Humanitarian Emergencies

Middle East: a Threat to World Peace & Security, Warns UN Chief

By António Guterres
The situation in the Middle East is in chaos — to such an extent it has become a threat to international peace and security.The region is facing a true Gordian knot – different fault lines crossing each other and creating a highly volatile situation with risks of escalation, fragmentation and division as far as the eye can see with profound regional and global ramifications.

UN Cracks Down on Peacekeeping Troops over Human Rights Abuses

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations, whose peacekeepers have come under increased scrutiny because of widespread charges of sexual abuse and human rights violations, claims it is now committed to ensuring that all personnel serving with the UN meet the “highest standards of conduct, competence and integrity, including respect for and commitment to human rights.”

UN’s Zero Hunger Goal Remains a Daunting Challenge

By IPS World Desk
The United Nations, which is battling some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, still remains focused on one of its equally daunting undertakings: how to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.

How Global Emissions Have Changed Since 1850

By Katie Lebling, Mengpin Ge and Johannes Friedrich
Which countries have emitted the most greenhouse gases? The quick answer is, "It depends." A more definitive response is tougher than you may expect. Many factors inform the answer.

“International Solidarity” at Yemen Donor Conference

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The international community has pledged over two billion dollars towards urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Yemen during a UN event.

What’s Happening to the World Income Distribution?

By Homi Kharas and Brina Seidel
In 2013, Christoph Lakner and Branko Milanovic published a graph—quickly dubbed the “elephant chart”—that depicts changes in income distribution across the world between 1988 and 2008.

Yemen the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis, Says UN Chief

By António Guterres
Thank you all for being here today to show your solidarity with the women, men, girls and boys of Yemen. And I want to thank my co-chairs, the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland, for hosting this conference for the second year and for their continued humanitarian commitment.

Senegalese Returnees from Libya, Niger Face Uncertain Future

By Issa Sikiti da Silva
Bouba Diop looks in delight at his uncle’s newly refurbished food canteen in the poor township of Keur Massar on the outskirts of the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Bridging the Humanitarian Needs with Long-term Resilience in Dominica

By Luca Renda
Six months ago, on 18 September 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Maria struck Dominica wreaking unimaginable disaster. Thirty-one people died, thirty-three more remain missing. Roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and over 40 percent of homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

Chemical Weapons in Syria? Time for Outrage

By Tariq Raheem
US Defense Secretary James Mattis dropped a political bombshell last week when he said the U.S. has no evidence to confirm reports that the Syrian government had used the deadly chemical sarin on its citizens.

A New Low for Security Council as Russia Takes Syrian Human Rights Off the Table

By Sherine Tadros
There is nothing controversial about saying the UN Security Council has failed Syria.Diplomats have openly admitted it, journalists have written about it, human rights organizations have declared it - several times over in the past seven years. But what happened this week was deplorable and unacceptable, even by the very low standards we now have for the Council when it comes to Syria.

High and Dry: Can We Fix the World’s Water Crisis?

By Mxolisi Ncube
April 12 is expected to be the infamous “Day Zero” in South Africa’s second largest city of Cape Town, a tourist hub which attracts millions of visitors every year.

Rohingya Crisis May Be Genocide, UN Officials Say

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
In the wake of persistent violence against the Rohingya community, UN officials have expressed growing fears that genocide is being incited and committed in Myanmar.

The Politicization of Humanitarian Aid Through Budget Cuts

By Ann-Kathrin Pohlers
Ahead of the pending ‘list of shame,’ the Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflicts, child protection actors share concerns about the politicization of humanitarian aid putting child protection capacities at a disadvantage.

Syria’s ‘Human Catastrophe’

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Despite calls for a ceasefire, violent clashes have continued and humanitarian access remains limited in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, leaving the international community extremely concerned.Since the Syrian government intensified its attacks in recent weeks, more than 700 civilians, many of them children, have been killed in Eastern Ghouta.

Fear and Uncertainty Grip Rohingya Women in India

By Stella Paul
In the semi-lit makeshift tent covered with strips of cardboard, five women sit in a huddle. As their young children, covered in specks of mud and soot, move around noisily, the women try to hush them down. Hollow-eyed and visibly malnourished, all the women also appear afraid.

DRC: A Crisis the World Can No Longer Afford to Ignore

By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman
The numbers are hard to fathom. Nearly two million people driven from their homes in 2017 alone. The worst cholera epidemic of the past 15 years, with over 55,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths. Countless others killed, maimed or sexually assaulted.

Women Peace Laureates Condemn Inaction on Rohingya “Genocide”

By Naimul Haq
Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi and Tawakkol Karman met with more than 100 women refugees in camps in the coastal Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh this week, as well as travelling to the “no man’s land” where thousands of Rohingya have been stranded between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Monsoon Season Threatens More Misery for Rohingyas

By Naimul Haq
More than half a million Rohingya refugees crammed into over 30 makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh face a critical situation as the cyclone and monsoon season begins in a few weeks’ time.

Demonizing OXFAM – Fair or Foul?

By Kul Chandra Gautam
As a member of OXFAM GB's Council of Trustees since 2014, I have received many queries about the recent scandal concerning sexual misconduct committed by some OXFAM staff in Haiti in 2011 and elsewhere. I appreciate the concerns expressed as well as many messages of solidarity and support for OXFAM in the face of the relentless onslaught of criticism – both fair and foul.

A Crisis Deepens in Libya but Where Are the Cameras?

By Lansana Gberie, Africa Renewal
Perhaps no major political or humanitarian disaster is as overlooked as the ongoing crisis in Libya. For example, although the New York Times in September 2017 published a total of seven articles mentioning Libya, only one of them touched on the violence ripping it apart. Even the Times’ gesture merely highlighted the latest permutation of the US government’s foreign military decisions.
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