Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case

The number of women raped by rebel groups during last month's raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has risen to over 240, U.N. officials told reporters here today.

500,000 Pregnant Women at Risk in Pakistan Floods

Aid groups and U.N. agencies are raising the alarm over the vulnerability of pregnant women and babies in flood ravaged Pakistan.

Climate-related Security Predictions Coming True in Pakistan

Analysts have been warning for several years that the impacts of climate change directly relate to the national security of the U.S. and other countries, but the link has never been so clear as it is today in northwest Pakistan.

Pakistani Officials Seek Funds, Debt Relief in Washington

Pakistani officials continued their quest for help in light of the floods that have affected 20 million people in their country by meeting with officials at the International Monetary Fund here Monday.

U.N. Steps Up Pressure to Raise Funds for Pakistan

The U.N. General Assembly met Thursday to express the world community's solidarity with the people of Pakistan and to urge member states to step up their aid commitment to the flood stricken country.

Need and Risks Never Higher for Humanitarian Work

The United Nations and other relief organisations will observe World Humanitarian Day Thursday amid steadily increasing attacks on aid workers.

Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis

In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds.

Funding Lags to Aid Pakistan’s Millions of Displaced

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon returned from Pakistan Monday calling the floods there the worst disaster he has ever witnessed and urging the world community to speed up assistance to the Pakistani people.

Q&A: “NGOs Are Here to Stay”

InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based NGOs, with over 190 members. Its head, Sam Worthington, spoke recently with IPS about the role of NGOs in Haiti, the U.S. and throughout the world.

HAITI: Patchwork of Aid Groups Coming into Focus

Half a year ago, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from around the globe flocked to Haiti to help pick up the pieces after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shattered the fragile Caribbean nation. Many have since left, but hundreds remain, as does the logistical challenge of their coordination.

Window of Opportunity For Sahel Rapidly Closing

Over the past six months, the levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Sahel belt of West Africa have increased at alarming rates, putting over 10 million people at risk across the region - particularly in Niger and Chad.

Nigeria Suffers Acute Lead-Poisoning Outbreak

The Nigerian government is trying to cope with an outbreak of lead poisoning which has killed over 200 people in Zamfara State since early July.

North Korea in Dire Need of Food, Medical Aid, Amnesty Says

The fragile health system in the cash-strapped Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), long described as one of the world's most secretive countries, is on the verge of collapsing, Amnesty International (AI) warned Thursday.

HAITI: Six Months On, Shelter Still a Main Priority

Six months ago Monday, an earthquake rocked the western hemisphere's poorest country, driving it deeper into poverty and burying it under its nascent infrastructure.

Flooded with NGOs, Haiti Looks to Fall Presidential Polls

They descended in droves after the Jan. 12 earthquake devastated the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country, killing an estimated 300,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless.

MIDEAST: These Explosions Are Saviours

At precisely 12 noon on a Thursday afternoon, among the rolling sandy hills in southern Gaza, a controlled explosion destroys another round of white phosphorous shells left in Gaza following the 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza.

SRI LANKA: After Decades of Bloodshed, Home Calls

For almost two decades, Athanayakemudiyanselage Punchibanda lived without hope of ever returning here to his native village.

PERU: ‘Don’t Minimise’ Impacts of Amazon Oil Spill

Pluspetrol's Jun. 19 petroleum spill has left the Marañón River, in the Peruvian Amazon, with oil and grease levels thousands of times greater than the maximum allowed for human consumption, affecting more than 4,000 local residents.

ANGOLA: Drilling Ever Deeper, Hoping for the Best

While BP struggles to contain an oil spill that U.S. government estimates indicate is now the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico, questions are being asked about how well prepared Africa's oil-producing countries are for a similar incident.

BRAZIL: Belo Monte Dam Means Floods for Some, Drought for Others

"There will be two years of abundance, and then famine," says Brazilian indigenous leader José Carlos Arara, laying bare his opinion of the promises that the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam will not alter the living conditions of the people in this part of the eastern Amazon.

Gulf Spill Galvanises Activist Community

With the U.S .government and oil giant British Petroleum under fire for their handling of the more than two-month-old Gulf Coast oil spill disaster, environmental and community activists across the country are taking matters into their own hands.