First Person: UNICEF chief in Gaza bears witness to grave violations against children

First Person: UNICEF chief in Gaza bears witness to grave violations against children

Catherine Russell visited Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the south of the besieged enclave on Wednesday. “Today I visited the Gaza Strip to meet with children, their families and UNICEF staff. What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement. Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn.  The parties to…

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World News in Brief: Dozens dead in Yemen shipwreck, Pakistan expulsions ‘must stop’, FAO aids Sudan farmers

World News in Brief: Dozens dead in Yemen shipwreck, Pakistan expulsions ‘must stop’, FAO aids Sudan farmers

More than 64 people are missing and feared dead after the vessel they were travelling in capsized on Sunday. Approximately 90 migrants, including 60 women, were on board the vessel, which was heading to Yemen from the coast of Djibouti. Twenty-six survivors were rescued by the Yemeni Coast Guard. Global cooperation needed  IOM is collaborating…

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Gaza: ‘Hospitals are not battlegrounds’, children’s suffering must stop, UN humanitarians say

Gaza: ‘Hospitals are not battlegrounds’, children’s suffering must stop, UN humanitarians say

Her comments came amid reports on Wednesday morning of an ongoing Israeli Defense Forces raid inside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, where patients including premature babies have died over the course of the past days after incubators and other life-saving equipment lost power. “Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” UN relief chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social platform…

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Attacks on or near Gaza hospitals ‘unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop’: Relief chief

Besieged Gaza hospital misery continues while rainfall prompts new health scare

“Rain will just add further to the suffering” of people in the Strip, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva, at a time when disruptions in sewage pumping and water shortages have caused a spike in waterborne diseases and bacterial infections.  The World Health Organization warned last week that since mid-October, over 33,500 cases of…

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World News in Brief: Diabetes on the rise, UN prisoners in Yemen, Ukraine war fuels rise in landmine casualties

World News in Brief: Diabetes on the rise, UN prisoners in Yemen, Ukraine war fuels rise in landmine casualties

Diabetes is a chronic disease which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. WHO said that more than 460 million people worldwide live with diabetes and millions more are at risk. The UN health agency stressed that people with the condition require…

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Security Council: UN Police need greater support amid ‘many challenges’

Security Council: UN Police need greater support amid ‘many challenges’

Ambassadors met for their annual briefing with the heads of UN Police Components serving at field missions. Approximately 9,000 police officers – men and women – from 94 countries are deployed at UN peace operations, mainly in formed police units (FPUs) comprised of 140 members.  Unique responses required Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, opened…

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Ukraine: UN official ‘utterly outraged’ by brutal attack in Kherson

Ukraine: UN official ‘utterly outraged’ by brutal attack in Kherson

Dozens of civilians were killed and injured, including a two-month-old girl who was hospitalized for her injuries. A hospital and an ambulance were reportedly struck, with two healthcare workers and a patient reported to be among the injured. Civilians pay the price Denise Brown, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, issued a statement saying she was…

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USA: Slavery has left a deep and long-lasting legacy on the country, UN experts say

US ‘at a critical juncture’ in fight against racism: Independent expert

She travelled across the US between 31 October and 14 November, from Detroit in Michigan to the Louisiana coast, also visiting Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington DC. Ashwini K.P., UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, said following her 14-day fact finding mission that mainstream America was now more aware…

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