At a time when Muslims globally are observing the holy month of Ramadan, more than half the population in Gaza depends on the international community for food aid, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Monday, citing a “near ten-fold increase” in need.
This Friday, we cover: the UN calling for an end to attacks against human rights defenders; a record number of displaced due to conflict and disasters; human rights issues in Myanmar; 900 children released from the ranks of a north-east Nigeria self-defense armed group; and referenda asking for the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala to be examined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
A seeming paradise, life on the Pacific islands is threatened by climate change and extreme weather, frustrated by remoteness and a lack of educational and economic opportunities. Secretary-General António Guterres begins a visit to the region this weekend, where he will speak to people living on some of the islands and see for himself how the UN is helping to mitigate some of the biggest issues.
On Thursday, we cover: a tragic attack against an ambulance in Libya; six new advocates for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; a call for a change in political culture in Cambodia; and how Swine Fever in China is affecting global food prices.
On Wednesday, we cover: chronic hunger in the Middle East; the toll of war on Gazans; the one-year-long detention of an academic in Iran; Syrian health facilities under attack; Ebola casualties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo hitting the 1,000 mark; and a two-day remembrance effort for those who died during the Second World War.
The arrest and transfer of three men in Libya who are wanted on war crimes charges – including the son of former ruler Muammar Gadaffi - would “send a strong and necessary message” to victims, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Millions of dollars in emergency funding is needed in Gaza to save the shattered limbs of some 1,700 people who have been seriously injured in demonstrations against Israel along the border fence, a top UN humanitarian official said on Wednesday.
This Tuesday, we cover: the release of two Reuters journalists in Myanmar; how to detect and disrupt terrorist travel; escalation in Syria fighting; an update from the World Food Programme on Yemen; and how the UN is working to reduce snakebite deaths.
A new programme aimed at improving the tracking of suspected terrorists, using state-of-the-art software, was launched by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) on Tuesday.
UN chief António Guterres has said that he’s following “with great concern” intensifying clashes in north-western Syria that have claimed yet more civilian lives and displaced thousands in recent days.
