Globally, 1.8 billion people menstruate, yet for many, especially in crises zones, it’s far more than an inconvenience. In war-torn Gaza, around 700,000 women and girls of menstruating age, including thousands experiencing their first period, face this challenge under relentless bombardment and in cramped, unsanitary conditions with little privacy. A human rights...
Member States had paid just $1.8 billion towards the UN’s $3.7 billion regular budget for 2025, as of 9 May. Including unpaid contributions from previous years, total unpaid assessments stand at approximately $2.4 billion as of 30 April. The United States is the largest debtor at about $1.5 billion, as...
This includes more than 1.12 billion people living in slums or informal settlements. An additional 300 million face absolute homelessness, lacking any form of stable shelter, UN-Habitat estimates. Living without The crisis is particularly acute in rapidly urbanising regions such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific. As cities grow, housing development...
The latest displacement brings the total number of people uprooted by violence, cyclones and social unrest in Mozambique to nearly 1.3 million, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. The situation is particularly dire in Cabo Delgado province, where attacks by non-state armed groups continue to drive displacement, destroy infrastructure...
Conflict has plagued the DRC for decades, particularly in the east. Armed clashes escalated sharply this year as M23 rebels wrested control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in January, followed by Bukavu in South Kivu a month later. The security and humanitarian situation further deteriorated with recent outbreaks of anthrax...
16 years – that is how long Dah had to live with the agonising condition, undergoing eight different surgical procedures before finally getting the fistula repaired. In recognition of the over 500,000 women like Dah who are forced to endure what is a highly treatable condition, the International Day to...
Wrapping up a visit to the country, Edem Wosornu, who heads operations and advocacy for the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said that she could “feel the momentum for change” on the ground after years of suffering and hardship under the Assad regime ended with its overthrow last December....
Over the past five years, the refugee population in Kenya has surged by more than 70 per cent – from approximately 500,000 to 843,000 – driven largely by conflict and drought in neighbouring Sudan and Somalia. Of these, around 720,000 people are sheltering in the Dadaab and Kakuma camps, as...
It’s believed that hundreds of thousands of trafficked individuals of various nationalities are forced to carry out fraud in the centres located across Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia. “The situation has reached the level of a humanitarian and human rights crisis,” said right experts Tomoya Obokata, Siobhán Mullally...
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, urged Member States to remain focused on shared goals even amid global instability. “We are here to serve not our own interests, but the eight billion people of our world,” he said in his keynote address at the Palais des Nations....
Across 73 countries, 308 million people now rely on humanitarian aid – a number that continues to rise. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by these crises, facing preventable pregnancy-related deaths, malnutrition, and alarming levels of sexual violence. Despite the growing need, the humanitarian system is facing severe funding shortfalls,...
“Without funding, asylum seekers are left in limbo – undocumented, unsupported and increasingly desperate,” said Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. Her comments follow a 41 per cent budget cut to the UN agency’s operations in the country that have had devastating consequences. “This is not about luxuries; the...