All posts tagged: humanitarian

Gaza urgently needs a more effective humanitarian approach | Israel-Palestine conflict

Gaza urgently needs a more effective humanitarian approach | Israel-Palestine conflict

Published by Sam

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza has now held for a month. There have been critical moments and violations, but the mediators have so far managed to keep the deal alive. This has allowed many of the 1.9 million displaced people to move back to areas they had fled from, easing the strain on southern and central Gaza which had hosted large makeshift camps without the necessary infrastructure. The ceasefire has certainly brought a sense of relief to the Gaza Strip, which has endured unimaginable suffering for 15 months. But for the families who have survived the relentless bombing and destruction, the battle is far from over. They face a new war – one against poverty, hunger, homelessness, and despair. Homes lie in ruins, hospitals are overwhelmed, and schools are either destroyed or still shelter the displaced and homeless. Gaza has been set back by decades. Over the past weeks, we have seen aid access ramp up significantly into the Strip, particularly the north, which was besieged for months. But significant challenges remain. On the ground, colleagues …

‘Millions will die,’ Catholic humanitarian organizations warn, if halt in US aid continues

‘Millions will die,’ Catholic humanitarian organizations warn, if halt in US aid continues

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — As the Trump administration put a 90-day hold on foreign aid payments in order to look for what it termed wasteful spending, leaders of Catholic aid groups are warning that even short delays will result in the deaths among aid recipients, as well as breaks in significant help being offered Sudanese threatened by famine, unaccompanied Ethopian refugee children, and Yazidis and Christians in Iraq. “It’s a complete stop. Millions of people will die, and hundreds of millions more will suffer,” said Alistair Dutton, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, a federation of Catholic aid groups with 162 member organizations around the world. U.S. government funding made up 40% of all global humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024, and Catholic organizations play a major role in running programs funded by that aid.  Catholic Relief Services, a U.S. member of Caritas Internationalis, is the top recipient of funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has largely  dismantled. More than half of CRS’ revenue …

Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis at Vatican to discuss humanitarian situation in Ukraine

Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis at Vatican to discuss humanitarian situation in Ukraine

Published by skeptic

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Pope Francis and his advisers at the Vatican on Friday (Oct. 11), where he said they discussed the hostage situation in Ukraine and the means to promote peace. The Vatican was the third stop of Zelenskyy’s 48-hour, four-city tour of Europe, after London and Paris, where he hopes to secure financial and political support for his “victory plan.” He met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday, and after the meeting with the pope, he left for Berlin on the same day. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to almost 1 million deaths, though reports vary according to the source. Many Ukrainians have been taken hostage by Russian forces, and Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna was reported to have died in a Moscow prison on Sept. 19. “The issue of our people returning home from captivity was the main issue during the meeting with Pope Francis. We count on the assistance of the Holy See in the return home of Ukrainians …

US-built pier for Gaza humanitarian aid to be removed from coast for repairs

US-built pier for Gaza humanitarian aid to be removed from coast for repairs

Published by Sam

Back to homepage / Middle East AS IT HAPPENED The US-built temporary pier taking humanitarian aid to the coast of Gaza will be to be repaired after getting damaged in rough seas and weather, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The pier will be pulled out and sent to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, where US Central Command will repair it, the Pentagon said. Repairs will take “over a week” before the pier is anchored back into the beach in Gaza. Read our liveblog to see how all the day’s events unfolded. Issued on: 28/05/2024 – 07:35Modified: 28/05/2024 – 22:19 2 min This photo taken on April 26, 2024 by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) shows construction work on the US floating jetty in the Mediterranean Sea, to receive and deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. © CENTCOM via AFP This liveblog is now closed. For all the latest, please click here. Summary: Israeli tanks reached the centre of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday, witnesses said, as the bombardment of the southern Gazan area …

Tropical cyclone threatens to worsen humanitarian crisis in flooded East Africa

Tropical cyclone threatens to worsen humanitarian crisis in flooded East Africa

Published by skeptic

GENEVA —  The World Meteorological Organization warns that Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, which is projected to make landfall in Tanzania and Kenya this weekend, threatens to worsen the humanitarian crisis triggered by torrential rains in these and other heavily flooded countries in East Africa. “Hidaya is the first documented system to have reached tropical cyclone status in this part of the world. We are not talking about Sudan. We are talking about lower and East Africa,” WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva on Friday. “It is historically significant. It is also going to have a very big impact, and specifically on Tanzania, where the ground is already absolutely soddened. Tanzania, which has suffered flooding, is about to get hit with more heavy rains falling … from this system. “And the moisture in this tropical cyclone will also impact Kenya, where there is also very, very bad flooding,” she said, noting that “climate change was supercharging extreme weather.” El Nino, which sparked heavy rains and severe flooding sweeping East Africa, is waning. Despite this, the …

