April 24, 2024 No comments
UNRWA seeks $1.2 billion to meet urgent needs in Gaza and the West Bank
INTERNATIONAL, 24 April 2024, Humanitarian Aid - The UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, launched a $1.2 billion appeal on Wednesday to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip and to respond to needs in the West Bank as violence there increases. The funding will cover humanitarian response through the end of the year, with the goal of meeting the most urgent needs of 1.7 million people in war-ravaged Gaza and more than 200,000 Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Lifeline for millions “The scars of war are seen on a massive scale in Gaza. Meanwhile violence is increasing in the West Bank,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said. “It is critical to support UNRWA in providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance and development services in health and education. The past months proved that...
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April 24, 2024 No comments
Latest hunger data spotlights extent of famine risk in Gaza, Sudan and beyond
INTERNATIONAL, 24 April 2024, Peace and Security - Dangerous levels of acute hunger affected a staggering 281.6 million people last year – the fifth year in a row that food insecurity has worsened – heightening growing fears of famine and “widespread death” from Gaza to Sudan and beyond, UN agencies warned on Wednesday. According to the latest Global Report on Food Crises, more than one in five people in 59 countries faced acute food insecurity in 2023, compared with around just one in 10 in 48 countries in 2016. “When we talk about acute food insecurity, we are talking about hunger so severe that it poses an immediate threat to people's livelihoods and lives. This is hunger that threatens to slide into famine and cause widespread death,” said Dominique Burgeon, Director of the UN Food...
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April 23, 2024 No comments
UN chief calls for all hands on deck at Climate Promise 2025 launch
INTERNATIONAL, 23 April 2024, Climate and Environment - Top UN officials launched a fresh global campaign to tackle the climate emergency on Tuesday, with social media influencers, Indigenous leaders and corporate giants showing what they’ve done and what’s to come. The Climate Promise 2025 aims to accelerate efforts from local to international levels to take more ambitious steps to ensure the global temperature does not heat up beyond the 1.5° limit, a goal set with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the initiative, driven by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), recognises an important truth in the climate battle: “it is not all doom and gloom”. “Many countries have the will to take more ambitious steps on climate action, but the world...
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April 23, 2024 No comments
World News in Brief: South Sudan tax impositions, Somalia flash floods, Ukraine attacks
INTERNATIONAL, 23 April 2024, Humanitarian Aid - The UN acknowledges assurances from the South Sudanese government that the recent imposition of taxes on fuel and supply trucks does not apply to the Organization. Still, concerns remain regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid efforts in the region since some of the UN’s fuel and supply trucks are being held at many depots and the border. “Until they are released, we will not be able to conduct many of our activities in support of the communities in need across the country,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Tuesday. He said that UN colleagues in South Sudan say fuel reserves are being depleted which leaves them in a critical situation that prevents the delivery of millions of dollars worth...
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April 23, 2024 No comments
UK’s newly passed ‘Safety in Rwanda’ bill is anything but safe: UN officials
INTERNATIONAL, 23 April 2024, Human Rights - Following the United Kingdom Parliament’s passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” bill, two top UN officials sounded an alarm on Tuesday about its harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights and refugee protection. Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a joint statement calling on the UK Government to reconsider its plan to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. This arrangement seeks to shift responsibility for refugee protection, undermining international cooperation, Mr. Grandi added. “The new legislation marks a further step away from the UK’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention,” he said. “Protecting refugees requires all countries, not just those neighbouring crisis...
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