World News in Brief: Food aid reaches Haitians, UN chief condemns attack on Slovakian leader, Russian strikes drive influx of evacuees in Ukraine

World News in Brief: Food aid reaches Haitians, UN chief condemns attack on Slovakian leader, Russian strikes drive influx of evacuees in Ukraine

Providing an update of the situation, he said the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed close to 10,000 hot meals on Monday and Tuesday to about 5,000 people displaced in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The UN agency started to transition from hot meals distributions to cash-based transfers for the displaced. “So far, more than 37,000 people…

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Spike in dangerous Darién jungle crossings underscores need for safe migration pathways, say UN agencies

Surge in child migrants crossing the dangerous Darién Gap: UNICEF

In the first four months of 2024, more than 30,000 children traversed the dense jungle region separating Colombia and Panama, marking a significant increase compared to the same period last year. Among them, about 2,000 were unaccompanied or separated from their families. Additionally, the number of children in transit grew five-times faster than the number…

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UN forum in Bahrain endorses declaration on entrepreneurship and innovation for the SDGs

UN forum in Bahrain endorses declaration on entrepreneurship and innovation for the SDGs

The fifth Manama Declaration, named after the Bahraini capital where the 2024 World Entrepreneurship Investment Forum (WEIF) has been running since Tuesday, echoed the gathering’s theme: innovation can drive development of technologies and products to help address socioeconomic and environmental challenges.   The resulting economic advances can provide the resources needed to invest in sustainable…

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UN rights chief urges comprehensive action against religious hatred and discrimination

UN rights chief, independent experts denounce Georgia’s new ‘foreign agents’ law

The Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence requires media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad. It was adopted on Tuesday. The adoption has sparked protests in the capital, Tbilisi, and has been…

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World News in Brief: Arson at UNRWA’s East Jerusalem office, UN probe on staff member’s death in Gaza, food insecurity in South Sudan

World News in Brief: Arson at UNRWA’s East Jerusalem office, UN probe on staff member’s death in Gaza, food insecurity in South Sudan

This time it was an “arson attempt by Israeli children and young people on UNRWA”, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a social media post on Tuesday. “This has got to stop,” he said. Last Thursday evening, Mr. Lazzarini said Israeli residents had set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA headquarters when staff from several…

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Record 75.9 million internally displaced in 2023, UN report reveals

Record 75.9 million internally displaced in 2023, UN report reveals

The year also saw nearly 47 million new internal displacements, highlighting the urgent need for protection and prevention efforts, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), which supplied data for the report. “As the planet grapples with conflicts and disasters, the staggering numbers of 47 million new internal displacements tells a harrowing tale,”…

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Guterres calls on Israel and Hamas to end Gaza war

Guterres deplores Rafah escalation | UN News

“These developments are further impeding humanitarian access and worsening an already dire situation. At the same time, Hamas goes on firing rockets indiscriminately,” the statement said. Stressing that civilians must be respected and protected at all times, Mr. Guterres noted that “for people in Gaza, nowhere is safe now.” The Secretary-General reiterated his longstanding urgent…

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