Africa

Speaking at a high-level humanitarian conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, António Guterres described the situation in Sudan as a catastrophe of “staggering scale and brutality”. He warned that it is increasing spilling into the wider region. “It is a crisis that demands sustained and urgent attention,” he said, underscoring the need to ensure … Read more

Sexual violence against children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has soared in recent weeks, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Thursday, as ethnic tensions and disputes over land and mineral resources fuel fighting in the country. The organization, known as UNICEF, reported that health care facilities in Goma and the surrounding areas … Read more

“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 was threatening the aid operation … Read more

A United States Navy aircraft carrier collided with a merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea shortly before midnight on Wednesday near a port in Egypt, Navy officials said. The U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class carrier, had been operating in the Red Sea while deployed under U.S. Central Command since Dec. 14, helping to launch … Read more

Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC, updated journalists on latest developments and obstacles to aid delivery, which include loss of critical supplies to looting and the impact of the decision by the United States to suspend billions in foreign aid. The DRC was the largest recipient of US humanitarian assistance … Read more

Women are being turned away at clinics that provided maternity and reproductive care and cancer and H.I.V. treatment. Doctors and nurses have been placed on leave and told to go home. Across the globe, aid agencies say, decades of female-focused health care work has been “decimated overnight.” Three weeks into President Trump’s suspension of all … Read more

“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 major city in the province, … Read more

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, expressed deep concern over the devastating impact on children and families. “In North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence at levels surpassing anything we have seen in recent years,” … Read more

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last month that lifesaving humanitarian work would be exempt from a freeze on foreign aid, global health workers breathed a collective sigh of relief. But a new directive has put such exemptions on hold. Several senior employees at the U.S.A.I.D. Bureau of Global Health received an email Tuesday … Read more

Last month, M23 rebels captured the city – the largest in the region and capital of North Kivu province. Nearly 3,000 people have reportedly been killed and 2,880 injured. OCHA Spokesperson Jens Laerke said more than 110,000 displaced people have left sites in Goma and have started to move to villages in the Masisi, Rutshuru … Read more