For decades, helping the least developed countries to develop has been seen as beneficial for the international community as a whole, as well as a duty of the countries with more resources. However, this philosophy is being challenged by some wealthy nations, which have decided to reduce or even end...
But hunger has followed them. Over 57 per cent of the population in the world’s youngest country to the south is already facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Sudan and South Sudan are among five global hunger hotspots of “highest concern”, trapped in a worsening cycle of conflict, climate...
In December last year, the overthrow of the Assad regime by opposition forces reignited hope that most Syrians could see home again soon. As of May, 500,000 refugees and 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their areas of origin. But that’s not the only reason Syria is no...
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...
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....
Addressing the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 in the German capital, the Secretary-General told dozens of ministers from more than 130 countries that peacekeepers remain key to “help countries move from conflict to peace.” “In trouble spots around the world, blue helmets can mean the difference between life and death,” he insisted. “They...
In a statement, UNFPA said the move – which invokes a 1985 legal provision known as the Kemp-Kasten Amendment – is based on “unfounded claims” about the agency’s work in China. These allegations, it noted, have “long been disproven”, including by the US Government itself. The Kemp-Kasten amendment states that...
“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...
But despite their critical role, UN support for midwifery is under serious threat due to severe funding cuts. Each year, three-quarters of all maternal deaths occur in just 25 countries, the majority of them located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA. Midwives...
“We are living through the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He cautioned that abrupt withdrawals of funding are jeopardising hard-won medical progress, including efforts to combat tropical diseases, which are now re-emerging in some regions. “This is just the tip...
With humanitarian resources running dry, critical support for millions of forcibly displaced people is under threat. UNHCR said that two-thirds of countries hosting refugees are already severely overstretched and urgently need support to continue providing education, healthcare and shelter. Global solidarity with those fleeing conflict and violence is weakening, the...
In total, 3.6 million “most vulnerable” people in Ethiopia stand to lose WFP food and nutrition assistance unless funding arrives urgently, warned Zlatan Milisic, the UN agency’s Country Director. “Over 10 million people in Ethiopia are acutely food insecure. This includes three million people displaced by conflict and extreme weather....