THE WEST BANK, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 11 April 2025 –“I suffered from postpartum fever, but reaching the hospital was nearly impossible because of the siege on medical services,” said 26-year-old Sara*, from the Nur Shams refugee camp near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm.
She gave birth a little over two months ago, just as the Israeli forces began renewed and intense incursions into multiple areas of the West Bank, where pregnant women and new mothers grapple daily with displacement and the denial of healthcare.
(UN News)* — Hostilities across the Gaza Strip continue to take a devastating toll on the population, with daily reports of Israeli strikes killing and injuring many civilians, UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Thursday .
OCHAsaiddozens of people, including at least eight children, were killed in Gaza City on Wednesday 9 April 2025 after an Israeli strike hit a residential building.
(UN News)* — The United Nations is ramping up its response to Myanmar’s devastating earthquake, calling for increased funding and an immediate ceasefire to ensure more aid reaches those in desperate need.
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake – which struck on March 28 – has claimed over 3,600 lives, injured a further 4,800 people and left 184 still missing.
The disaster has affected more than nine million people across 58 townships, with thousands of buildings, including hospitals and schools, reduced to rubble.
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 2025 (IPS)* –As the Trump administration’s hostility towards the United Nations and other international organizations keeps growing, a New York Times columnist last week proposed what he frivolously described as “something a little incendiary”.
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Credit: John Birch Society
Maybe Trump could follow up on his non-appointment of Elise Stefanik as US Ambassador to the United Nations—who has been virulently anti-UN—by withdrawing the US from the United Nations entirely.
()* — As governments and global markets struggle to deal with the deep concerns and disruptions caused by volatility over trade tariffs, Rebeca Grynspan, the head of the UN trade and development agency (UNCTAD), told UN News on Thursday that the poorest countries – whose activities have a negligible effect on trade deficits – should be exempt.
Ms. Grynspan was speaking in the wake of growing UN concern at the effect on-going uncertainty could have on the most vulnerable developing economies.
On Tuesday , the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated that “trade wars are extremely negative,” and warned that the impact of tariffs could be “devastating.”
The United States government’s abrupt and irresponsible termination of foreign assistance is putting the health and human rights of millions of people in Yemen who depend on humanitarian aid at risk, Amnesty International on said.
(Photo by KHALED ZIAD/AFP via Getty Images)
After a decade of a devastating conflict, Yemen continues to face one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
(UN News)* —In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships being faced by those about to give birth in the devastated enclave.
That’s the message from the UN World Health Organization, WHO, which said on Wednesday that mothers are going into labour amid dire conditions, putting their health and their babies’ lives at risk.
By Rami Ibrahim, Senior Audiovisual and Communication Assistant, IOM Yemen*
7 April 2925 (IOM)*–Sana’a, Yemen – Each morning, sunlight washes over Sana’a, bringing the city to life. The call to prayer rises above the rooftops, shopkeepers open their stalls, and the streets fill with people. But beneath the daily bustle, Yemen’s conflict lingers.
For many, survival is an ongoing struggle. Among them are thousands of migrants who arrive hoping to pass through, only to find themselves stranded.
After months of rehabilitation, Hussein is slowly regaining his strength with Abdulkareem by his side. Photo: IOM/Rami Ibrahim
A leaked paper reveals that Germany’s conservative political parties, the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), want to add a clause to Germany’s Nationality Law to allow the country to revoke German nationality from dual nationals if they are deemed “supporters of terrorism, antisemites and extremists.”
Statement by heads of OCHA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNRWA, WFP and WHO
UNICEF/UNI448939/Eyad El BabaA child and his father as they pass through the rubble of buildings in Gaza.
NEW YORK, AMMAN, COPENHAGEN, GENEVA, ROME, 7 April 2025 (UNICEF)* – “For over a month, no commercial or humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza.
“More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck.