said as well.

Strong condemnation

Mr. Khiari reiterated the UN’s strong condemnation of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for their attacks in Israel, which killed over 1,200 people and led to more than 250 being taken hostage. Fifty hostages, including one woman, remain in captivity.

“Nothing can justify these acts of terror. We remain appalled that hostages may be subjected to ongoing ill-treatment and that the bodies of hostages continue to be withheld,” he said.

At the same time, he also condemned “the widespread killing and injury of civilians in Gaza, including children and women, and the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals and mosques.”

Rising violence in the West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli raids and settler violence have escalated.  

Mr. Khiari reported that a 15-year-old boy and an elderly woman were killed in separate incidents on 25 June. Armed settlers also killed several Palestinians during attacks in Surif and Kafr Malik.

“The escalating violence in the occupied West Bank is alarming,” Khiari said, warning that military operations and settler expansion are leading to fatalities, displacement and destruction.

Iran-Israel ceasefire brings hope to the region

Mr. Khiari concluded his briefing with comments on the wider Middle East region, particularly the recent flare-up between Israel and Iran.

He welcomed the 24 June ceasefire agreement between the two countries, announced by US President Donald Trump, and credited US and Qatari mediation.

“We hope that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region – nowhere is this more needed than in Gaza,” he said.

‘Behind each crisis, people are suffering,’ Türk tells Human Rights Council

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“We are on an indefensible path of escalating conflict and open disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law,” said Volker Türk, addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Offering a global overview, he painted a stark picture of a world in crisis – with surging armed conflict, deepening climate disruption, emerging technological threats, and a worrying rise in authoritarianism.

Spiralling conflicts

Conflicts around the world are spiralling, as civilians are deliberately attacked and starvation and rape is used as weapons of war by parties. Yet, “accountability is often absent,” said Mr. Türk, who heads the office of human rights, OHCHR.  

From Ukraine to Myanmar, conflicts are plunging countries deeper into chaos and lawlessness.  

In Sudan, the number of arbitrary killings of civilians as rival militaries battle for control, tripled between February and April, OHCHR reports.  

In Gaza, “Israel has weaponised food and blocked lifesaving aid,” Mr. Türk continued, calling for an “immediate ceasefire leading to a two-State solution, with Gaza as an integral part of a Palestinian State.”  

Describing the military escalation between Israel and Iran as “deeply worrying,”  Mr. Türk appealed “for de-escalation and urgent diplomatic negotiations to end these attacks and find a way forward.”  

“This violence must end,” he said.  

Civil society under attack

Around the world, at least 625 human rights defenders and media workers were killed or disappeared in 2024, OHCHR has reported.  

“That is one every 14 hours,” the human rights chief said.  

In many places around the world, civil society and the media are being vilified, harassed and silenced; yet it is civil society and the media who play a vital role holding power to account.  

As investigating and reporting human rights abuses and violations are necessary tools to mitigate conflict and build peace, Mr. Türk said he was “deeply disturbed” by attacks on the international institutions, including the International Criminal Court (ICJ).  

“Sanctioning judges and prosecutors at national, regional or international levels, for doing their jobs, is an assault on the rule of law and corrodes justice,” he said.  

Persecuted minorities

From anti-immigrant rhetoric to hate speech targeting the LGBTIQ+ community, one in five people across 119 countries reported experiencing discrimination in the past year, OHCHR said.  

“Discrimination is neither rare nor random, it is widespread,” said Mr. Türk.  

For instance, data gathered by the UN shows that women face discrimination at more than double the level experienced by men.  

Highlighting the war on women and girls in Afghanistan, the de facto authorities continue to enforce a systematic policy of erasing women and girls from public life, he continued.  

In these troubled times, “we need governments and societies to stand up for human rights, in word and deed,” concluded Mr. Türk.  

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Yemen at breaking point as UN envoy urges action to end suffering

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Speaking via videoconference, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said the country remains trapped in a prolonged political, humanitarian and development crisis.

“Yemen is so much more than the containment of a threat,” he said. “The cost of inaction is high.”

