UN humanitarians – News Agency nabakhabar

Gaza: 23 million tonnes of debris ‘will take years to clear’; acute malnutrition doubles in a month

News Agency nabakhabar — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 20:20:18 +0000

The war in Gaza has left a staggering almost 23 millions tonnes of rubble and unexploded weapons scattered across the enclave, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

In a fresh alert about the disastrous humanitarian emergency still unfolding in the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Friday that it will “take years” before the Strip is made safe again.

The lives of more than two million Gazans have been devastated by daily Israeli bombardment, since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October, the UN agency noted in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

As the largest relief agency in Gaza, UNWRA continues to provide lifesaving supplies and services to more than 1.5 million displaced people in the south of the enclave. The agency runs shelters for more than one million people, providing them with humanitarian relief and primary healthcare.

No let-up in violence

Lifesaving humanitarian work has continued amid intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations – as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.

In its latest update on the emergency, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported ongoing violence “across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Hamad area of Khan Younis…The hostilities are causing further civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.”

OCHA noted that mine action partners are now carrying out “assessments of explosive threats” and educating Gazans about the dangers.

“Larger-scale assessments are urgently required, but response efforts have been hampered by restrictions on the import of humanitarian mine action supplies and authorization requirements for the deployment of specialized personnel.”

Funding boost

The news came as Australia became the latest country to announce that it intended to resume funding UNRWA, which saw international donor support evaporate, amid Israeli allegations that some of the agency’s staff had participated in the 7 October Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel.

A high-level UN investigation continues into the claims, which UNRWA is also complementing with its own inquiry. Shortly after the allegations were made public, nine UNRWA staff were dismissed.

Seaborne aid contribution

Meanwhile, efforts to secure a new maritime aid route from Cyprus to Gaza continued on Friday as the NGO ship Open Arms moved closer to the Gaza coastline.

© Open Arms / Open Arms vessel loaded with food and water and a dedicated crew ready to assist the most vulnerable in Gaza.

The vessel, which open-source satellites showed moored off the coast of Gaza City in the north of the enclave on Friday morning, left Larnaca in southern Cyprus on Tuesday with 200 tonnes of relief supplies. These are to be delivered ashore once a jetty is built south of Gaza City, according to reports.

The initiative involves UN-partner World Central Kitchen and the search-and-rescue charity Open Arms, reportedly in coordination with the Israeli authorities and international partners.

Malnutrition doubles in northern Gaza: UNICEF

One in three children under two in the Northern Gaza Strip suffer from acute malnutrition – double the rate of 15.6 per cent in January, UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said on Friday.

Malnutrition among children is spreading fast and reaching devastating and unprecedented levels.

At least 23 children in Northern Gaza Strip have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, adding to the mounting toll of children killed in the Strip in this current conflict – about 13,450 reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Nutrition screenings conducted by UNICEF and partners in the north in February found that 4.5 per cent of the children in shelters and health centers suffer from severe wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.

“The speed at which this catastrophic child malnutrition crisis in Gaza has unfolded is shocking, especially when desperately needed assistance has been at the ready just a few miles away,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director.

“We have repeatedly attempted to deliver additional aid and we have repeatedly called for the access challenges we have faced for months to be addressed. Instead, the situation for children is getting worse by each passing day. Our efforts in providing life-saving aid are being hampered by unnecessary restrictions, and those are costing children their lives.”

Screenings conducted for the first time in Khan Younis, in the middle area of the Gaza Strip, found 28 per cent of children under two have acute malnutrition, more than 10 per cent of which have severe wasting.

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Türkiye, Syria quake latest: full scale of disaster still unfolding, UN humanitarians warn

News Agency nabakhabar — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:33:20 +0000

The full scale of the multiple earthquake disaster in Türkiye and Syria is still unfolding, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they stressed the critical need to step up search and rescue efforts for victims and ensure that lifesaving aid reaches all those who need it.

According to the Government of Türkiye, at least 3,381 people died and more than 20,000 were injured after a 7.8 magnitude quake struck close to the southern city of Gaziantep early on Monday, followed by another 7.5 magnitude earthquake several hours later.

Almost 6,000 buildings have reportedly collapsed in the country, too, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The UN relief chief and head of OCHA, Martin Griffiths announced on Tuesday afternoon that the UN was releasing $25 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to provide urgent support across the whole region.

“As the people in the region deal with the devastating consequences of this tragedy, we want to tell them that they are not alone…The humanitarian community will support them every step of the way out of this crisis.”

Syrian toll

Syria’s needs are massive, the OCHA spokesperson continued earlier in Geneva, as he relayed information from the country’s health authorities which reported at least 769 deaths and 1,448 injuries from the earthquakes, in Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib countryside and Tartus.

After enduring the initial massive earthquakes, traumatized communities in Syria then faced more than 200 aftershocks.

