Increasing disease and humanitarian strain in Gaza amid aid shortages

New UNICEF report reveals severe child food poverty amid world crises

The report warned that millions of children under five have difficulty accessing nutritious and diverse diets necessary for developmental growth and that food prices and living costs have hit record-high levels as countries continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Harriet Torlesse – who was also a lead writer…

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World News in Brief: Aid breakthrough for Haiti, police violence in Chicago, celebrating ‘pedal power’

World News in Brief: Aid breakthrough for Haiti, police violence in Chicago, celebrating ‘pedal power’

Jean-Martin Bauer, Country Director in Haiti for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), also said that the UN agency had managed to resume flights into Port-au-Prince international airport. ‘Exceptionally complex’ The security situation remains “exceptionally complex” but it has been possible to reach “the most difficult neighbourhoods” of the Haitian capital, Mr. Bauer said. According…

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Health chief hails ‘historic milestone’ in race to avert next pandemic

At World Health Assembly, countries agree on efforts to boost pandemic preparedness

Member countries of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), on the final day of the seventy-seventh World Health Assembly, adopted important amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), including defining a “pandemic emergency” as well as pledging improved access to medical products and financing. These steps will help ensure comprehensive, robust systems are in place…

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World News in Brief: Updates on worsening crises in Gaza, South Sudan, DR Congo

World News in Brief: Updates on worsening crises in Gaza, South Sudan, DR Congo

Only three field hospitals are operating in Rafah in southern Gaza, one of which is only functioning partially, and all of these facilities are overwhelmed and undersupplied, OCHA said, with the seven-month-long war severely impacting civilians and the infrastructure they depend on for healthcare. The UN humanitarian aid agency said the Malnutrition Stabilisation Centre in…

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World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

The World Food Programme (WFP) distributed more than 74,000 hot meals to over 15,000 displaced people in the besieged capital, Port-au-Prince, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told journalists at UN Headquarters on Thursday, providing an update on the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation. In addition, about 2,400 children received mental health and psychosocial support from…

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World News in Brief: Menstrual hygiene day, Guterres condemns DPRK missile launch, conflict in Sudan

World News in Brief: Menstrual hygiene day, Guterres condemns DPRK missile launch, conflict in Sudan

Specifically, the report points out that only two out of five schools worldwide provide menstrual health education while less than one in three schools globally has menstrual waste bins in girls’ bathrooms. Even further, 427 million children are unable to access sanitation services that are “single-sex and usable at school”; meanwhile one in five schools…

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World News in Brief: ‘Appalling’ attacks in Kharkiv, plea to aid Myanmar civilians, maritime tribunal boosts climate action, civilian protection

World News in Brief: ‘Appalling’ attacks in Kharkiv, plea to aid Myanmar civilians, maritime tribunal boosts climate action, civilian protection

Denise Brown said civilian lives must be protected during conflict by all sides, but in Kharkiv in recent days, they have instead been targeted in their homes, with businesses and transport links damaged and attacked. “My thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones due to the strikes,” she said, adding that…

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