Acute food insecurity to rise in 18 ‘hunger hotspots’, warn aid agencies

Acute food insecurity to rise in 18 ‘hunger hotspots’, warn aid agencies

Although many “hunger hotspots” are in Africa, fears of famine persist in Gaza and Sudan, where conflict continues to rage, fuelling the regional risk of new hunger emergencies, warned the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). “Once a famine is declared, it is too late – many people will have already…

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Keep global spotlight on Haiti as millions go hungry, WFP official says

Keep global spotlight on Haiti as millions go hungry, WFP official says

“We now have five million people in Haiti that are acutely food insecure, of which 1.6 million are classified as facing emergency food insecurity conditions,” said WFP Country Director Jean-Martin Bauer, speaking via videolink to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York. “These are the highest numbers on record. These are the highest numbers we’ve…

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Orlando Bloom describes ‘devastating impact’ of DR Congo violence on women and children

Orlando Bloom describes ‘devastating impact’ of DR Congo violence on women and children

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom visited the region  for the first time this week to see the dire conditions there for himself. “The staggering scale of the conflict in eastern DRC, the horrific level of violence, and its devastating impact on the children and women I met is heart-wrenching,” said Mr. Bloom. “No child should…

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UN investigative team hands over key ISIL crime data to Iraq

UN investigative team hands over key ISIL crime data to Iraq

Thus far, some 28 terabytes (TB) of data have been transferred, representing a majority of the 40TB held by UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD). Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council, UNITAD acting head Ana Peyró Llopis said she has regularly engaged with Iraqi officials, notably the judiciary, survivors…

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Continuing restrictions hamper humanitarian access inside Gaza

Continuing restrictions hamper humanitarian access inside Gaza

Humanitarians said that “security and humanitarian access conditions” have been further reduced since May because of increased violence in northern and southern Gaza, especially in Rafah, where Israeli forces continue their bombardment and military offensive.   “Despite the presence of a system to notify and coordinate humanitarian movements, impediments, delays, and denials of missions continue…

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More than 500 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank: UN rights chief

More than 500 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank: UN rights chief

Two of the latest fatalities were 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat and 17-year-old Mohammed Musa Al Bitar, both shot “at a distance of about 70 metres while running away after throwing stones and/or Molotov cocktails towards a[n Israeli] military post outside a settlement near Aqabat Jaber, CCTV footage shows”, said the High Commissioner’s Office, OHCHR. The…

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