(UN News)* — The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are providing lifesaving clean water supplies to 700,000 people a day – around 364,000 of them children – in the regional capital Goma after breaks in the water supply due to the uptick in fighting.
The intense conflict at the end of January, which saw the city overrun by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, left many of the city’s two million residents without access to clean water, sanitation or power. A third of them have only recently been displaced.
(UN News)* — Israel’s move to prevent all aid from entering the Gaza Strip after Hamas reportedly refused to accept a plan to continue with phase one of the fragile ceasefire has had an immediate impact, including a 100-fold increase in the price of flour and vegetables.
That’s according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, which said on Monday [] that the Kerem Shalom, Erez and Zikim crossing closures means that vital humanitarian assistance, including thousands of tents, can’t be delivered to civilians in need.
(UN News)* — Synthetic drugs are rapidly transforming the global drug trade, fuelling an escalating public health crisis, according to the UN administered International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
In its 2024 Annual Report, released on Tuesday [], the INCB explains that unlike plant-based drugs, these substances can be made anywhere, without the need for large-scale cultivation, making them easier and cheaper for traffickers to produce and distribute.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 