Cibitoke, Burundi – The last thing Elizabeth Uwimana remembered before the Rusizi River swallowed her two eldest children is the fear in their eyes as a violent surge of water tore them from her grasp.
Elizabeth Uwimana sits at a transit site in Burundi, exhausted after fleeing violence in the DRC with her children. Photo: IOM Burundi 2025/Alexander Bee
“The river took them from me,” she whispers, seated in a makeshift shelter surrounded by hundreds of other displaced families. “To this day, I don’t know if they are alive.”
Elizabeth, a mother of four, is among tens of thousands who fled renewed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Israeli military has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians by destroying homes and essential civilian infrastructure in Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps rendering them uninhabitable, as part of its ongoing brutal military operation in the occupied West Bank,said Amnesty International.
Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images
On 5 June, Palestinians mark Naksa Day, commemorating the forced displacement of approximately 300,000 Palestinians during the June 1967 war, when Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
(UN News)* — The worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached “unprecedented levels of despair,” the UN said on Monday , amid more reports of people being killed and injured near newly-established distribution sites.
Since the end of May, aid distribution in Gaza has been carried out by a mechanism backed by Israel and the United States bypassing UN agencies and their established partners, which has been plagued by deadly incidents and chaos.
(UN News)* — The lack of food entering Gaza caused by ongoing Israeli aid restrictions is leaving increasing numbers of Palestinians “vulnerable to starvation”, with daily energy intake now well below what a human body needs to survive, the UN warned on Thursday .
(UN News)* —A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council on Wednesday after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected members of the Council.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe | UN Security Council members voting in favour of the draft resolution.
The text, co-sponsored by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia – collectively known as the E-10 – received 14 votes in favour, with the US casting the lone vote against.
(UN News)* —Haiti has been gripped by spiralling gang violence ever since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The subsequent unrest has displaced one million people, more than half of them children, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 21 May that widespread armed violence continues to expose Haitian children to widespread sexual abuse, exploitation and recruitment by the gangs which now control whole swathes of the country.
LILONGWE, May 22 2025 (IPS)* – Women in fishing communities in Malawi’s lakeshore districts of Nkhotakota and Mangochi are frequently targets of sexual exploitation for fish, a practice commonly known as ‘sex for fish.’
Women are often exploited when buying fish from fishers or traders in lake Malawi. Credit: Benson Kunchezera/IPS
A recent report by the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has unearthed disturbing accounts of women being coerced into transactional sex to access fish from male boat owners, exposing a widespread violation of their rights.
Fetching water in Gorom Gorom. Photo: Hassimi Zoure/NRC
In northern Burkina Faso, communities like Gorom Gorom face daily hardship from displacement and water scarcity. Yet amid these challenges, solidarity endures.
With support from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and its partners, a single water tower now brings more than just water – it brings relief, restores dignity, and strengthens community ties. When basic needs are met, hope has room to grow.
(UNICEF)* — Measles is a highly contagious virus. For young children, it can be deadly. In too many places, low vaccination coverage is creating opportunities for measles to spread.
UNICEF/UNI578946/Saleh Elaiwa
Over the last five years, measles outbreaks have hit over 100 countries, home to roughly three-quarters of the world’s children.
But we know how to stop it. Measles vaccines are safe and effective. They are the best way to protect children from getting sick with measles and spreading it to others.
As measles cases surge, here are five things you need to know:
()* — The UN and partners on Sunday issued a stark warning over the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as Israeli authorities maintain a near-total blockade on the delivery of aid for a ninth consecutive week.
In a statement released by the UN Humanitarian Country Team – which leads coordinated relief efforts across the Occupied Palestinian Territory – officials condemned Israeli efforts to dismantle the current aid system.
Elizabeth Uwimana sits at a transit site in Burundi, exhausted after fleeing violence in the DRC with her children. Photo: IOM Burundi 2025/Alexander Bee
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 