Uncategorized Archives - Page 47 of 185

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza could get far worse, warns UN relief chief

·November 17, 2023·7 min read

More than 1.5 million Gazans are displaced, 18 hospitals have shut down, and hundreds of thousands are living in fear and under continuing Israeli bombardment. “Casualties continue to mount, with the dead reportedly exceeding 11,000 people – the majority of them children and women,” said Emergency Relief Coordinator and Humanitarian...

Gaza: ‘Endless needs’ reflect spiralling situation as hospitals shut down, WHO warns

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·November 17, 2023·2 min read

“What we do know is that the health system is on its knees,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in the wake of Hamas militants’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October that left 1,200 dead and the heavy bombardment of the enclave by the Israeli military in response. ...

Security Council reform a must, to end ‘paralysis’

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·November 17, 2023·3 min read

Speaking at the Assembly’s annual debate assessing the UN’s premier forum for peace and security, Dennis Francis said that without structural reform, the Council’s performance and legitimacy will inevitably continue to suffer. “Violence and war continue to spread in regions across the world, while the United Nations seems paralyzed due...

Sudan: Deadly spiral of violence continues between military rivals

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·November 17, 2023·1 min read

Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, informed ambassadors on the Security Council that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have gained territory, pushing the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) out of several of its bases in the region since late October. The RSF seems poised to advance on El Fasher...

Gaza: Lack of fuel threatening to shut down ‘entire’ humanitarian operation

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·November 16, 2023·3 min read

In a wide-ranging briefing to journalists in Geneva, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini reiterated calls for a ceasefire and addressed misinformation targeting the agency, including claims that aid is being diverted. He said he has also received reports of UN schools being used “for military purposes”. Commitment in crisis During the briefing, Mr. Lazzarini said he had received...

Gaza: UN’s Türk calls for political path out of ‘horror’

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·November 16, 2023·2 min read

Speaking in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the parties to the conflict to “create the political space for a path out of this horror”. Mr. Türk condemned the widespread targeting of civilians in the past five weeks of hostilities and urged accountability for gross rights violations. He...

Stories from the UN Archive: Marlon Brando, the UN’s first frontman for water

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·November 16, 2023·1 min read

The Oscar-winning actor helped the UN amplify the need for clean water in a South American village in a unique podcast (even before they were called podcasts) almost 70 years ago. Soundcloud The Hollywood legend memorably narrated The Well of Happiness in 1956, following a UN-led project in the South American...

World News in Brief: Dozens dead in Yemen shipwreck, Pakistan expulsions ‘must stop’, FAO aids Sudan farmers

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·November 16, 2023·2 min read

More than 64 people are missing and feared dead after the vessel they were travelling in capsized on Sunday. Approximately 90 migrants, including 60 women, were on board the vessel, which was heading to Yemen from the coast of Djibouti. Twenty-six survivors were rescued by the Yemeni Coast Guard. Global...

Explainer: How aid reaches Gaza

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·November 15, 2023·4 min read

Barricaded for two weeks at the outset of the conflict, the Rafah crossing re-opened on 21 October following an Israel-Egyptian deal for limited entry of humanitarian aid deliveries. Still, only a trickle is getting across the border. While media reports announce fresh efforts to get aid to Gaza, like French...

Gaza: ‘Hospitals are not battlegrounds’, children’s suffering must stop, UN humanitarians say

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·November 15, 2023·3 min read

Her comments came amid reports on Wednesday morning of an ongoing Israeli Defense Forces raid inside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, where patients including premature babies have died over the course of the past days after incubators and other life-saving equipment lost power. “Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” UN relief chief Martin...

‘Close the climate ambition gap’ says UN chief ahead of COP28

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·November 15, 2023·2 min read

Mr. Guterres was commenting on the latest report by UN climate change body UNFCCC, which shows, he said, that global climate ambition stagnated over the past year and national climate plans are “strikingly misaligned” with the science. “As the reality of climate chaos pounds communities around the world – with...

World News in Brief: Diabetes on the rise, UN prisoners in Yemen, Ukraine war fuels rise in landmine casualties

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·November 15, 2023·2 min read

Diabetes is a chronic disease which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. WHO said that more than 460 million people worldwide live with diabetes and millions more are at risk. The UN health agency stressed that...