March 27, 2024 No comments
First Person: ‘We had to avoid stepping on the bodies in the streets’ in Darfur
INTERNATIONAL, 27 March 2024, Peace and Security - A former UN staff member who worked for a decade in Sudan’s Darfur region for the African Union-United Nations mission, UNAMID, has told UN News how she had to “avoid stepping on the bodies in the streets” as she fled for her life to neighbouring Chad. Sudan, and Darfur in particular, are facing a humanitarian and security crisis after a war broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), although ethnic conflicts in Darfur date back more than two decades. Fatima*, a resident of the city of El Geneina in West Darfur state, where thousands of people have been reportedly killed, escaped with her family across the border as rival militias battled...
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DR Congo mission chief says humanitarian disaster ‘unfolding before our very eyes’
INTERNATIONAL, 27 March 2024, Peace and Security - Insecurity in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has worsened since the end of recent elections, UN Special Representative Bintou Keita told the Security Council on Wednesday. Ms. Keita, who also heads the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO, sounded the alarm over the humanitarian disaster “unfolding before our very eyes”. More than seven million people in the country are displaced, particularly due to the operations of armed groups such as the M23 and the Allied Defense Forces (ADF) across the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. “As this Council has regularly reiterated, echoed by a recent statement of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, all foreign forces illegally operating on...
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World News in Brief: Civilian deaths in Ukraine, refugees in Cameroon at risk, older women facing abuse, cholera in Somalia
INTERNATIONAL, 27 March 2024, Peace and Security - The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine said on Wednesday that she was “shocked and appalled by the horrifying reports” of civilians, including small children, being killed and injured by Russian strikes. News reports said that residential buildings in the northern city of Kharkiv had been hit, killing one and injuring 16, quoting the city’s mayor. Four children were wounded, with images posted to social media showing extensive damage and a body visible lying on the floor. The UN’s Denise Brown said that international law must be respected by combatants, adding that there had been a week of daily attacks on cities “which have taken the lives of people and severely impacted vital services.” Food assistance to Cameroon refugees at risk amid...
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Gaza war: ‘Direct hits’ on more than 200 schools since Israeli bombing began
INTERNATIONAL, 27 March 2024, Peace and Security - The intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel has included “direct hits” on 212 schools in the enclave, UN-partnered analysis indicated on Wednesday. Satellite imagery pointed to at least 53 schools “totally destroyed” since conflict erupted on 7 October 2023 and a near nine per cent increase in attacks on school premises since mid-February, according to a report by the UN Children’s Fund, (UNICEF) and NGOs the Education Cluster and Save The Children. The “high trend of attacks on school facilities” has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, the report’s authors noted, amid “intense Israeli bombardment from air, land, and sea across much of the Gaza Strip”. Widespread destruction Of the 563 school buildings in Gaza,...
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With 783 million people going hungry, a fifth of all food goes to waste
INTERNATIONAL, 27 March 2024, Climate and Environment - While a third of humanity faces food insecurity, an equivalent of one billion meals go to waste every day, a new report by the UN environment agency (UNEP) revealed on Wednesday. One fifth of food is thrown away. The UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2024 highlights that latest data from 2022 shows 1.05 billion tonnes of food went to waste. Some 19 per cent of food available to consumers was lost overall at retail, food service, and household levels. That is in addition to around 13 per cent of food lost in the supply chain, as estimated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), from post-harvest up to the point of sale. ‘Global tragedy’ “Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will...
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