Disorders such as anxiety and depression are exacting a heavy toll on individuals, families and economies, yet most countries are failing to provide adequate support. Mental health problems are widespread across every society and age group and remain the second leading cause of long-term disability. They drive up healthcare costs...
Of the 154 malnutrition-related deaths since October 2023 (including 89 children) reported by Gazan health authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 63 occurred in July alone. These deaths follow a steep drop in food consumption: 81 per cent of households reported poor food consumption in July (up from 33...
Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said there was no “vocabulary” left to adequately describe conditions on the ground. “Food is running out. Those seeking it risk being shot. People are dying trying to feed their families. Field hospitals receive dead bodies, and medical workers hear stories firsthand from...
Leading calls for the international community to “move from words to action” to help the country’s most vulnerable returnees urgently, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that many families have little shelter and few economic prospects. “In recent weeks, there has been talk in high-level international circles of the need...
Addressing the Security Council on Monday, Edem Wosornu, Director of the Advocacy and Operations Division at the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) described the unfolding disaster as “a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions.” This “man-made” catastrophe, driven by relentless conflict, has dismantled food systems and critical infrastructure, leaving millions in...
It also cited rising cases of respiratory illnesses, compounded by inadequate heating, overcrowded camps and damaged infrastructure. “There is continuous significant rise in influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), since the beginning of winter with subsequent rise in hospital visits and heightened public health concerns,” the Health...
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at the daily briefing on Thursday that bakeries in Aleppo are at near full capacity – “but partners report that they have seen long queues and crowding.” The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reports that the rehabilitation of key facilities has begun in the northwest of Syria...
A new Israel airstrike hit the border post of Joussieh, where many Lebanese and Syrian people are crossing to escape the violence. “Humanitarian structures are also struck,” said Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, in a social media post early Saturday. “Even fleeing (and taking care of...
Under shelling and gunfire, Esraa cradled her newborn son. As the war in Sudan broke out in April 2023, she was trying to reach a health clinic for treatment for her baby, who had been struggling with infections and breathing difficulties. But with the roads blocked by fighting, the young...
In a joint statement 27 aid organisations including UN agencies and their partners issued a call for an immediate stop to the fighting, stressing that conditions in Gaza are “amongst the worst we have witnessed”. Emergency meeting in New York Meanwhile, in New York, Ecuador – which holds the presidency...
The stark report comes against the backdrop of a sharp uptick in fighting between the Government’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF and heightened intercommunal tensions in the restive region. The rival militaries plunged the country into a brutal civil war more than six months ago. Thousands have died and...
Gerard Quinn, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, said that “dead-end jobs, low wages, poor conditions and little room for social mobility” in the care sector are not a way to build resilient systems – as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown. Women carers ‘severely disadvantaged’ Speaking...