Sudan’s war risks creating the world’s largest hunger crisis
6/3/2024: Following her visit to South Sudan, the World Food Programme's Executive Director, Cindy McCain, has compared the crisis in the region with the Darfur emergency 20 years ago. Right now, 90 per cent of people facing emergency levels of hunger in Sudan are stuck in areas that are largely inaccessible to food aid because of the relentless violence and interference by the warring parties.
Source: World Food Programme
African health ministers commit to end malaria deaths
6/3/2024: Ministers of Health from African countries with the highest burden of malaria have committed to provide stronger leadership and increased domestic funding for malaria control programmes. Progress against malaria has stalled in these high-burden African countries since 2017 and global funding has fallen to just over half of the needed budget.
Source: World Health Organization
Go to the Gulf: is Ethiopia party to safe migration routes?
6/3/2024: The Ethiopian government hopes to recruit 500,000 young women for domestic work positions in Saudi Arabia, following an agreement between the two countries. Whilst this is an example of regulated migration, observers fear that in practice it is not so different from the operations of human smugglers.
Source: African Arguments
Time is running out amid escalating crises in Haiti
6/3/2024: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for the urgent deployment of the Council-mandated multinational security support mission in Haiti. This follows a mass prison breakout of more than 4,500 inmates, including prominent gang members.
Source: UN News
ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian commanders for alleged war crimes
5/3/2024: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against two commanders of the Russian Armed Forces, each allegedly responsible for the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian objects in Ukraine. Amnesty International calls on the international community to ensure that Mr Kobylash or Mr Sokolov are immediately arrested if they leave Russia.
Source: Amnesty International
As conference ends in stalemate, does the WTO have a future?
4/3/2024: The 13th World Trade Organization ministerial conference has failed to resolve any issues of significance, raising the inescapable question of whether the global trade body has a future. The US appeared largely disinterested in the proceedings, with its representative leaving early.
Source: The Conversation
UN Environment Assembly reaffirms collaborative action for the planet
1/3/2024: The recently concluded sixth UN Environment Assembly aimed to boost multilateral efforts to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution. Debates highlighted the historic role of multilateral environmental agreements in addressing the world’s most pressing environmental issues.
Source: UN Environment Programme
People displaced across the Americas to testify on the climate crisis
29/2/2024: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will take evidence from the frontline of the climate emergency in Mexico, Honduras, the Bahamas and Colombia, as part of a special hearing in Washington sought by regional human rights groups.
Source: The Guardian
Joint NGOs call on UN to urge a ceasefire in Gaza
29/2/2024: Leading non-governmental humanitarian agencies have appealed to the UN to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This move followed a stark warning given to the UN Security Council that at least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip are facing famine-like conditions.
Source: Oxfam International
Climate Migration report focuses on the Middle East and North Africa
28/2/2024: A new report from the human rights group EuroMed Rights highlights the growing impact of climate change on human migration patterns in the Middle East, North Africa, and wider Euro-Mediterranean region. Data shows that extreme weather events spur over three times more displacement than armed conflicts.
Source: Morocco World News