Nearly 90 per cent of the over one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon are caught in a vicious debt cycle, according to the UN.

The almost five-year-long civil war in Syria has driven millions of people to find refuge in neighbouring countries like Lebanon.

Women farmers on Zanzibar are going back to school to fight for their rights and boost family income.

Most of the farmers on the tropical island off the coast of mainland Tanzania are women, but traditionally they have had very little control over their lives, or finances.

Women are playing a key role in Mali’s recovery from violent conflict, according to the UN’s head of humanitarian operations.

The government and rebels had been fighting for control of the West African country but a peace deal was signed in June this year.

Concern at “never-ending flow” of vulnerable EU arrivals