Belarus is not safe for anyone critical of authorities, warns rights expert
In her final, annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Belarus, Anaïs Marin, echoed wider, longstanding concerns from the UN and the international community about a crackdown on democratic freedoms and other serious…
Haiti: UN envoy welcomes democratic progress amidst alarming violence
Maria Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Haiti, briefed ambassadors at the Security Council, highlighting the installation of the Transitional Presidential Council in April and the swearing-in of an interim Prime Minister and new government in June…
UN rights chief urges free and open space for debate in Venezuela
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reported increasing restrictions on civic spaces, urging stakeholders to reverse course. “My Office (OHCHR) continues to receive reports of detentions as election day approaches, including of supporters and members of the opposition,”…
Gaza is a ‘maelstrom of human misery’
Public services have collapsed and over 1.9 million have now been displaced, she told ambassadors at the Security Council, underscoring the critical need for a full, immediate and complete ceasefire, release of all hostages and unhindered aid across the enclave….
Gaza: 250,000 set to be displaced by new Khan Younis escalation
In an alert detailing another night of heavy bombardment across the enclave, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said that Gazans fleeing the southern city have had to erect shelters at the water’s edge because displacement camps are already packed at the…
Sudan’s cocktail of war and flooding leaves people trapped, unable to flee
To provide lifesaving aid to those forced out of Sudan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), revised its original $1.4 billion appeal to $1.5 billion. Ewan Watson, Head of Global Communications at the UN agency, said…
Tens of thousands displaced in fresh violence in DR Congo
The situation is particularly concerning in the restive province of North Kivu, home to 2.8 million displaced people. In the last one week, more than 150,000 were displaced due to continued fighting in the town of Lubero and the strategically…
UN urges international solidarity as Hurricane Beryl devastates Caribbean islands
A Category 5 storm, Hurricane Beryl has claimed at least six lives as it barrels through the Caribbean Sea. Initial reports indicate severe damage to homes, infrastructure and power and communications. UN Spokesperson Stephané Dujarric told journalists at the regular…
Tens of thousands displaced in new Gaza City escalation
The exodus from Gaza City’s eastern Shujaiya district follows days of reported intense bombardment by the Israeli military, whose tanks have been sighted “around 100” metres east of Salah El Din road, the main north-south axis. “People in this area…
Sudan: UN food convoy attacked, supplies looted amid worsening crisis
Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the top UN humanitarian official for Sudan expressed “outrage” at the incident. “The aid looted from a WFP convoy in Central Darfur will no longer go to the most vulnerable people in need,” she said in a post…