Humanitarian Impact

UN Chief Urges Israel to Reverse Ban on UN Relief Agency

UN General-Secretary Antonio Guterres has urged Israel to reverse its decision to ban the UN Relief and Works Agency responsible for Palestinians from operating in Jerusalem. In a letter to the Israeli government, he warned that restricting the agency’s activities would severely impact humanitarian aid in the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel’s Parliament passed legislation in October, effective immediately. The agency's Phillippe Lazzarini says the ban will have dire consequences: […]

31 January, 2025 37

World

UNRWA warns of worsening crisis in Lebanon

More than one million people across Lebanon have been uprooted by ongoing and deadly Israeli airstrikes across the country, including one reported early Monday morning in a residential area of central Beirut, adding to fears of a full-scale invasion. Here’s the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, Dorothy Klaus. Israel meanwhile says a 'limited, localised' ground operation is underway in […]

1 October, 2024 52

World

UN says strongly condemns Russian strikes across Ukraine

The UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine harshly condemned Monday's wave of deadly Russian strikes across Ukraine, including on Kyiv, saying "dozens of people have been killed and injured". "It is unconscionable that children are killed and injured in this war," she said in a statement, referring to a strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv, which Ukrainian officials said was hit by a Russian cruise missile. nl/vog/jm […]

8 July, 2024 19

Africa

WHO alarmed by attack on Sudan maternity hospital

Heavy fighting in Sudan hit a new low over the weekend when a maternity hospital in besieged El Fasher city came under attack. The development comes after more than 14 months of fighting between rival militaries in Sudan.

25 June, 2024 51

World

Guterres calls for a ‘global order that works for everyone’

UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the Münich security conference on Friday where he called for a global order that works for everyone. Guterres also warned against an all-out offensive on the city of Rafah which is at the core of the entire humanitarian operation in Gaza. Moving on to Ukraine, he said two years into the war, the cost of human lives and suffering is appalling while the impact […]

19 February, 2024 59

World

Somali education champion wins UN refugee prize

By Nina LARSON =(Video)= Geneva, Nov 28, 2023 (AFP) - A former Somali refugee intent on bringing books and education to his compatriots languishing in sprawling camps in Kenya was on Tuesday named the winner of the UN refugee agency's prestigious Nansen Award. Abdullahi Mire, 36, was hailed for championing the right to education by putting 100,000 books in the hands of children in Kenya's crowded Dadaab refugee camps. "A […]

28 November, 2023 17