On 19 August, we mark the World Humanitarian Day — a time to honor those who step into crises to help others, and to stand with the millions of people whose lives hang in the balance.
PHOTO:United Nations
This year the message is clear: the humanitarian system is stretched to its limits; underfunded, overwhelmed and under attack.
Where bombs fall and disasters strike, humanitarian workers are the ones holding the line keeping people alive, often at great personal risk. But more and more those who help are becoming targets themselves.
In 2024 alone over 380 humanitarian workers were killed. Some in the line of duty, others in their homes. Hundreds more have been injured, kidnapped or detained, and there is reason to fear 2025 could be worse.
(UN News)* —As gang violence across Haiti escalates, and the United States and other donors reduce their humanitarian funding, 1.3 million people who have fled their homes are facing the direst of consequences.
Women and girls face the brunt of this crisis. Gender-based violence (GBV) such as gang rape is rampant, particularly in the capital Port-au-Prince, and is exacerbated by precarious conditions in displacement camps.
Yet, recent funding cuts have shut down centres for sexual and reproductive health and GBV services. Displacement and insecurity make the services that do exist often too difficult to access.
“The vast majority of governments want a strong agreement, yet a handful of bad actors were allowed to use process to drive such ambition into the ground,” said one environmentalist.
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Plastic waste washes ashore in the Maldives archipelago. Credit: UNDP
NEW YORK, Aug 18 2025 (IPS)** –– Negotiators in Geneva adjourned what was expected to be the final round of plastics treaty negotiations on Friday [15 August 2025] without reaching an agreement, a failure that environmentalists blamed on the Trump-led United States, Saudi Arabia, and other powerful nations that opposed any effort to curb plastic production—the primary driver of a worsening global pollution crisis.
The Dewele Migration Response Centre in eastern Ethiopia offers returning migrants a moment of rest before they continue their journey home. Photo: IOM/Aïssatou Sy
Dewele, Ethiopia, 15 August 2025 – In the dry borderlands near Dewele in eastern Ethiopia, the air hangs heavy with heat as trucks thunder past, ferrying goods across the eastern corridor.
Amidst the dust, tired figures walk slowly beside the road, mostly young men, carrying nothing but a worn backpack, a bottle of water, and a stubborn belief that something better lies ahead.
Ibrahim* remembers that walk all too well – five days on foot across harsh terrain, each step marked by exhaustion and uncertainty.
Al-Kufra, Libya, 11 August 2025 – Khartoum mornings once carried a familiar rhythm. The call to prayer echoed softly through the narrow streets, blending with the clatter of market stalls opening and the sound of children shuffling to school.
For 45-year-old NourAlhuda, life pulsed with structure and meaning.
She had spent 16 years teaching Arabic and Islamic studies, her voice steady and firm in the classroom, her presence respected in the community.
“Teaching was more than a job for me,” she explains. “It gave me purpose.”
IOM’s health centre in Al-Kufra provides critical care and hope to displaced Sudanese women like NourAlhuda and Arafa. Photo: IOM 2024/Mouaid Tariq Duffani
(UN News)* — Adam Ibrahim was working with the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, in his home country, Sudan, when conflict between rival armed forces erupted in early 2023 and he became a refugee alongside thousands of others who continue to flee the ongoing violence.
Sudan is one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises, with more than 30.4 million people – over half the population – urgently needing humanitarian assistance.
Yet the 2025 Sudan humanitarian needs and response plan is severely underfunded, with only 13.3 per cent of the required resources received so far.
12 August 2025 — For 14-year-old Atsede Tesfay, each morning began with a jerrycan and a three-kilometre walk to the nearest water source. The journey was open, exposed, and unsafe. The road was long, the risks familiar. She spent more hours searching for water and fewer hours in class.
“It was painful,” Atsede recalls. “But we had no other choice.”
Rehabilitated well. | Photo: NRC | In Fiyelwuha village in northern Ethiopia, water once flowed within reach of every home. Then came conflict, and the wells that sustained the community were intentionally destroyed by troops in the contested area. The lifeline ran dry.
In Dima District, the destruction of water infrastructure during the conflict cut off clean water access for over 2,900 people.
Families were left with few options like using unsafe water or embarking on dangerous journeys to obtain it.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 2025 (IPS)* — Asia-Pacific’s midwives are a healthcare lifeline capable of delivering nearly 90 percent of essential maternal and newborn services. Yet the region grapples with severe shortages, underinvestment, and systemic neglect.
Strong health systems start with midwives. Credit: Unsplash
The newly released State of Asia’s Midwifery 2024 Report, released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), reveals that despite midwives’ lifesaving potential, many countries lack enough workers, face poor training and support systems, and struggle with weak policy backing.
The findings underscore an urgent need to elevate midwives from auxiliary roles to central pillars of health systems across the region.
Armed conflict, climate shocks and economic downturn drive out local experts who take with them the know-how that is essential to reversing the crisis.
So the crisis continues. And the brain drain intensifies.
(Washington, DC) – The Trump administration’s omission of key sections and manipulation of certain countries’ rights abuses degrade and politicize the 2025 US State Department human rights report, Human Rights Watch on 12 August 2025 said.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 