WHO on alert as mpox cases surge to unprecedented levels in Africa
The continent is witnessing an “unprecedented” spike in mpox cases since January, with 15 countries reporting outbreaks. As of Thursday, 2030 cases and 13 deaths were confirmed this year, compared with 1,145 cases and seven deaths in the whole of…
Testing swift responses to chemical terrorism threats
On a seemingly typical day in Semarang, Indonesia, a few train passengers have started to feel nauseous. Others nearby are saying they cannot breathe. Five have fainted. One is not responding. A few minutes in, a miniature car wheezes by…
UNICEF warns against escalating violence in the Middle East
“Children in many countries in the Middle East are facing a harsh reality today more than ever before: life shrouded by uncertainty and violence,” UNICEF Regional Director Adele Khodr said in a statement. Almost every report of an attack includes…
UN rights chief ‘deeply troubled’ by dissolution of Thailand’s Move Forward Party
The court also banned the Move Forward Party’s (MFP) senior figures, including leader Pita Limjaroenrat, from politics for 10 years. MFP had won the most seats in the May 2023 general elections in Thailand, securing 151 seats in the 500-member…
Nurturing hope and leadership among Gaza’s young people
A volunteer with Sharek Youth Forum, a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in war-torn Gaza, Ms. Al Shamali has currently been displaced for the ninth time and lives in a crowded refugee camp as the conflict with Israel enters its 10th…
WHO regional chief voices grave concern over Middle East escalation
The past two weeks have seen a variant of poliovirus type 2 detected in sewage samples in Gaza, deadly military strikes in several neighbouring countries, and the confirmation of famine in Sudan’s North Darfur state, among other challenges. Rebuild health…
Sudan: Over a dozen more areas at risk of famine as fighting impedes aid
The Zamzam camp houses about 500,000 displaced persons and is located near North Dufur’s besieged capital, El Fasher, which has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting since the start of the war between rival militaries Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and…
Zimbabwe faces worsening food crisis due to El Niño droughts
This comes just two months after UN humanitarians declared Zimbabwe as one of the hunger hotspots where acute food insecurity was likely to deteriorate. The storm destroyed more than half of the country’s harvest, leaving about 7.6 million people at risk…
UN rights office reports escalation in strikes on schools in Gaza
According to the office at least 17 schools have been hit, raising serious concerns about compliance with principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), including distinction, proportionality and precaution. OHCHR also pointed to an escalation in such attacks. Since last Monday,…
Humanitarians urge Security Council to stop ‘freight train of suffering’ in Sudan
Edem Wosornu of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, and Stephen Omollo, Assistant Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), briefed ambassadors in the wake of the recent confirmation of famine in the Zamzam displacement camp, home to 500,000…