Mr. Grundberg stressed the urgent need for progress towards a sustainable political solution, calling on all parties to show the will to move beyond the current deadlock.

Meanwhile, over 17 million people, nearly half of Yemen’s population, are estimated to be suffering acute malnutrition.

Without sustained humanitarian support, six million more could face emergency levels of food insecurity, said Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General of UN humanitarian wing (OCHA), speaking on behalf of Humanitarian Affairs chief Tom Fletcher.

Economic hardships

“Yemeni citizens continue to shoulder the impact of an economy in freefall,” said Mr. Grundberg, calling for more international support to alleviate the humanitarian and economic hardships they face.

Despite operating under extremely difficult conditions, humanitarian efforts in Yemen continue, but the UN’s response remains constrained and far from meeting the scale of need, according to OCHA.

Still, there are signs of progress. “There is real scope to make progress on the economy,” said Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, pointing to the reopening last May of a key road between Aden and Sana’a, closed for nearly seven years, which has restored a faster and more direct route for civilians and commercial traffic.

“With trust and the right tools, there remains hope,” said Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya.

Fragile frontlines

Marking one year since the arbitrary detention by Houthi rebels – or Ansar Allah – of dozens of aid workers, civil society representatives and diplomatic personnel, Mr Grundberg urged Security Council members to use their “powerful voices” to exert maximum pressure on the group for the unconditional release of the detainees.

While attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and counter measures by Western forces have largely abated since a cessation of hostilities agreement between the United States and the Houthi leadership, the group has launched several recent attacks targeting Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinian cause in Gaza.

With multiple frontlines still fragile and the risk of renewed fighting ever-present, the UN continues to work on a roadmap to help Yemen move beyond its divisions, secure a comprehensive ceasefire, implement critical economic measures and advance an inclusive political process.

Gazans’ suffering goes on amid intensifying Israeli strikes

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In occupied East Jerusalem, meanwhile, Israeli protesters illegally entered a compound of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.

The development comes after the Israeli military coordination unit COGAT said on Saturday that 388 trucks had entered Gaza since last Monday – the first aid to arrive in well over two months of blockade that have caused hunger levels to spike.

Humanitarians have repeatedly warned that at least 500 to 600 trucks need to cross into Gaza every day to provide people with their daily needs – as they did before war erupted on 7 October 2023 after Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel.

Token assistance

“We are on the back of 11 weeks of nothing entering the Gaza Strip, no food, no medicines for 11 weeks, nothing apart from bombs,” said James Elder, a spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“And so today, a week after life-saving aid was finally allowed into Gaza again, the scale of that aid is painfully inadequate,” he told UN News. “It looks like a token that appears more like cynical optics than any real attempt to tackle the soaring hunger crisis among children and civilians in Gaza.”

Today, Gazans remain at “critical risk of famine”, UN-backed food security experts warned earlier this month. In their latest update, they estimated that one in five people in Gaza – 500,000 – faces starvation.

Another school hit

Reports on Monday indicated meanwhile that Israel’s intensifying military operation in northern Gaza against alleged terrorists and their infrastructure had killed at least 50 people in air strikes.

One attack hit a school in Gaza City sheltering hundreds of people uprooted by more than 19 months of violence. Footage reportedly taken after the incident showed the silhouette of a child stumbling through a classroom set ablaze at Fahmi al-Jarjawi school.

Another air strike hit a home elsewhere in Gaza City killing four people, according to the health authorities.

UN-run shelters are now “overwhelmed with displaced people desperately seeking safety”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in an update on Monday. It also underscored that the lack of food has added to people’s suffering.

“Many families are sheltering in abandoned, unfinished, or damaged buildings,” the agency explained. “Sanitation conditions are dire; in some cases, hundreds of people are having to share a single toilet. Others, including children and pregnant women, are sleeping in the open.”

Farming smashed

Across Gaza, less than five per cent of the Strip’s cropland remains available for cultivation, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

Using high-definition imagery, the agencies’ findings emphasize just how much food production capacity has shrunk in Gaza because of the war, exacerbating  the risk of famine.

