Tag: displacement
World News in Brief: COVID risk still high, massive Congo flood displacement, concern over Sri Lanka drugs crackdown
The virus is still circulating globally but relatively few countries are following infections closely, meaning the actual threat due to the coronavirus and its variants could be anything from two to 19 times higher than what is being reported to WHO. The agency’s COVID focal point, Dr Maria Van Kerhove, told journalists in Geneva that…
Read MoreGaza crisis: southern areas ‘bursting at seams’ amid new wave of bombing and displacement
Locations in the north and south of the enclave were hit as Israeli ground forces also reportedly pushed into central areas, along with the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel, prompting concerns from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, about the safety of civilians uprooted time and again. Rafah governorate in…
Read MoreINTERVIEW: Destruction, displacement, and grief. Senior UNRWA official reflects on ‘unprecedented’ conflict in Gaza
135 UNRWA staff members are known to have been killed in Gaza since the escalation of fighting since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. That’s the most ever in one incident but, despite the danger and extremely difficult working conditions, UNRWA is continuing to assist those caught up in the fighting through no fault…
Read MoreWorld News in Brief: DR Congo mission extended, Sudan displacement deepens, warzone death toll for journalists spikes
The Mission, known as MONUSCO, has been in the country for two decades and is in the process of drawing down. The decision taken today by the Council sets out a comprehensive disengagement plan that includes three distinct, successive phases and the gradual handover of responsibility to the Government. MONUSCO will remain there until 20…
Read More‘This must stop,’ UN chief says as deaths, displacement ripple across Gaza
Top UN officials echoed that call to improve conditions for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, 1.7 million of which have been displaced since the 7 October Hamas attack in Israel resulted in the killing of 1,200 Israelis and capture of 240 hostages. Since then, more than 11,000 people have been killed in besieged Gaza. “This war…
Read MoreWorld News in Brief: ICC slams ‘unacceptable threats’, DR Congo displacement, UNEP ‘Champions of the Earth’
ICC President Piotr Hofmański was presenting the independent court’s annual report to the UN in New York. The ICC was established in July 2002 under a treaty known as the Rome Statute and is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands. Mr. Hofmański noted that he himself, along with Prosecutor Karim Khan was on the list, which…
Read MoreIsrael-Palestine: Rising death and displacement, including among UN staff
OCHA cited Israeli media, which reported that as of Tuesday evening, more than 1,000 Israelis, including foreign nationals, were killed and at least 2,806 people were injured, according to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said at least 830 Palestinians have been killed and 4,250 injured. Over a tenth of the…
Read MoreSudan conflict creates world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis: UN aid official
“The past six months have caused untold suffering in Sudan” and forced more than 5.4 million people from their homes, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, the UN official noted that approximately 30,000 a day have fled fighting, “some fleeing…
Read MoreWorld News in Brief: Peace day, high seas treaty, Palestinian displacement rises, polio in Ukraine
“People and our planet are in crisis”, the UN chief said, highlighting how conflicts continue to drive the vulnerable from their homes, while heatwaves and floods claim lives and division prevails. ‘Leave no one behind’ This year’s Peace Day coincides with the halfway point on the road to the Sustainable Development Goals, and the UN’s…
Read MoreSudan: Displacement soars amid shrinking humanitarian access
“We’ve already seen over 560,000 people crossing into neighbouring countries…[and] nearly two million people displaced internally,” said Raouf Mazou, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, following a visit to Sudan. Since conflict erupted there on 15 April when rival militaries clashed, more than half a million people have reached neighbouring countries in a bid to escape…
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