(UN News)* — A school that once served as a place of learning and play for hundreds of children is now a refuge filled with tents and makeshift shelters for those displaced by the ongoing conflict in Gaza, a senior official from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has reported.
In an exclusive interview last Saturday with UN News, Sam Rose, Deputy Director for UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, provided a harrowing account of the devastation.
Over 18.6 million Yemenis, more than half of the total population, currently need humanitarian assistance. Many are living in collective sites or camps for displaced people.
Awareness session with Ali Fuad, a displaced person in Amran governorate, Kharef camp. Photo: NRC
12 September 2024 (Norwegian Refugee Council)* — In such sites, cholera, a disease that can be potentially fatal, poses a significant threat. Lack of access to clean water, proper latrines and health education all contribute to the spread of this disease.
(UN News)* — Sudan’s health system is “near collapse” after 16 months of war have left the country and its people facing what the UN’s top health official described on Sunday [] as the “perfect storm of crises”, which the world is largely ignoring.
On 14 August [2024], Indigenous Peoples and rights activists came to find out that the Tanzanian government decided to exclude people from 11 wards composed of 25 villages and 96 sub-villages in Ngorongoro from voter registration,effectively denying more than 100,000 Maasai from their guaranteed democratic right to civic participation.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 29 2024 (IPS)* – The Communist Manifesto of a bygone era, authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, begins with an implicit warning: “A specter is haunting Europe—the specter of Communism.”
US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) presiding over a meeting of the UN Security Council. Credit: United Nations
And today another specter is haunting– this time at the United Nations — the specter of a second Trump presidency.
(UN News)* — Protecting war-weary people in Sudan from a second deadly cholera outbreak is proving a huge challenge for aid teams after more than 16 months of heavy fighting, combined with flooding and ongoing access obstacles, they reported on .
“The needs are huge in Sudan; we are talking about people dying of hunger, we have conflict, we have protection issues, we have displacements on a daily basis; the needs are just huge,” compounded by several weeks of heavy rainfall, said Kristine Hambrouck, UNHCR Representative in Sudan.
Famine ‘ongoing’
In addition to cholera, famine is still “ongoing” in Zamzam camp near El Fashertown, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). It said that 658 cases have been reported since the latest outbreak was declared on 12 August, with 28 deaths.
CAIRO & NAIROBI, Aug 26 2024 (IPS)* – As peace eludes war-torn Sudan, thousands of displaced people fleeing the deadly battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have found refuge in neighboring countries, including Egypt.
These Sudanese refugee children are among the 748,000 refugees and asylum-seekers who have sought refuge in Egypt. Credit: ECW
The Sudanese refugee population in Egypt has grown almost sevenfold in what is considered the worst displacement crisis in the world, impacting 10 million people, with at least 2 million having fled to neighboring countries, including Egypt.
()* — Years of underfunding of humanitarian aid and increasing needs have put millions of Haitians at risk of chronic vulnerability, according to a newly released UN report.
Reversing the situation will require the international community and donors to increase the funding of UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) relief operations, the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, said in its latest advocacy note.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is closely following negotiations in Doha focused on trying to end the war in Gaza, where the situation continues to remain catastrophic after more than 10 months of unrelenting war.
The UN chief’s Spokesperson told journalists at the regular press briefing in New York on Monday [] that Mr. Guterres had spoken to the Prime Minister of Qatar yesterday.
This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at 13 August 2024 press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNICEF/UNI625366/IsamaldeenOn 10 August 2024, UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder speaks to 13-year-old Abu at Al Nao hospital, Sudan.
ATBARA, Sudan/GENEVA 13 August 2024 (UNICEF)* – “Sudan’s humanitarian crisis for children is, by numbers, the biggest in the world. It is also a crisis of neglect.
“So many of the countless atrocities upon children in Sudan have gone unreported, often as a result of very limited access.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 