Growing concerns for Yemenis battered by relentless rain and flooding
In a joint alert, UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, and UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, said that rising waters had shattered people’s lives in several Yemeni governorates and particularly in Hudaydah, Hajjah, Sa’ada and Taizz. The northern…
WHO backs African efforts to combat mpox spread, as Sweden records new case
The outbreak that affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and spread to neighbouring countries continues to grow. On Thursday afternoon, WHO member Sweden became the first country outside Africa to record a case of the mpox Clade 1…
Attack on a city in Sudan kills at least five and injures more: UNICEF
The bomb hit the Al-Khansa Secondary School for Girls and a crowded marketplace in El Obeid city in Kordofan state, said the statement released by UNICEF’s Sheldon Yett, released on Thursday. This attack followed another on Sunday where a “shell…
Humanitarians report rise in children killed and injured in the West Bank
The number of Palestinian children killed by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces has almost tripled since 7 October 2023, compared with the preceding 10 months, rising from 39 to 115. Similarly, the number of Palestinian boys and girls injured…
Gaza remains at ‘high risk’ of polio virus spread, warn UN aid teams
“At least two rounds of [orally delivered polio vaccine] will be necessary to shut down transmission,” the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) explained in an update. The development comes after vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was identified…
No date yet for long-awaited South Sudan elections
Nicholas Haysom, who also heads the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), briefed ambassadors on political, security and humanitarian developments in the world’s youngest nation, which was scheduled to hold its first post-independence elections in December. Election date proposal expected…
Afghanistan: 20 years of steady education progress ‘almost wiped out’
Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to women and girls over 12. The Taliban swept back into power on 15 August 2021 and swiftly began curtailing women’s rights. Three…
Security Council: Political affairs chief underlines ‘desperate need’ for Gaza ceasefire
More than 100 people were reportedly killed in the attack on the al-Taba’een school in Gaza City, which took place during morning prayer hours. It was one of at least 21 strikes on school shelters recorded since 4 July. “It…
UN rights chief condemns storming of his office in Yemen’s capital
Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, sent a “delegation” to the UN human rights office in the Yemeni capital on 3 August, and national staff were forced to handover documents, furniture and vehicles, as well as the office’s keys….
Sexual violence and famine stalk Sudan’s displaced
Speaking from Sudan, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder described meeting a senior medical worker at a hospital outside Khartoum who had “direct contact with hundreds, hundreds of women and girls, some as young as eight years old, who…