relief – Career Meaning

Aid relief is arriving in Gaza but ‘too little, too late’, warns WHO

“Even if there is no ceasefire, you would expect humanitarian corridors to operate… in a much more sustained way than what’s happening now,” said Sean Casey, Emergency Medical Teams Coordinator for the World Health Organization (WHO), speaking from Rafah in southern Gaza. Humanitarian assistance – and particularly food – is desperately needed across Gaza, particularly in…

World News in Brief: Gaza relief ‘an impossible mission’, COVID spreading fast again, food prices fall

“Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence – while the world watches on”, warned Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths in a statement, adding that “hope has never been more elusive” amidst deteriorating conditions. “The humanitarian community has been left with the impossible mission of supporting more than two million people, even as…

World News in Brief: Food aid relief for Rohingya, 5 new Security Council members, jailing of Russian poets draws rebuke from rights expert

“The entire Rohingya population” from Myanmar will benefit, according to the UN agency, which increased the value of its monthly food voucher from $8 to $10 per person on 1 January. Until early last year vouchers were worth $12 but WFP was forced to reduce their value in March to $10 because of funding gaps.…

With Gaza truce on horizon, UN relief teams stand ready to ramp up aid

According to media reports, ongoing negotiations over the Israel-Hamas agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause and the freeing of hostages held by the Palestinian armed group since its 7 October terror attacks indicated that the deal’s entry into force was believed to be unlikely before Friday. Amid rising hunger, UN World Food Programme (WFP) chief…

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza could get far worse, warns UN relief chief

More than 1.5 million Gazans are displaced, 18 hospitals have shut down, and hundreds of thousands are living in fear and under continuing Israeli bombardment. “Casualties continue to mount, with the dead reportedly exceeding 11,000 people – the majority of them children and women,” said Emergency Relief Coordinator and Humanitarian Affairs chief, Martin Griffiths. “The…

Attacks on or near Gaza hospitals ‘unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop’: Relief chief

In a statement, the Israeli military denied that it had targeted Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which they claim is above a Hamas command post, but have acknowledged that fighting is happening “around” the facility. UN relief and humanitarian affairs chief, Martin Griffiths, tweeted that in light of “horrific reports of attacks”, there could be…

Israel-Palestine crisis: Silence the guns, UN relief chief tells Paris forum

Echoing his remarks with French President Emmanuel Macron looking on, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, stressed the “heart-breaking” plight of children in the territory, whom he saw last week “pleading for a piece of bread and a sip of water”. Mass displacement has led to severe overcrowding in…

Second aid convoy ‘another glimmer of hope’ for millions in Gaza: UN relief chief

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Martin Griffiths described the supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Cross and the UN as “another glimmer of hope for the millions of people in dire need of humanitarian aid”, adding “but they need more, much more.” Saturday marked the first convoy to enter Gaza, where supplies of…

Gaza: ‘History is watching’ warns UN relief chief, saying aid access is key priority

“History is watching,” Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told UN News in Geneva, highlighting the desperate situation facing around one million Gazans uprooted in the last week, after the Israeli military warned of an imminent offensive following the deadly 7 October attacks on Israel by militant group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza strip since…

UN relief chief urges end to ‘humanitarian nightmare’ in Sudan

Up to 9,000 people have been reportedly killed, more than 5.6 million driven from their homes and 25 million people need aid, because of the conflict that erupted in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other armed groups. In a statement marking the grim milestone, Martin Griffiths,…