Haiti: UN officials say ‘we are running out of time’ amid escalating crises

Senior UN aid official urges comprehensive response to Haiti crisis

Haitians have been facing a multitude of challenges over the years, encompassing political, security, social and economic issues. The protracted crisis has been further exacerbated by months of brutal gang violence that claimed more than 2,500 lives in the first quarter of 2024 alone. Having recently returned from the country, Carl Skau, WFP Deputy Executive…

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Gaza: No improvement in aid access to north, insists senior UN aid official

Gaza: No improvement in aid access to north, insists senior UN aid official

Jamie McGoldrick, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator overseeing crisis relief in Gaza, pushed back at Israeli claims that more than 1,000 trucks had entered Gaza in the last few days but only around 800 had been collected on the Palestinian side. The veteran aid official also maintained that the deconfliction system in which humanitarians shared their…

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Senior officials call for action and solutions at UN Environment Assembly

Senior officials call for action and solutions at UN Environment Assembly

“Your efforts are urgent,” he said in a video message to the sixth edition of the UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA-6).  “Our planet is on the brink, ecosystems are collapsing, our climate is imploding, and humanity is to blame.”  Action now  The UNEA is the world’s highest decision-making body on the environment and aims to help restore…

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‘No substitute’ for UNRWA’s lifesaving work in Gaza: Senior Humanitarian Coordinator

‘No substitute’ for UNRWA’s lifesaving work in Gaza: Senior Humanitarian Coordinator

Apart from a political decision, which would have to be made by the General Assembly, “there is no way any organization can replace or substitute the tremendous capacity and the fabric of UNRWA and its ability and knowledge,” Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, told correspondents at a stakeout outside the Security…

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World News in Brief: Senior Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, cholera spreading in Sudan, aid for eastern Ukraine

World News in Brief: Senior Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, cholera spreading in Sudan, aid for eastern Ukraine

Holland’s outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify aid consignments to the embittered enclave, in line with a recent Security Council resolution. She will also establish a mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief shipments through States that are not party to the conflict. She is expected to take up the assignment…

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INTERVIEW: Destruction, displacement, and grief. Senior UNRWA official reflects on ‘unprecedented’ conflict in Gaza

INTERVIEW: Destruction, displacement, and grief. Senior UNRWA official reflects on ‘unprecedented’ conflict in Gaza

135 UNRWA staff members are known to have been killed in Gaza since the escalation of fighting since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. That’s the most ever in one incident but, despite the danger and extremely difficult working conditions, UNRWA is continuing to assist those caught up in the fighting through no fault…

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Diplomatic stakes ‘could not be higher’ warns senior UN official

Diplomatic stakes ‘could not be higher’ warns senior UN official

“Today the stakes for preventive diplomacy and dialogue could not be higher,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific, in a meeting organized by the Brazilian presidency.  Referring to the escalating situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, he warned that in the absence of a negotiated two-State solution,…

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Negotiated solution only way to end Sudan war: senior UN official

Negotiated solution only way to end Sudan war: senior UN official

“There needs to be a negotiated solution to end this war as soon as possible.  There is no other alternative,” said Martha Pobee, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, whose portfolio covers both political and peacebuilding affairs. “The longer this war continues, the greater the risk of fragmentation, and foreign interference and erosion of sovereignty,…

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