Intensifying clashes in Sudan’s Kordofan region between rival militaries have killed hundreds and wounded many more in recent days, warned the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) on Tuesday.
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Sudan: Humanitarian needs deepen amid rising hostilities and heavy rains
Escalating violence, displacement and heavy rains are deepening the needs of civilians caught in the war in Sudan, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Monday.
United Nations says Nigerian children in need has doubled since aid cuts
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been the backbone of humanitarian response in north-eastern Nigeria for many years.
It has helped non-government organisations provide food, shelter, and healthcare to millions of people.
But early this year, US President Donald Trump’s administration cut more than 90 per cent of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall global assistance, hitting programmes that serve the most vulnerable..
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that since then, the number of children in desperate need of assistance in Nigeria has doubled.
And it’s mother’s like Yagana Bulama, who have experienced the most unthinkable impact – the death of a child.
Cradling a malnourished baby, she said she has been entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. Eight months ago, she gave birth to twins.
“Unfortunately, both were diagnosed with malnutrition by the Mercy Corps Nutrition team and were enrolled in their Outpatient Therapeutic Program at Fulatari,” she said.
But after about three weeks of treatment, the programme was abruptly halted due to the stop work directive.
“As a result of the interruption in their care, my twins’ health deteriorated. Tragically, I lost one of them.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) remains a lifeline for Yagana’s surviving child, but it is severely overstretched.
It has had to turn back many others previously served by NGOs which have pulled out due to funding cuts.
Trond Jensen, the head of OCHA’s office in Nigeria, said the situation is dire.
“What we are seeing is that 50 per cent of the nutrition efforts that we have put in place are now gone. And 70 per cent of health support is under threat, if it hasn’t disappeared already.”
This means that the figures for children in need have doubled, but he said the organisation’s capacity to deal with it “has halved or even worse”.
Jensen says immediate support is needed if they are to have any hope of saving the children.
Gaza on the brink as aid ship attacked, fuel and medical supplies dwindle
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, with the U.N. warning the territory is “inching toward running on empty.”
Olga Cherevko of the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), speaking from Gaza City, described a landscape devastated by war, where hospitals are out of blood supplies, fuel is strictly rationed, and basic survival needs like water are triggering conflict among civilians. “Gaza lies in ruins,” she said, painting a grim picture of children scavenging for fuel and shelters being bombed even as people flee with nothing.
Amid this desperation, a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza was struck by drones in international waters off Malta, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The explosion, caught on video, ignited a fire aboard the vessel Conscience, which was later extinguished. Though no injuries were reported, the group accused Israel of targeting the aid ship, an allegation Israel has not responded to. The incident revives memories of the deadly 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara during a previous attempt to break the blockade.
With over 52,000 Palestinians reportedly killed in the ongoing war and most of Gaza left in ruins, Cherevko emphasized the global choice at hand: “To keep scrolling through the grisly images of Gaza being suffocated and starved, or muster the courage to break this merciless blockade.”
SADC to Declare a Regional Disaster and Launch a Regional Humanitarian Appeal for Millions hit by El Niño-induced Drought
The Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Lt. General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama, President of Botswana will
declare a Regional Disaster and launch a Regional Appeal for Humanitarian and Recovery Support amounting to US$2.7 billion. Continue reading SADC to Declare a Regional Disaster and Launch a Regional Humanitarian Appeal for Millions hit by El Niño-induced Drought