Fuel restrictions are curtailing aid efforts, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said amid reports of fresh attacks on schools and other civilian infrastructure and rising needs among more than 1.5 million displaced Gazans. Fuel deliveries for aid operations have been largely prohibited since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October left at least…
In line with this year’s theme of accelerating change, innovators have been part of ongoing efforts to address the needs of some of the world’s 3.5 billion people living without safe toilets. From a Nepalese woman who prompted her village to improve hygiene to a fresh game plan launched in 2022 by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), these…
“What we do know is that the health system is on its knees,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in the wake of Hamas militants’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October that left 1,200 dead and the heavy bombardment of the enclave by the Israeli military in response. ‘Endless need’ Speaking from Jerusalem…
The floods were caused by ongoing heavy rains and come in the wake of the longest and most severe drought on record, the impacts of which are still being felt by millions across the region. Among the greatest needs are food, emergency shelter, kitchen sets, blankets, clean water and hygiene services. Families living in flood-prone…
In the fighting so far, about 70 civilians – and combatants who are out of action – have reportedly been killed and over 90 wounded, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR). The fighting has also fuelled a fresh wave of displacement, driving over 200,000 people from their homes since 27 October. In all,…
More than 1.5 million Gazans are displaced, 18 hospitals have shut down, and hundreds of thousands are living in fear and under continuing Israeli bombardment. “Casualties continue to mount, with the dead reportedly exceeding 11,000 people – the majority of them children and women,” said Emergency Relief Coordinator and Humanitarian Affairs chief, Martin Griffiths. “The…
Hundreds of ethnic Masalit civilians were reportedly killed earlier this month in Ardamata town, West Darfur, by the RSF and their allied Arab militia. The RSF has its roots in the Janjaweed militias which fought on the Government side against a rebel coalition in the Darfur war two decades ago. Some of its leaders face…
First Sergeant Renita Rismayanti received the prestigious Woman Police Officer of the Year Award during a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York. At 27, she is the youngest recipient in the Award’s 13-year history. Working for change Ms. Rismayanti is deployed as a crime database officer at MINUSCA, which has a mandate that includes…
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, informed ambassadors on the Security Council that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have gained territory, pushing the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) out of several of its bases in the region since late October. The RSF seems poised to advance on El Fasher in north Darfur, a major…
Speaking in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the parties to the conflict to “create the political space for a path out of this horror”. Mr. Türk condemned the widespread targeting of civilians in the past five weeks of hostilities and urged accountability for gross rights violations. He stressed that attacks directed at…
