20 February 2025 – The Trump administration has enacted new immigration policies at a dizzying pace, some of which obliterate programs built over decades to enable avenues to safety for people fleeing war and persecution.
The impact of these policies is felt directly by the asylum seekers, migrants, refugees, their families and communities. But the impact will also be far-reaching as the US sets an example that is likely to cause other countries to turn their backs on people fleeing for their lives.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)regrets to inform that we, for the first time in our history, will have to suspend ongoing and urgent US-funded humanitarian work in nearly 20 countries affected by wars, disasters, and displacement.
This will impact hundreds of thousands of people. These dramatic measures come in response to the stop, partial suspension, or lack of reimbursement of United States funding for our global humanitarian operations.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 14 2025 (IPS)* – When some of the world’s “authoritarian and repressive regimes” were elected as members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) –including Cuba, China, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — a US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher infamously remarked:
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“The inmates have taken over the asylum, I don’t plan to give the lunatics any more American tax dollars to play with.”
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The UN General Assembly votes to suspend the rights of the membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council during an Emergency Special Session on Ukraine. April 2022. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 2025 (IPS)* – The Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US government’s primary channel for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, is expected to have a devastating impact on the world’s developing nations.
The 2025 Budget Request, under the former Biden administration, amounted to a staggering $58.8 billion in US foreign aid for this year.
The proposed aid included funding to fully support the US priorities and commitments made at the U.S.-Africa Leader’s Summit in May last year.
The request also fulfills Biden’s pledge made at the U.S.-hosted Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to match $1 for every $2 contributed by other donors by providing $1.2 billion to the Global Fund.
11 February 2025, Nairobi –The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and 45 humanitarian and development partners are appealing for USD 81 million to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to over one million migrants — including women and children — and the communities that host them in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Republic of Tanzania, Kenya and Yemen.
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Migrants crossing the desert in Obok, Djibouti. Hundreds of thousands of migrants embark each year on dangerous irregular journeys primarily from Ethiopia and Somalia. Photo by IOM 2022/Alexander Bee
According to Elon Musk, USAID, the US chief foreign aid agency, “deserves to die.” Why? Because it is “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
Richard E. Rubenstein
What planet does this strange fellow live on? I AM a radical-left Marxist professor – one who happens to love the USA–and for more than forty years I have been criticizing USAID for not being radical or leftist at all.
What the irate oligarch means by “Marxist” is anyone’s guess.
—Everyone knows the saying ‘life imitates art’, but we’d argue that art imitates life when it comes to Disney’s Moana film franchise. Moana 2 premiered in theatres in late November following the title character’s quest to protect her community’s ancestral way of life.
(UN News)* —The world has just experienced the hottest January ever recorded, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on , citing data crunched by UN partner the Copernicus Climate Service
Last month was 1.75 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level and 0.79°C above the 1991-2020 average, despite expectations that the La Nina weather phenomenon might bring cooler temperatures.
In 2015, the international community agreed to try to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
ASMARA, Eritrea, Feb 10 2025 (IPS)* – At night, when the world lights up, large swathes of Africa remain cloaked in darkness—a stark reminder of the continent’s lack of reliable access to electricity.
Around 600 million Africans still lack reliable access to electricity, which is nearly half the continent’s population and more than 80 per cent of the global electricity access gap. Credit: Raphael Pouget / Climate Visuals Countdown via UNDP
This access is one of the key ingredients to accelerating the continent’s progress – powering homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses, towards unlocking the continent’s full potential.
Two weeks after Goma was captured by the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, many families who lost their loved ones are begging for peace. Some of them have had no news of their loved ones, while others have already identified their relatives, civilians and soldiers, who died during the fighting in the city.
M23 fighters at border between Rwanda and DRC. At least 2,800 people have died in renewed hostilities. Credit: Ajabu Adolphe/IPS
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Feb 6 2025 (IPS)* – Zawadi Delphine is a soldier’s wife and mother of three. She and her family live in Camp Katindo, east of the city of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu.
The 2025 Budget Request, under the former Biden administration, amounted to a staggering $58.8 billion in US foreign aid for this year.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 