In Gaza, evacuation orders threaten to uproot UN’s aid hub once again
In an update, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke rejected any suggestion of stopping the lifesaving aid operation, despite the multiple challenges linked to the war and ongoing fighting, sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October. “There’s been no…
Flooding from Sudan dam collapse worsens humanitarian crisis
The Arba’at Dam, located around 38 kilometers (24 miles) northwest of Port Sudan, collapsed on Sunday, damaging roads, electricity, and telecommunication networks, making it difficult to assess the situation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported….
Guterres strongly condemns Burkina Faso terror attack; hundreds killed and injured
According to news reports it was the latest terror attack by the Al Qaeda-linked militant group known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) in the north of the West African country which has captured large areas of territory in…
Africa: Refugees and displaced face heightened threat from mpox outbreak
According to UNHCR, 42 suspected mpox cases have been detected in the South Kivu Province of the DRC – the war-ravaged central African country which is the epicentre of the outbreak. There have been other suspected and confirmed cases among…
Afghanistan: Condemnation for new Taliban ‘virtue and vice’ order targeting women
The “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” silences women’s voices and deprives them of their autonomy, “effectively attempting to render them into faceless, voiceless shadows”, said Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR’s Chief Spokesperson. “This is utterly intolerable,”…
China: UN rights office reiterates need to review national security framework
The 31 August 2022 report stated that violations had taken place in the context of the Government’s assertion that it was targeting terrorists among the Uyghur minority with a counter-extremism strategy, involving the use of so-called Vocational Educational and Training…
Internally displaced families in Yemen need increased aid: UNHCR
The update highlights information from the first half of 2024 and reveals that 4.5 million people are displaced and 18.2 million overall require humanitarian aid. The refugee agency based its update on 47,000 families who have already “endured years of…
Polio vaccines arrive in Gaza in boost to vaccination campaign: UNICEF
More than 640,000 children are targeted to receive the polio type two (nOPV) vaccines, UNICEF said in a post on X. The World Health Organization (WHO), the UN’s main agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) and other partners aim to coordinate…
Rights experts reveal impact of Poland’s restrictive abortion laws on women
These restrictive laws have forced many women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, travel abroad to have legal abortions or seek private unsafe procedures, based on information from the UN human rights office (OHCHR). The report from the UN Committee…
Top UN aid official deplores latest wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine
“Like millions of people in Ukraine I spent hours in a shelter this morning because of the ongoing wave of attacks on Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces,” Matthias Schmale said in a statement issued on Monday. He added that…