‘Humanitarian Airstrikes’: A Reassuring Gloss For The Actions Of Politicians
When the United States bombed the Syrian town of Kobani in 2014 to stop it falling to Islamic State, the retired American general charged with building the military coalition against the jihadists, General John R Allen, said he would not use terms like “strategic target” or “strategic outcome” to describe the action, then added, “We […]
Little Respite For Iraqis Displaced By Mosul Fighting
Aid agencies are warning that northern Iraq is in dire need of support due to a renewed offensive in the area, a funding slowdown and the threat of more attacks on the region’s cities, which are likely to result in hundreds of thousands more people being displaced. The UN said camps for displaced people are […]
Attack On UN Convoy: Saraki Calls For Calm
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki yesterday called for calm as the United Nations announced that it would be suspending aid to the ravaged North East after a United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) humanitarian convoy was attacked while travelling from Bama to Maiduguri in Borno State. Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser […]
UN Accused Of Failing As North-East Nigeria At Risk Of Famine
The UN has been accused of failing to act quickly enough to save hundreds of thousands of lives in northern Nigeria where a food crisis already killing hundreds of people a day is poised to become the most devastating in decades. Nigerian authorities, who maintain tight control over humanitarian and media access to the region, […]
Dozens Have Starved To Death In Besieged Madaya, Say NGOs
About 86 people have died in a year-long government siege of the Syrian town of Madaya, including 65 from starvation and malnutrition, two non-governmental organisations said. The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said the Syrian government’s “stranglehold” on the town since July 2015 was responsible for the deaths. Madaya […]
How Sudan’s Diaspora Uses Social Media To Marshal Ramadan Meals
In an abandoned school in Khartoum, men and women rush around in the sweltering sun gathering dried onion, lentils, tomato paste, dates, salt and cooking oil into thousands of bundles to distribute to families in need. This flurry of activity usually starts a week before Ramadan, the holy month when healthy and able Muslims around […]
Post-Brexit Sterling Decline Will Cost Poor Countries $4bn, Claims Study
The post-Brexit slump in the pound will cost developing countries nearly $4bn (£3.1bn) in the coming year, with reduced trade and aid, risk-averse financial markets, lower growth and sharply reduced remittances all playing a role, a report shows. Sterling’s 10% devaluation in the first week after the vote, coupled with lower UK gross domestic product, […]
What People In Humanitarian Crises Need Is Cash, Not Commodities
The evidence is clear: cash works better. In study after study, survivors of conflict and disaster have reaffirmed their wish to choose – to maintain their dignity and use resources more efficiently – by receiving cash instead of food or other “in kind” aid. At last month’s world humanitarian summit in Istanbul, some major donors […]
World Humanitarian Summit Starts Amid Hope, Hype and Fear Of Empty Words
Hundreds of world leaders and politicians will descend on Istanbul on Monday in a nominal attempt to reform the global humanitarian system, despite criticism that their summit is a photo-opportunity that will achieve little. Representatives of 175 countries, including 57 heads of states or governments, will attend the world humanitarian summit, as the outgoing UN […]
How to Stop People Dying From Aid Shortages? Tackle Roots of Crises
Barcelona — Women in Niger travel miles by donkey cart to health centres in the hope of getting food for their malnourished infants, leaving their vegetable gardens unattended and chores undone, only to be turned away with nothing. Children in Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo find their grades start to drop when they no […]
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