PORTLAND, US, Mar 4 2025 (IPS)* –As the world’s population increased five-fold since the start of the 20th century, the changes in the geographic distribution of the billions of people across the planet have been ongoing and significant.
In contrast to the rapid growth of the high fertility countries like the DRC and Nigeria, some of the largest populations in 1950, such as Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia, have grown relatively slowly during the recent past. Credit: Shutterstock.
Those continuing changes in the distribution of the world’s population have weighty economic, political, social and environmental consequences (Table 1).
GENEVA, 7 March 2025 – On this year’s International Women’s Day, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warns that critical funding shortages are leaving displaced women and girls at unprecedented risk.
Reports of conflict-related sexual violence have surged by 50 per cent in recent years. Yet funding shortfalls are forcing humanitarian organizations to cut essential services in crisis-affected regions.
Gender equality is a must for a world of zero hunger; where all women, men, girls and boys can exercise their human rights, including the right to adequate food.
This is why the pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment (Sustainable Development Goal 5) is central to fulfilling the World Food Programme (WFP)’s mandate.
(UN News)* — Humanitarian agencies warned on Friday that ongoing Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank are exacerbating an already dire situation for displaced Palestinians.
The UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) reports that Israeli authorities have started demolishing more than 16 buildings in Nur Shams refugee camp,after destroying more than two dozen homes over the past week in the occupied West Bank.
(UN News)* — The aid response in Burundi to the crisis in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is literally buckling”, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, on Friday warned on , as it relayed dramatic testimonies from people forced to flee the unchecked advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
“Over 63,000 people now have crossed into the country, Burundi, fleeing atrocities, deadly conflict in parts of eastern DR Congo,” said Faith Kasina, UNHCR Regional Spokesperson for East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes.
DAKAR, Senegal, 7 March 2025 –The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that life-saving food and nutrition assistance in Central Sahel and Nigeria will halt in April 2025 without urgent funding.
Photo: WFP/Evelyn Fey
This warning comes as the lean season – the period between harvests when hunger peaks – is anticipated to arrive earlier than usual this year across the Sahel region. Millions, including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), still rely on WFP’s food assistance for survival.
Mohammed, a 45-year-old fisherman, was forced to flee his home in Hodeidah six years ago due to the conflict in Yemen. Seeking safety, he settled in Gawl Al-Sada camp in Abyan governorate, where 115 displaced families now live.
Instead of waiting for assistance, Mohammed took initiative. He immediately sought work, forging connections with local fishermen.
Initially, he worked as a day labourer but often returned home empty-handed.
Determined to improve his situation, Mohammed decided to take the bold risk of starting a small business within the camp.
(UN News)* —“The time to step up is now” for the people of Somalia, where drought threatens 1.7 million young children at risk of acute malnutrition, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday [].
The East African country faced famine in 2022, but a scale-up in humanitarian assistance helped to avert catastrophe.
Today, food insecurity on the increase once again, with 3.4 million people already acutely food insecure. That number is projected to rise by a full million, to 4.4 million between April and June – nearly a quarter of the population.
(UN News)* — UN humanitarians on warned that the continued closure of key border crossings into Gaza is putting civilian lives at risk, just as they begin to recover from months of war, deprivation and hunger.
UN News | Large parts of Gaza have been reduced to rubble.
Speaking to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York, Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the Kerem Shalom, Zikim and Erez crossings had remained closed for cargo for the third consecutive day, severely restricting the flow of humanitarian supplies into the devastated enclave.
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 3 2025 (IPS)* –The United Nations, in its nearly 80-year-old history, is on the verge of fighting for its survival, as the Trump administration continues with its threats to drastically cut funding and pull out of several UN agencies which provide mostly humanitarian assistance worldwide.
President Donald Trump addresses the General Assembly’s 75th sessions back in September 2020. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 