(UN News)* — The United Nations is ramping up its response to Myanmar’s devastating earthquake, calling for increased funding and an immediate ceasefire to ensure more aid reaches those in desperate need.
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake – which struck on March 28 – has claimed over 3,600 lives, injured a further 4,800 people and left 184 still missing.
The disaster has affected more than nine million people across 58 townships, with thousands of buildings, including hospitals and schools, reduced to rubble.
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 2025 (IPS)* –As the Trump administration’s hostility towards the United Nations and other international organizations keeps growing, a New York Times columnist last week proposed what he frivolously described as “something a little incendiary”.
.
Credit: John Birch Society
Maybe Trump could follow up on his non-appointment of Elise Stefanik as US Ambassador to the United Nations—who has been virulently anti-UN—by withdrawing the US from the United Nations entirely.
()* — As governments and global markets struggle to deal with the deep concerns and disruptions caused by volatility over trade tariffs, Rebeca Grynspan, the head of the UN trade and development agency (UNCTAD), told UN News on Thursday that the poorest countries – whose activities have a negligible effect on trade deficits – should be exempt.
Ms. Grynspan was speaking in the wake of growing UN concern at the effect on-going uncertainty could have on the most vulnerable developing economies.
On Tuesday , the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated that “trade wars are extremely negative,” and warned that the impact of tariffs could be “devastating.”
The United States government’s abrupt and irresponsible termination of foreign assistance is putting the health and human rights of millions of people in Yemen who depend on humanitarian aid at risk, Amnesty International on said.
(Photo by KHALED ZIAD/AFP via Getty Images)
After a decade of a devastating conflict, Yemen continues to face one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
UPPER NILE STATE, South Sudan, 9 April 2025 – Mary Kak is threading beads onto a string, making jewellery she hopes to later sell at a marketplace in Renk, a border town in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State.
“The beads we make here are sold and we earn money from it, but the most important thing is information and knowledge sharing on violence and other dangers,” she explained at a safe space for women and girls run by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.
NAIROBI, Apr 10 2025 (IPS)* – Animal scientist Lindiwe Majele Sibanda became what her grandmother earnestly prayed for she was growing up on a farm in southern Zimbabwe.
.
Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, CGIAR partnerships chair. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS
Majele Sibanda, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, is a practicing livestock farmer and a successful one at that. She is raising pedigree and indigenous cattle as well as hardy Matabele goats.
“Livestock is livelihood,” Majele Sibanda says, speaking to IPS at CGIAR Science Week, responding to the growing concerns about livestock farming as an environmental threat.
(Nairobi) – South Sudan’s use of improvised air-dropped incendiary weapons has killed and horrifically burned dozens of people, including children, and destroyed civilian infrastructure in Upper Nile state, Human Rights Watch on 9 April 2025 said.
(UN News)* —Hunger in South Sudan’s northeast has reached a critical tipping point, with nearly 7.7 million people facing severe food insecurity as conflict escalates, the UN’s emergency food relief agency warned on Wednesday .
The situation is especially dire for returnees fleeing violence in Sudan, who now account for nearly half of those experiencing catastrophic hunger levels.
The influx of over 1.1 million displaced people into already fragile communities has overwhelmed resources and relief efforts, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
(UN News)* —In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships being faced by those about to give birth in the devastated enclave.
That’s the message from the UN World Health Organization, WHO, which said on Wednesday that mothers are going into labour amid dire conditions, putting their health and their babies’ lives at risk.
By Rami Ibrahim, Senior Audiovisual and Communication Assistant, IOM Yemen*
7 April 2925 (IOM)*–Sana’a, Yemen – Each morning, sunlight washes over Sana’a, bringing the city to life. The call to prayer rises above the rooftops, shopkeepers open their stalls, and the streets fill with people. But beneath the daily bustle, Yemen’s conflict lingers.
For many, survival is an ongoing struggle. Among them are thousands of migrants who arrive hoping to pass through, only to find themselves stranded.
After months of rehabilitation, Hussein is slowly regaining his strength with Abdulkareem by his side. Photo: IOM/Rami Ibrahim
After months of rehabilitation, Hussein is slowly regaining his strength with Abdulkareem by his side. Photo: IOM/Rami Ibrahim
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 