Humanitarian Emergencies

International Court of Justice Set to Deliver Order in Genocide Case

By Cecilia Russell
The International Court of Justice will deliver it's order for provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case of South Africa versus Israel today.

Under the Scorching Sun Kenyan Farmers Find New Ways to Beat Climate Change

By Robert Kibet
In the tranquil village of Kotiang, perched on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya's lakeside region, Yvonne Atieno, a dedicated mother in her early thirties, tends to her fish pond under the relentless equatorial sun. Her young daughter eagerly joins her mother in this nurturing endeavor. Yvonne, a certified accountant by profession, reflects on how her decision to embrace regenerative farming has not only enriched her life but also imparted invaluable life lessons.

Rights Coalition Calls for Israel Arms Embargo to End Gaza Carnage

By Jake Johnson
A coalition of 16 leading human rights organizations issued a joint statement Wednesday calling on all nations to immediately stop sending weapons to both Israel and and Palestinian militants, warning that continued arms transfers risk exacerbating what's already one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history.

Gaza Health Workers Struggling to Save Injured Without Medical Supplies, WHO Expert Warns

By Naureen Hossain
Gaza’s healthcare system is “on its knees” as ongoing hostilities force hospitals to operate beyond their capacity and displace their healthcare workers, according to a WHO expert.

Trapped and Trafficked—Fishers Tell of Forced Labor Horror

By Ed Holt
“The thing is that when you come from an African country, they know that you’re basically trapped,” says Noel Adabblah. “You have the wrong documents; you can’t go home because you’ve already borrowed money there to get here, and you won’t risk losing what work you have, no matter how bad, because of that. They know all the tricks.” 

Humanitarian Cash Not Accelerating Aid Delivery in Nepal’s Earthquake Response

By Marty Logan
Delivering humanitarian assistance in the form of cash sounds great: recipients get to choose exactly how to spend their money and aid organizations can respond faster and better track their giving.

New Era: Unlocking Africa’s Agriculture Potential Through CGIAR TAAT Model

By Joyce Chimbi
As hunger and food insecurity deepen, Africa is confronting an unprecedented food crisis. Estimates show that nearly 282 million people on the continent, or 20 percent of the population, are undernourished. Numerous challenges across the African continent threaten the race to achieve food security; research and innovative strategies are urgently needed to transform current systems as they are inadequate to address the food crisis.

With Attack on Yemen, the U.S. Is Shameless: “We Make the Rules, We Break the Rules”

By Norman Solomon
Have you heard the one about the U.S. government wanting a “rules-based international order”? It’s grimly laughable, but the nation’s media outlets routinely take such claims seriously and credulously. Overall, the default assumption is that top officials in Washington are reluctant to go to war, and do so only as a last resort.

South Africa’s Genocide Case Flawed, Premature, Inaccurate, says Israel

By Cecilia Russell
Israel disputed both South Africa’s jurisdiction and the provisional measures that it demanded the International Court of Justice impose on the State of Israel to prevent genocide. Israel’s co-agent, Tal Becker, said in his opening address that Jewish people’s experience of the Holocaust meant that it was among “among the first states to ratify the Genocide Convention, without reservation, and to incorporate its provisions in its domestic legislation. For some, the promise of ‘never again for all people’ is a slogan. For Israel, it is the highest moral obligation.”

Advanced Economies Must Let the IMF Play a Productive Role on Climate

By Omer Javed and Dan Beeton
The world faces the existential threat of a climate change crisis, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the outcome of the latest UN climate summit, COP28 — hosted as it was by the CEO of one of the world’s largest oil companies, and filled with a record number of fossil fuel lobbyists — is not going to do much to change that.

Palestine: Nothing Can Justify Genocide, It’s Not the Time for Silence

By Cecilia Russell
Far from the mayhem, destruction, and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the South African government argued in the International Court of Justice in the Hague that it had an obligation and a right to bring a case to halt a genocide by the Israeli government and its military.

South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel at the International Court of Justice

By Diana Buttu
The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) published the following Q&A with human rights attorney and political analyst Diana Buttu on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice ICJ). The court is scheduled to hold hearings on the petition January 11-12.

Where Does the International Criminal Court Stand on Charges of Mass Killings in Gaza?

By Thalif Deen
The continued devastation of Gaza by Israel has triggered widespread charges of war crimes, genocide, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, starvation as a weapon of war and mass killings of civilians – over 22,000 at last count—compared to 1,200 killings by Hamas. These accusations have prompted growing demands for intervention by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which has remained silent while its Prosecutor Karim Khan is accused of double standards and playing politics.

From Chemical Engineer to Climate Justice Avenger: A Journey with Yamide Dagnet

By Alison Kentish
As a child on the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Yamide Dagnet dreamed of launching rockets into space. She stuck to science, discovering her path in chemical engineering. She became a scientist focused on critical reactions to solving real-world problems like improving water quality in the United Kingdom.

Time to End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict with a Two State-One Nation Solution

By Shihana Mohamed
Since October 9 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has displaced over 1.8 million, according to UN estimates and killed almost 22,000 people in Gaza as of 2 January 2024, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Hamas' October 7 surprise attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people.

2024 Demands Swift Action to Stem Sudan’s Ruinous Conflict

By Martin Griffiths
Nearly nine months of war have tipped Sudan into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day. As the conflict spreads, human suffering is deepening, humanitarian access is shrinking, and hope is dwindling. This cannot continue.

Homeless Families Now a Growing Issue in Zimbabwe

By Jeffrey Moyo
It is do or die on the streets of Zimbabwe as homeless families battle for survival solely depending on begging. Such is the life of 69-year-old Gladys Mugabe, who lives with her disabled son in Harare Gardens, a well-known recreational park in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Over the decades, Zimbabwe’s economy has underperformed. It started in 2000 with the departure of white commercial farmers, and the country has experienced subsequent periods of hyperinflation, which the International Monetary Fund estimated reached 172% in July last year.

Nigeria Prioritizes Climate Action to Mitigate Natural Disasters

By Leon Usigbe
In 2022 alone, flooding killed at least 662 people, injured 3,174, displaced about 2.5 million, and destroyed 200,000 houses individuals. As far back as 2012, the World Bank reported that erosion was affecting over 6,000 square kilometres of land in the country, with about 3,400 square kilometres highly exposed.

US Hypocrisy Over Russian and Israeli Killings

By Thalif Deen
When US President Joe Biden lambasted “the largest aerial assault,” which hit “a maternity hospital, a shopping mall and residential areas killing innocent people”, he was not talking of the devastating Israeli attacks on Gaza but criticizing the most recent Russian military assault on Ukraine.

Catastrophic Shortage of Food in Gaza—Starvation as a Weapon of War

By Thalif Deen
As the killings of civilians in Gaza rose to over 20,000, the besieged city—which has been virtually reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardments—is also being ravaged by hunger and starvation. In new estimates released on December 21, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global partnership that includes the World Health Organization (WHO), said Gaza is facing “catastrophic levels of food insecurity,” with the risk of famine “increasing each day.”

South Asian Women, Girls Need Responsive Legal System to Gender Violence

By Ranjit Devraj
Criminal justice systems in South Asia are failing women, despite stark statistics on the prevalence of violence. WHO estimates translate to one in every two women and girls in the region experiencing violence daily.
« Previous Page — Next Page »


notes on a nervous planet summary