Turkey stops all trade with Israel over ‘humanitarian tragedy’ in Gaza | Turkey

Turkey stops all trade with Israel over ‘humanitarian tragedy’ in Gaza | Turkey

Published by skeptic

Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister. “Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday. “Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.” Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, accused Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of acting like a “dictator” after the restrictions were first reported. The row will probably deepen tensions between the two formerly close allies, which have deteriorated since the start of the crisis in Gaza. Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,136 Israeli citizens on 7 October and took about 250 people hostage, and since then Israel has sent soldiers into Gaza and bombarded the territory, killing more than 34,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Turkey’s trade ministry first announced restrictions on exports to Israel in early April, stopping the export of iron and steel …

EU pledges further €68M in humanitarian aid for Palestinians – POLITICO

EU pledges further €68M in humanitarian aid for Palestinians – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

The additional €68 million support — which brings total EU humanitarian assistance to €193 million for Palestinians in need inside Gaza and across the region in 2024 — is intended to scale up the desperately needed food assistance, nutritional, health, water and sanitation and shelter support, according to the Commission’s statement. The aid will be channelled through partner organizations already operational on the ground in Gaza and the region. The Commission’s move follows the decision by some European countries including Germany to resume cooperation with the U.N. relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), after they temporarily cut their funding for the organization following allegations that its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 terror attack. Since Israel launched its military operation in the besieged enclave, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities, and the territory is left the territory on the brink of famine. More than 3 million people across Gaza and the West Bank need humanitarian assistance according to the International Rescue Committee, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization. “Some 1.7 million Palestinians, nearly 75% of …

UN secures over 0 million to tackle Ethiopia’s ‘critical’ humanitarian crisis

UN secures over $600 million to tackle Ethiopia’s ‘critical’ humanitarian crisis

Published by Sam

Countries on Tuesday pledged more than $610 million to address the “critical” humanitarian situation in Ethiopia, where more than 21 million people need aid and a dire food crisis is deepening. Issued on: 17/04/2024 – 00:40 3 min The donor conference at the United Nations’ European headquarters had sought to raise significant pledges towards the $1 billion the UN has said is urgently needed to cover aid for just the next three months. The conference hosts had stressed in advance that they did not expect to raise that full amount on Tuesday, but rather to begin closing the gap between needs and funding. “We understand this is just the beginning, and we hope for continued and increased support throughout the year,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya said in a statement. Twenty countries in all made new pledges, with Ethiopia’s top donor the United States saying it had pledged an additional $154 million. Britain, which co-hosted Tuesday’s conference, ledged 100 million pounds ($125 million), while the European Union said that with member states …

‘Humanitarian aid in Sudan is constantly being blocked by all the belligerents’

‘Humanitarian aid in Sudan is constantly being blocked by all the belligerents’

Published by Sam

With the international community having pledged more than €2 billion in funding for Sudan at a humanitarian conference in Paris on Monday, Norwegian Refugee Council Sudan Advocacy Manager Mathilde Vu breaks down the worsening humanitarian crisis in a country devastated by a year of brutal fighting. Issued on: 16/04/2024 – 17:45 5 min One year ago on April 15, 2023, the first clashes broke out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum between the country’s regular armed forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and plunged the country into a deep humanitarian crisis. More than 6.7 million people are internally displaced in the country according to the UN, with a further 1.8 million refugees having fled to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Chad. Much of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed and the already crisis-hit economy has collapsed.  With Sudan now on the edge of “the world’s largest hunger crisis”, in the words of …

Pope Francis calls for Gaza ceasefire, ‘ensured’ humanitarian aid in Easter address

Pope Francis calls for Gaza ceasefire, ‘ensured’ humanitarian aid in Easter address

Published by Sam

Pope Francis called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Israeli hostages in an Easter Sunday address that marked the most important day on the Christian calendar by deploring the suffering caused by wars. Issued on: 31/03/2024 – 13:06Modified: 31/03/2024 – 13:48 2 min The pontiff presided over Mass in a packed and flower-bedecked St Peter’s Square, and then delivered his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Francis, 87, has been in poor health in recent weeks, forcing him on repeated occasions to limit his public speaking and cancel engagements as he did on Good Friday, skipping at short notice a procession at Rome’s Colosseum. However, he took part in other Holy Week events leading up to Easter, and appeared in relatively good spirits on Sunday. Easter celebrates the day in which the faithful believe Jesus rose from the dead. After the service, Francis took to his open-topped popemobile to greet crowds in the square and the …