Children’s shoes left behind illustrate chaos of fleeing Khan Younis: UN humanitarians

Children’s shoes left behind illustrate chaos of fleeing Khan Younis: UN humanitarians

“They used to shelter inside the school yard here, inside the classrooms, using all the external space. Now there’s nothing left. Everybody evacuated very quickly,” said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Communications Officer.  Writing in a social media post on X that abandoned children’s shoes were “everywhere” at the school, the UNRWA officer also pointed to rubble…

Read More
Thousands of children killed or maimed by explosive weapons in populated areas: UNICEF

Gaza at ‘most dangerous’ stage amid huge unexploded weapons risk, warns demining expert

“This is the most dangerous period; once people start returning to the north, that’s when most accidents will occur, because they won’t be familiar with where your unexploded ordnance is located,” said Mungo Birch, Chief of the UN Mine Action Programme (UNMAS) in the State of Palestine. “It’s important that once the returns start, we’re…

Read More
World News in Brief: Violence blocking Darfur aid, new Iraq law, Chad elections appeal

World News in Brief: Violence blocking Darfur aid, new Iraq law, Chad elections appeal

In the past month, WFP supported more than 300,000 people there with food, including 40,000 in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. “We must be able to reach those who need us most in Sudan,” Executive Director Cindy McCain wrote in a post on social media.  Separately, UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffiths…

Read More
INTERVIEW: Reducing teen pregnancy in Thailand

UN reviews progress, challenges 30 years after landmark population conference

Dennis Francis was speaking at an event  to mark the 30th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo. The landmark conference concluded with a Programme of Action, adopted by 179 governments, that put reproductive rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women, girls and young people at the heart of development…

Read More
Sudan: Security Council members call for immediate halt to military escalation in El Fasher

Sudan: Security Council members call for immediate halt to military escalation in El Fasher

The call comes amid reports of an imminent offensive by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militia against the city, which could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons currently sheltering there. At least 43 people, among them women and children, have been killed in fighting between the Sudanese Armed…

Read More
Climate action ‘cannot trample over the poor’, says Guterres, launching new initiative to protect key minerals for clean energy transition

Climate action ‘cannot trample over the poor’, says Guterres, launching new initiative to protect key minerals for clean energy transition

The newly established Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals brings together a diverse group of governments, organisations and UN bodies to develop a set of common and voluntary principles to protect environmental and social standards aimed at embedding justice in the energy transition. “A world powered by renewables is a world hungry for critical minerals,”…

Read More
Ukraine war: UNICEF highlights 40 per cent rise in children killed this year

Ukraine war: UNICEF highlights 40 per cent rise in children killed this year

Attacks that occurred between January and March left 25 children dead, including a two-month-old, said the agency. During the first three weeks of April, nine children lost their lives during attacks. UNICEF‘s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Regina De Dominicis, said during a visit to the war-torn country that children and families are…

Read More
World News in Brief: Malnutrition crisis risk grows in Haiti, clashes in DR Congo, peacebuilding in Colombia

World News in Brief: Support for Haiti mission, challenge of ‘commodity dependence’, Iran’s ‘strict’ hijab law

Kenya has offered to lead the multinational mission that aims to provide much needed back up to the national police in a bid to regain control of the streets from gang rule, which has plunged the country into chaos in recent months.  Kenya was joined by the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica in…

Read More