(UN News)* — Amid deep cuts to global humanitarian funding, the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF, on allocated $110 million to neglected crises across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The UN’s top aid official, Tom Fletcher, said that more than 300 million people urgently need assistance.
But funding has been falling annually, and this year’s levels are projected to drop to a record low.
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.
(UN News)* — The basic rights of women and girls are facing unprecedented growing threats worldwide, from higher levels of discrimination to weaker legal protections -and less funding for programmes and institutions which support and protect women.
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UN Women’s latest report Women’s Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing, published ahead of the UN 50th International Women’s Day on 8 March, shows that in 2024,nearly a quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash on women’s rights.
(UN News)* —A decline in democracy and harmful content spread on social media platforms are helping to drive a backlash against feminism, and the growth of misogynistic and retrograde ideas about the roles of men and women and society.
UN Women Colombia | March for Women’s Rights during the 16 days of activism in Colombia.
The pushback against gender equality is one of the findings in a major report from UN Women, the UN agency for gender equality, on the progress made so far in advancing women’s rights worldwide.
Yemen/ Geneva, 7 March 2025(IOM)* – Two boats carrying over 180 migrants capsized off the coast of Yemen’s Dhubab district in Ta’iz Governorate on 6 March, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s field reports.
The recent shipwreck brings to light the danger of normalizing migration tragedies. Photo: IOM
The incident occurred amid some of the worst weather in years, as described by local reports. The vessels, which were attempting the dangerous journey from the Horn of Africa, sank in rough seas, a known risk during this season. Among those on board were at least 124 men and 57 women.
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.
Damascus/ Geneva, 7 March 2025 – A new report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows that almost 750,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their places of origin in Syria since November 2024.
However, some seven million remain displaced within the country, which is recovering from 14 years of war.
The distribution of vital winter items to families in Idleb’s Harim district. Photo Credit IOM/ 2024 Enver Muhamme
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 