Although the private aid platform run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation continues to receive its own supplies, “we are on a descent into a massive famine”, insisted Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, on Friday. Referring to the latest catastrophic assessment of food...
The new joint report, Climate change and workplace heat stress, underscores the mounting risks as climate change fuels longer, more extreme, and more frequent heatwaves. Stressing that workers in agriculture, construction, and fisheries are already suffering the impacts of dangerous temperatures, the report points out that vulnerable groups in developing countries...
“Fuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza,” said the statement. “Without fuel, these lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people.” UN humanitarian workers stressed that fuel powers everything from hospitals and water systems to bakeries and ambulances. Without a steady supply, “maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing,...
The humanitarian network is currently at a standstill because the internet shut down earlier this week after the last fibre cable route serving central and southern areas was cut during heavy fighting. “As the outage continues, partners are unable to communicate or coordinate response activities, and people in need remain...
After nearly three months of complete blockade by Israel, a “vastly insufficient” amount of aid was finally allowed into the war-ravaged enclave in the last week, insisted Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “We have not stopped operating,” he said, referring to staff still inside Gaza,...
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder insisted that the Israeli proposal to create a handful of aid hubs exclusively in the south of the Strip would create an “impossible choice between displacement and death”. The plan “contravenes basic humanitarian principles” and appears designed to “reinforce control over life-sustaining items...
“With no viable peace in sight, the Sudanese are trapped in a humanitarian crisis of industrial proportions,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “Two out of three people need aid, that’s 30 million people…This, of course, demands a massive ramp-up of international support; what we...
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the forced return of the Uyghurs, who had been detained in Thailand for over 11 years, was deeply troubling. “This violates the principle of non-refoulement for which there is a complete prohibition in cases where there is a real risk of...
The violence has seen exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants – and the use of bulldozers in refugee camps for the first time in 20 years which have destroyed public services, including vital electricity and water networks. Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday forces could remain in...
The rebels have already seized the provincial capital, Goma, and reports indicate that they are closing in on the key city of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province. The hostilities are occurring in a mineral-rich region that has been volatile for decades amid a proliferation of armed groups, which has...
Dead bodies lie in the streets, hospitals are overwhelmed and there has been an uptick in reports of sexual violence, rape and looting. “Roads are blocked, ports are closed and those crossing Lake Kivu risk their lives in makeshift boats,” said Shelley Thakral, spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme...
The alert from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) follows a new dire assessment from UN-partnered food insecurity experts has shown the hunger crisis is affecting much of the vast central African nation. The embattled east is a particular concern, where the situation is deteriorating after...