At-risk Caribbean scrambles to prepare for hurricanes during pandemic
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation Caribbean nations were scrambling to adapt storm shelters to prevent the spread of coronavirus and stock up on supplies, with thousands of people already evacuating their homes as the hurricane season gets underway, aid agencies warned on Monday. A busier than normal Atlantic Ocean hurricane season has been predicted for 2020, […]
Aid groups face calls to open up on racism as survey finds data holes
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Aid agencies are facing calls to deal openly with racism within their ranks, as almost one third of leading humanitarian organisations refused to give details about complaints against staff to an exclusive Thomson Reuters Foundation survey. Organisations globally are facing pressure from staff to do more to confront racism amid global […]
COVID-19 exposes “distorted picture” of global poverty gains, UN envoy says
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation The coronavirus pandemic has exposed complacency and “misplaced triumphalism” by international aid organisations that have taken credit for progress on eradicating extreme poverty, a top United Nations rights official said. Global entities have failed to end severe hardship around the world, and COVID-19 will plunge even more people into […]
Cheap and creative ideas to protect world’s most vulnerable from coronavirus
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation From handwashing stations to digital advice hubs, initiatives are underway to protect the world’s most vulnerable people from the global coronavirus epidemic. While richer nations rush to bolster their health systems to cope, poorer nations with fewer resources are likely to struggle and suffer worse impacts, said humanitarian organisations, with refugee […]
How coronavirus is affecting the world’s most vulnerable
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Aid groups have warned the coronavirus pandemic is causing a squeeze on lifesaving supplies and hampering their ability to help some of the world’s most vulnerable people. An internally displaced Syrian child sits in front of a tent in an IDP camp located near Idlib, Syria, on 27th February. PICTURE: Reuters/Umit […]
Climate change and empowering women top aid agencies’ 2020 to-do list
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Tackling climate change and addressing violence against women and girls will be among aid agencies’ top priorities for 2020, they told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. We asked 10 organisations which two key issues they would focus on in the coming year… Care International – Natasha Lewis, senior advocacy & policy advisor• […]
Fazle Abed, founder of world’s biggest non-government organisation BRAC, dies aged 83
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Fazle Abed, the founder of BRAC, the world’s largest non-governmental development organisation, died on Friday at the age of 83 in his home country of Bangladesh. Abed founded BRAC in 1972 as a small rehabilitation project and over five decades built up the massive operation that worked in 11 countries in […]
Two years after siege, no return to normal for Philippine city
BangkokThomson Reuters Foundation Two years after pro-Islamic State militants laid siege to the Philippine city of Marawi, tens of thousands of people remain uprooted and rebuilding is slow, aid agencies said last week. The siege forced more than 100,000 residents from their homes in the predominantly Muslim city. Some went into transitional housing, built by […]
Congolese refugees cross illegally into Uganda, raising risk of Ebola – aid groups
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation People fleeing violence in an Ebola-hit region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are being forced to cross the border illegally into Uganda, risking the virus spreading into the neighbouring East African nation, aid groups said on Friday. More than 60,000 people in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Beni region in North […]
Rise in sexual abuse cases in aid groups as more victims speak up
Thomson Reuters Foundation Leading aid agencies received at least 539 reports of sex abuse and harassment last year, an exclusive survey showed on Monday, a 13 per cent increase on 2017 which charities said shows abuse victims are more willing to speak up. The reports have led to the sacking of 91 staff, with many […]