Speaking on Thursday at a press conference in Geneva, Tedros said that in around 25 per cent of countries, some health facilities have had to close completely due to cuts, according to figures from more than 100 countries compiled by WHO. Severe disruptions Out-of-pocket payments for health services have led to...
“Data is central to humanitarian action,” OCHA said, as aid organizations look to “focus their response to reach the communities with the most severe needs.” In its latest report on the State of Open Humanitarian Data OCHA said that “as the humanitarian system severely contracts due to unprecedented funding cuts and threats...
The Trends in maternal mortality report was published by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, in observance of World Health Day on 7 April. It shows that maternal deaths declined by 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023,...
The United Nations agency has received only $1.57 billion of the $21.1 billion required to sustain its operations this year, with donations slashed by 40 per cent after cuts from major donors like the United States. “WFP is prioritizing countries with the greatest needs and stretching food rations at the...
UN aid efforts are in jeopardy following funding reductions announced by major donors, including the United States and several European nations. Mr. Guterres described Cox’s Bazar as “ground zero” for the impact of these cuts, warning of a looming humanitarian disaster if immediate action is not taken. “We are at...
Citing reports from humanitarians in the Strip, he said it was becoming more difficult to access “decent and sufficient food, water, medical services and other vital items”. Briefing reporters in New York, Mr. Dujarric said restoring the overall healthcare system was progressing, but progress is proving slow. In the devastated...
“Children in the world’s largest refugee camp are experiencing the worst levels of malnutrition since the massive displacement that occurred in 2017,” Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative in Bangladesh, told journalists in Geneva, almost eight years since hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya fled widespread military attacks in Myanmar. Speaking from...
The crisis is being exacerbated by the expected early arrival of the lean season – the period between harvests when hunger peaks. Chronic hunger is being driven by conflict, displacement, economic instability and severe climate shocks, WFP said, with devastating floods in 2024 affecting over six million people across West...
A young mother, five children in tow, steps off a train in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, holding a small bag. She is fleeing Russian attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region, she is also escaping a violent partner, a man who once beat her so severely she suffered a miscarriage....
“These cuts impact a wide range of critical programmes,” he told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York, highlighting the potential disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work, development projects, counterterrorism efforts and initiatives to combat drug trafficking. He expressed the UN’s gratitude “for the leading role” the US has played...
In a media briefing on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the consequences of funding suspensions, including disruptions to HIV treatment, setbacks in polio eradication and limited resources for responding to mpox epidemics in Africa. “The suspension of funding to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, caused...
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...