Humanitarian Emergencies

Refugee Voices Matter – Nothing about Us, Without Us

By Anila Noor, Eliasib Amet Herrera and Shaza Alrihawi
Over the past two years, the global refugee response has been tested. The world is being rocked by the greatest pandemic in over a century, while waves of refugees have fled from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Belarus, and Tigray. So, where do we go from here? Next week, the international community will convene to take stock of the successes and shortcomings of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), a unique multilateral mechanism built to ensure the protection of one of the most vulnerable populations. This marquee Compact is up for review, but unlike other review processes, the participation of the people whose lives are shaped by the decisions to be made in the review process will be marginal. Unfortunately, only 1 in 50 of the invited attendees at the UNHCR High-Level Official’s Meeting (HLOM) to discuss the GCR are refugees.

Zero-Leprosy in Pandemic: Experts, Advocates Discuss New Strategies

By Stella Paul
As 2021 nears its end, public health systems worldwide remain severely strained by COVID 19, which is showing no sign of ending. But even as countries battle to control the deadly pandemic, they must also maintain the progress made against other diseases, including leprosy, global leprosy experts and advocates have urged.

Act to Save Children Living Precarious Lives in Cameroon’s Forgotten and Neglected Conflict

By Joyce Chimbi
Education is under attack in Cameroon. As one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world unfolds, Education Cannot Wait’s director Yasmine Sherif and the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, say the children are pawns for grown men in a political conflict.

What Will it Take to Turn Farmers Toward Climate-Resilient Superfood Millet?

By Ignatius Banda
Millet could be Africa’s silver bullet for combating anaemia – and apart from health benefits, it is climate-resilient.

High Global Fertiliser Prices Overshadow Malawi’s Farm Subsidy Programme

By Charles Mpaka
Ellena Joseph, a small-scale maize farmer in Chiradzulu District in Southern Malawi, finished preparing her field early in October.

School Meals Coalition Hopes to Provide a Meal to Every Child

By Naureen Hossain
Meals at schools not only give each child a nutritious meal but increase enrolments, among other benefits.

Ethiopia’s Civil War Fueled by Weapons from UN’s Big Powers

By Thalif Deen
In Hollywood movies, the legendary Wild West was routinely portrayed with gunslingers, lawmen and villains—resulting in the ultimate showdown between the “good guys and the bad guys”. Linda Thomson-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council early this month that the warring parties in the devastating 12-month-long civil war in Ethiopia involve the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the Eritrean Defense Forces, the Amhara Special Forces, and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front.

It’s Time to Find Solutions to the Gendered Consequences of the Pandemic

By Megan O'Donnell, Shelby Bourgault and Lotus McDougal
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects across the globe, but the data and evidence show that women have borne the brunt of the crisis. While inequalities in health, economic power, and other areas existed long before the pandemic began, the pandemic has widened these gaps.

Hunger, Desperation in Lebanon as Food Prices Rocket

By Mona Alami
On the streets of Beirut, Hadi Hassoun begs for a few pounds to feed his five children. He has little hope of a job, especially now that the economic crisis in Lebanon has destroyed wealth.

WTO Finished Without TRIPS Waiver

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury
Quickly enabling greater and more affordable production of and access to COVID-19 medical needs is urgently needed in the South. Such progress will also foster much needed goodwill for international cooperation, multilateralism and sustainable development.

Rich Food from Poor Fish, Making Food and Health Sustainable

By Busani Bafana
During the COVID-19 lockdown in Uganda, a breastfeeding mother struggled to improve the health of her malnourished child. With the closure of her local health centre, she worried the child could die without urgent medical treatment.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Patricia Danzi, Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Patricia Danzi was appointed Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in May 2020. For nearly three decades, she has dedicated her career to serving the world’s vulnerable populations.

Education Cannot Wait Investments Change Lives for Children, Including At-Risk Girls, Children with Disabilities and Teachers in South Sudan

By Charlton Doki
Ayom Wol sits under a tree in South Sudan in the scorching midday sun. He is a newly-trained teacher, preparing for tomorrow’s lessons. His school principal says he has to prepare while at school because there is no electricity at home.

Radical Relook at Drug Policies Puts Human Rights into Equation

By Ed Holt
A “radically innovative” new analysis of global drug policies has laid bare the full impact repressive drug laws and their implementation have on millions of people worldwide, civil society groups behind its creation have said.

China’s Risky Strategic Game in Myanmar

By Jan Servaes
Before the February 1 coup, China was among the top international partners of the now-in-opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). From 2015 to early 2020, when China closed its borders due to COVID-19, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi made five trips to China and met the Chinese President Xi Jinping five times.

Finance Nature-based Solutions to Quiet Nature’s Wrath – Experts

By Joyce Chimbi
Climate change experts and leaders from the Commonwealth member states rallied behind calls to accelerate climate finance for nature-based solutions to arrest the pace of climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.

As a Humanitarian Crisis Engulfs Afghanistan, Education Cannot Wait Makes Urgent Appeal for Access to Quality Learning for All Children

By Alison Kentish
After leading a landmark, first-ever all-women mission to Afghanistan last week, Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, says that schools must reopen for all children and that girls, in particular, must be able to return to secondary school classrooms.

At COP26, EBRD Launches Plan to Mobilise Private Capital for Climate Finance

By Vanora Bennett
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced its intention to double the mobilisation of private sector climate financing by 2025.

Zimbabwe’s High-Risk Cross-Border Trade

By Marko Phiri
Thirty-six-year-old Thandiwe Mtshali* watched helplessly as her informal cross-border trading (ICBT) enterprise came to a grinding halt when the Zimbabwean authorities closed the border with South Africa as part of global efforts to stem the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.

Fighting Dengue Virus with Biological Weapons

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Twenty-three-year-old Sarah Tajammal felt a sense of “impending doom” as she fought high fever, nausea, bouts of vomiting and extreme fatigue after being diagnosed with dengue two weeks back.

Will Glasgow Fix Broken Climate Finance Promises?

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Current climate mitigation plans will result in a catastrophic 2.7°C world temperature rise. US$1.6–3.8 trillion is needed annually to avoid global warming exceeding 1.5°C.
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