Briefing from Ukrainian capital Kyiv after another night of “air sirens and more loud explosions”, Mr. Schmale noted that the crisis began in 2014, with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. “So, all children that were born since – all children up to the age of 11 – have never experienced...
“The rapid and uninterrupted expansion of the conflict, particularly in South Kivu province, continues to inflict a heavy toll on the civilian population,” said UN humanitarian coordinator for DRC, Bruno Lemarquis. “The population can no longer continue to pay such a heavy price for a conflict that continues to spread...
“The crisis is worsening as people flee to areas where humanitarian aid cannot reach due to insecurity,” UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Eujin Byun told reporters in Geneva. The development comes a day after the top UN aid official in the country Bruno Lemarquis warned that a shortage of humanitarian routes...
“The frontline is getting closer to Kavumu Airport,” warned Bruno Lemarquis on Wednesday. Following the fall of regional capital Goma, in North Kivu, at the end of January, the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group is now making headway against Congelese Government forces towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu. Kalehe, a...
Amid reports that a return to full-scale war at the weekend may have been averted with the announcement by Hamas that it would comply with the agreed release of Israeli hostages, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that aid teams were “seizing every opportunity” to...
“The health system is ruined. Malnutrition is rising. The risk of famine persists,” said Dr Hanan Balkhy, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “We are ready to scale up our response – but we urgently need systematic and sustained access to the population across...
Announcing the development, the UN’s top aid official, Tom Fletcher, said that the trucks contained lifesaving food, medicine, and tents – all desperately needed by Gazans after more than 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment. The UN emergency relief chief’s comments came as he prepared to join an aid convoy...
The waiver allows the continuation or resumption of “life-saving humanitarian assistance” including HIV treatment. That means 20 million people living with HIV and whose medication is funded by the US can continue to receive treatment. “That’s 20 million out of the 30 million people living with HIV in the world,” said...
Clementine Nkweta-Salami said the latest outbreak of hostilities in South Kordofan’s capital, Kadugli, has reportedly claimed at least 80 civilian lives and left scores more injured. She condemned the reported use of women and children as human shields there, along with the obstruction of humanitarian aid and the detention of...
The temporary agreement to stop the fighting and release hostages brought an end to some 15 months of conflict and destruction in the Strip, following the brutal Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel of 7 October 2023. The truce came into force on 19 January and OCHA said the surge in...
UNRWA’s communications director Juliette Touma described catastrophic scenes at the camp, where some 100 buildings had been “destroyed or heavily damaged” by the detonations at the weekend. The camp’s residents had “endured the impossible”, she said, after nearly two months of “unceasing and escalating violence” linked to the Israeli military...
In an update, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 25,000 people have been newly uprooted from the northeastern city of Manbij, where shelling and airstrikes have been reported. OCHA noted that hostilities have been intensifying over the past week, particularly in eastern Aleppo and around the Tishreen Dam....