Famine looms in Gaza – how will the world know it has arrived?
United Nations Reuters The United Nations has warned that widespread famine in the Gaza Strip is “almost inevitable” without action. A formal conclusion that famine has arrived in the coastal enclave of 2.3 million people could come next week. Palestinians with children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food […]
One quarter of Gaza’s people one step away from famine, UN says
United Nations Reuters At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – one quarter of the population – are one step away from famine, a senior UN aid official told the Security Council on Tuesday, warning that widespread famine could be “almost inevitable” without action. “Very little will be possible while hostilities continue and while […]
Trapped against fence, Gazans fear Israeli attack on their last refuge
Gaza Reuters Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip on Friday, where the displaced population, penned against the border fence in their hundreds of thousands, feared a new assault with nowhere left to flee. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now homeless […]
Once-in-a-century flooding swamps Somalia after historic drought – UN
Mogadishu, SomaliaReuters The United Nations has described floods that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia and neighbouring countries in East Africa following a historic drought as a once-in-a-century event. A man attempts to rescue a boy from raging flood waters following heavy rains in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 9th November, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Feisal Omar/File […]
Somalia floods kill 10, displace more than 113,000 a year after drought
Mogadishu, SomaliaReuters Floods caused by heavy rains across parts of Somalia have displaced more than 113,000 people and “temporarily affected” hundreds of thousands, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday. About 10 people have died in the aftermath of the rains, and the government has declared a statement of emergency, […]
UN raises concerns over Syria aid route from Turkey, cites “unacceptable issues”
United NationsReuters The United Nations raised concerns on Friday with a letter from Syria that allows it to resume using a shuttered border crossing to deliver aid to northwest Syria from Turkey after UN Security Council approval of that route expired on Monday. In a note to the Security Council, seen by Reuters, the UN […]
Freezing temperatures kill 78 people in Afghanistan
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters At least 78 people have died of cold in Afghanistan during the country’s worst winter in more than a decade, authorities said on Thursday. Deaths from the cold have been recorded in eight of the country’s 34 provinces, officials said. An Afghan man walks on a snow-covered cemetery in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 11th […]
Violence in South Sudan’s Upper Nile displaces 9,000 – UN agencies
Juba, South SudanReuters Violence in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state has killed an unknown number of people and displaced just over 9,000, some of whom are hiding in swamps, United Nations agencies said on Wednesday. Violence is rampant in parts of South Sudan where clashes triggered by local disputes over grazing areas, water, cultivation grounds […]
Forced displacements soared in Colombia in 2021, UN agency reports
Bogota, ColombiaReuters The forced displacement of communities soared in Colombia last year amid increased attacks against civilians by illegal armed groups and higher levels of violence, a UN agency said in a report on Wednesday. At least 73,974 people were displaced from their homes across the Andean country in 2021, more than double the previous […]
Afghanistan needs you, Red Cross tells other aid groups; UN official says women live in “incredible fear”
Reuters The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross appealed on Wednesday to other humanitarian organisations to return to Afghanistan and for the World Bank to unlock funds to support the tottering healthcare system. Peter Maurer made the comments in a briefing with reporters at the end of a four-day trip to Afghanistan […]