Archive for ‘Middle East’

18/02/2025

The Norwegian Refugee Council Forced to Suspend Essential Aid for 100,000s

Human Wrongs Watch

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.
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Photo from the Norwegian Refugee Council 
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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.

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18/02/2025

Lebanon: Destruction of Infrastructure Preventing Returns

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

(Beirut) – Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon between October 2023 and December 2024 destroyed vast swathes of critical civilian infrastructure and public services, preventing tens of thousands of Lebanese from returning to their homes, Human Rights Watch said on 17 February 2025. 

A returning resident to Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, stands before the wreckage in the city on November 30, 2024, days after the start of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
A returning resident to Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, stands before the wreckage in the city on November 30, 2024, days after the start of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. © 2024 Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via AP

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18/02/2025

Gaza: ‘Scale of Needs Remains Overwhelming’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — As the UN and partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance across the Gaza Strip, the scale of needs remains overwhelming, requiring urgent and sustained support, UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Monday []. 

Humanitarian aid is distributed to people in Gaza.
© UNRWA | Humanitarian aid is distributed to people in Gaza.

OCHA cited Gaza’s Ministry of Health which stressed that oxygen supplies are critically needed to keep emergency, surgical and intensive care services running at hospitals, including Al Shifa and Al Rantisi hospitals in Gaza City.

16/02/2025

Sudan, ‘The Most Devastating Humanitarian and Displacement Crisis in the World Today’

Human Wrongs Watch

By Conor Lennon

(UN News)* — Sudan’s ruinous civil war is approaching its third year, leaving a legacy of malnutrition, massive population displacement and chronic insecurity.

Central African Republic, 2024. Newly arrived Sudanese refugees at Korsi refugee camp.
© UNFPA/Karel Prinsloo | Central African Republic, 2024. Newly arrived Sudanese refugees at Korsi refugee camp.
 
As the UN system prepares to launch a call for record funding of $4.2 billion to support aid operations in the country, here are some of the main things to know about what has been described as the largest and most devastating displacement, humanitarian and protection crisis in the world today.

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16/02/2025

UN Human Rights Body Condemns Continuing Israeli Military Operation in West Bank

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on condemned the intensifying Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, warning that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced already amid an “alarming wave” of violence and destruction.

Destruction in the West Bank.
© UNICEF/Alaa Badarneh | Destruction in the West Bank.

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14/02/2025

US Pullout Gives Upper Hand to Human Rights Abusers Worldwide

Human Wrongs Watch

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

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13/02/2025

US Funding Cuts Pose Direct Threat to Public Health Efforts Worldwide: World Health Organization

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed deep concern over the impact of US funding cuts on critical global health initiatives, warning they pose a direct threat to public health efforts worldwide.

HIV programmes, including in Ethiopia, are being impacted by US funding cuts.
© UNICEF Ethiopia/Bethelhem Ass | HIV programmes, including in Ethiopia, are being impacted by US funding cuts.
 
In a media briefing on Tuesday [], WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the consequences of funding suspensions, including disruptions to HIV treatment, setbacks in polio eradication and limited resources for responding to mpox epidemics in Africa.

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13/02/2025

Shutting Down USAID Threatens to Endanger World’s Poorer Nations

Human Wrongs Watch

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.

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13/02/2025

Urgent Appeal for $81 Million to Assist Over One Million Migrants in Horn of Africa, Yemen, and Southern Africa

Human Wrongs Watch

By the International Organization for Migration*

11 February 2025, NairobiThe 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

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12/02/2025

Israeli Military Operation Displaces 40,000 in the West Bank

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The forced displacement of Palestinian communities in the northern part of the West Bank is escalating at an alarming pace, the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees UNRWA warned on .

Part of a water and sewage network in Nur Shams camp in Gaza is damaged following an Israeli military operation.
© UNRWA | Part of a water and sewage network in Nur Shams camp in Gaza is damaged following an Israeli military operation.
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Several refugee camps are nearly empty after Israeli forces launched Operation Iron Wall on 21 January, making it the longest operation in the West Bank since the second intifada, according to the agency.

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