It documents 6,279 casualties in 2024. Children remain especially vulnerable, particularly in conflict-affected countries where displaced families are returning to heavily contaminated areas. “Civilians made up 90 per cent of casualties in 2024,” said Loren Persi, Impact Team Lead for the report. “And children remained a significant portion of all...
New modelling shows that if programme coverage falls by half, an additional 1.1 million children could acquire HIV and 820,000 more could die of AIDS-related causes by 2040 – pushing the total toll among children to three million infections and 1.8 million deaths. Even maintaining current service levels would still...
In a statement released by his Spokesperson, the UN chief noted that the disaster driven by severe monsoon conditions had been exacerbated by climate change, impacting around 1.5 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people need humanitarian aid while more than 3,000 homes, over 400 schools and some 40 health...
The de facto rulers of much of the country, including the capital Sana’a, released the crew of a merchant ship who had been held for more than a year, earlier this week. The move raised hopes that more than 60 staff from the UN, international organizations and diplomatic missions already...
A state of emergency remains in effect across the island nation, and a seven-day dusk-to-dawn curfew in parts of Port Vila was scheduled to end on 24 December. Access road to the seaport is also reportedly blocked. The second earthquake heightened concerns, with further updates on its impact, including on...
However, concerns loom for 2025, where the risks include escalating trade wars, geopolitical tensions and shifting policies, clouding the outlook. According to the UN trade and development body (UNCTAD)’s Global Trade Update, the projected figure for this year marks a $1 trillion increase over 2023, driven by robust 3.3 per...
“Throughout the night, I spoke to a colleague sheltering in the compound who told me, ‘We miraculously survived, the fire caught everywhere even the tent where we were sleeping burnt. The scene is terrifying,’” said Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA. Images shared by UNRWA...
The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported that ambulances and relief centres had been “targeted or hit in Lebanon, causing further casualties”, adding that the UN health agency WHO and health partners have continued to deliver life-saving surgical supplies to frontline health workers. International humanitarian law provides special protection for...
The updated Global Report on Food Crises reveals that nearly two million people are now grappling with the most critical level of food insecurity, classified as Phase 5 on the global IPC scale, which tracks acute hunger. This level represents an “extreme lack of food and exhaustion of coping capacities,”...
Airstrikes and missiles struck dwellings and public buildings on Tuesday including Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis killing five, among them a five-day-old baby, reports indicate. “No child in the world should be killed, let alone one sheltering under the emblem of a humanitarian organisation; this has to end,” said Gemma...
UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said that many areas in the enclave have been flooded, “worsening the struggle of displaced Palestinians”, while UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini was due to brief journalists in Geneva on the situation on Thursday, following his most recent visit to Gaza. Almost 1.9 million people...
Speaking in Geneva, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said that a new altitude record for the freezing point had been set a day earlier, climbing to 5,298 metres (17,381 feet) – well above Europe’s very highest peaks including Mont Blanc, at 4,811 metres (15,784 feet). WMO figures show that this is 115...