As of April 2025, more than 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s total cropland area has been damaged (12,537 hectares out of 15,053) and 77.8 percent is not accessible to farmers, leaving just 688 hectares (4.6 percent) available for cultivation.

The situation is particularly critical in Rafah and in the northern governorates, where nearly all cropland is not accessible.

Settler protest

Following the protest at the UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, a spokesperson for the UN agency noted that one member of the Israeli Knesset had joined the settlers inside the gates. Monday is a national holiday in Israel, marking the moment following the Six-Day War in 1967 when the country’s troops occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The UNRWA facility – located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem – has been targeted in past arson attacks that set light to the perimeter fence.

At the end of January, UNRWA withdrew its staff from the compound in protest at the entry into force of an Israeli law banning the agency’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem.

The location retains its status as a UN facility that is protected under international law. 

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World News in Brief: UK cedes sovereignty over Chagos Islands, suffering in Sudan deepens, UN releases new emergency relief funds

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Before granting Mauritius independence in 1968, Britain unlawfully separated the Chagos archipelago to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In doing so, it expelled 1,500–2,000 islanders to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, to the United States for joint military use.

Under the agreement, the UK will lease the island of Diego Garcia for the next 99 years to continue operating its joint military base with the United States.

Value of diplomacy

The agreement signed on Thursday between the UK and Mauritius is “a significant step towards resolving a long-standing dispute in the Indian Ocean region” and “demonstrates the value of diplomacy in addressing historical grievances”, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in Thursday’s briefing.

Welcoming the signature of the agreement, the UN Secretary-General, urged both the UK and Mauritius to “continue engaging in constructive discussion”, in order to ensure that “the rights and aspirations of the Chagossians people are fully respected,” said Mr. Dujarric.

Sudan: Civilian Suffering Deepens Amid Drone Strikes

The civil war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has killed over 18,000 people and displaced 13 million, triggering a regional migration crisis.

Even before the war, humanitarian conditions and human rights protections were fragile, but in the past two years, they have become dire.

Of the 30.4 million Sudanese in need of assistance, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is currently reaching 2.3 million with emergency food and nutrition support, as ongoing violence and infrastructure destruction compound the crisis.

Urgent ceasefire needed

Recent drone attacks on Port Sudan, once a vital entry point for aid, have further deepened the crisis. UN-designated expert Radhouane Nouicer warned Monday that these strikes on critical infrastructure “are putting lives at risk, worsening the humanitarian crisis, and violating basic human rights.”

On Thursday, Mr. Dujarric reported that attacks in Khartoum state have triggered a total electricity blackout, disrupting access to clean water and healthcare amid rising food prices and cholera outbreaks.

The blackout has exacerbated the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

Mr. Dujarric also noted that ongoing insecurity displaced 47,000 people from Khiwai and Nuhud in West Kordofan this month, while another 1,000 were displaced this week from Abu Shouk camp and El Fasher in North Darfur.

At the Arab League Summit in Iraq over the weekend, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent multilateral action to end “appalling violence, famine and mass displacement,” and met with African Union leaders to encourage a push for a ceasefire.

Emergency relief funds released for DR Congo

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated new funds to crisis situations, from Afghanistan to Zambia.

On Wednesday, CERF made $750,000 available to support cholera response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.

The emergency funds will enable the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and partners to deliver critical aid, including timely cholera detection and response, medical treatment, risk communication, and community engagement.

In addition, CERF allocated $10 million to help more than 270,0000 people in vulnerable communities across South Sudan, where the threat of renewed civil war looms.

Ahead of the rainy season, CERF’s life-saving aid will notably target communities who have been impacted by overlapping crises, especially conflict and displacement in the states of Jonglei and Upper Nile.

CERF also allocated $9.5 million to support climate action initiatives in eight countries: Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Venezuela, and Zambia.

© UNICEF/Jospin Benekire

A UNICEF-supported cholera team add chlorine to water collected from a reservoir in Goma, in the DR Congo.

 

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