“This of course came at the worst possible time for many, many vulnerable children in those areas who were already in need of humanitarian support,” said James Elder, spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“They went to bed as normal, they were woken by the screams of their neighbors, by breaking glass and by the terrifying sound of crumbling concrete.”

Already displaced by violence

Although Syria is in crisis after 13 years of war, there is a particular concern for all those affected by Monday’s disaster who live in opposition-held areas in the northwest of the country, often after being forced to flee their homes multiple times because of heavy fighting.

“It was already an emergency situation across northwest Syria where four million people receive humanitarian support. Communities there are grappling with cholera outbreak, a brutal winter and of course ongoing conflict,” Mr. Elder explained.

Echoing those concerns, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that the situation is tragic in the 10 Turkish provinces affected by the earthquakes.

© USGS / The intensity of the earthquake which affected Türkiye and Syria is shown in darker colors.

Refugee plight

In some of these affected provinces in Türkiye, 50 per cent of people are now refugees, while in Syria, UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh described the earthquake emergency as a “hammer blow” for displaced populations who have no work and whose savings have been exhausted. “We’re in the depths of winter, we’ve been seeing snowstorms and of course, you know, the war has been going on for over a decade,” he said.

As international search and rescue teams arrive in the region, coordinated by OCHA, spokesperson Jens Laerke stressed that “there’s a window of about seven days…where we’ll find alive survivors. It can happen later, but it’s really critical that these teams get out there as soon as possible.”

© UNHCR/Hameed Maarouf / Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble in the Al-Aziziyeh neighborhood in Aleppo Syria.

Fuel shortages hampering search and rescue

Aside from the material damage to roads and public infrastructure which has made the work of emergency teams more difficult, Syria’s dire economic situation has also slowed the relief effort.

“Search and rescue efforts are currently hampered by lack of equipment to remove debris,” said Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “There is a severe lack of fuel all over Syria and this has hampered operational heavy machinery, transport of personnel and emergency ambulance services.”

‘Lives are at stake’

In line with the UN Secretary-General’s appeal for all countries to support all those “already in dire need of humanitarian aid”, Mr. Laerke issued a heartfelt appeal for help. “It is imperative that everybody sees this…for what it is: a humanitarian crisis where lives are at stake. Please, don’t politicize any of this, let’s get the aid out to the people who so desperately need it.”

To date, around 8,000 people have been rescued by emergency teams coordinated by the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), according to UNHCR.

Other UN agencies and partners have also provided lifesaving support on the ground, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We’ve actually been able to move trauma and surgical kits cross-border from Gaziantep where of course we have prepositioned supplies and we have been able to supply 16 hospitals in Syria, in the affected areas in Syria, as of yesterday,” said Dr. Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson.

In a special briefing during WHO’s executive board session, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it was now “a race against time” to rescue as many survivors as possible. He announced that three charter flights would take off from both affected countries, with medical supplies including major surgical trauma kits, from WHO’s logistics hub in Dubai.

“We will work closely with all partners to support authorities in both countries, in the critical hours and days ahead, and in the months and years to come as both countries recover and rebuild“, said Tedros. “To our sisters and brothers from Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic, we all stand with you in this moment of unspeakable grief.”

Palestinians impacted

According to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), about 90 per cent of those Palestinian refugee families in Syria require humanitarian assistance because of the earthquakes.

Some 438,000 Palestinian refugees live in Syria’s 12 refugee camps and northern Syria is home to 62,000 Palestine refugees in Latakia, Neirab, Ein-el Tal and Hama.

Adding his voice to those expressing sympathy for all those affected by the disaster, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said that he was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and massive destruction.

UN aid appeal

If you wish to make a donation to the UN’s Türkiye-Syria Earthquake Appeal relief effort, you can go here.

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UN humanitarians say $4.3 billion is needed to halt ‘worsening’ Yemen crisis

News Agency nabakhabar — Mon, 02 May 2022 01:06:55 +0000

The UN’s Humanitarian Country Team in Yemen on Saturday, released its Response Plan (HRP) for this year, seeking nearly $4.3 billion to reverse a steady deterioration across the country, the grinding war there continues, despite a current pause in fighting.

The plan targets 17.3 million out of the staggering 23.4 million people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection services across the war-ravaged Arab nation, as the first nationwide truce in six years, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, continues to broadly hold.

The UN-led truce between the Saudi-led coalition forces supporting the internationally recognized Government, and Houthi rebels (formally known as Ansar Allah) who hold much of the country including the capital, Sa’ana, began on 2 April and is due to continue through May.

‘Urgently address’ realities

“The worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a reality that we need to urgently address,” said David Gressly, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.

“The numbers this year are staggering. Over 23 million people – or almost three-quarters of Yemen’s population – now need assistance. That is an increase of almost three million people from 2021. Nearly 13 million people are already facing acute levels of need.”

Escalating conflict last year, resulted in untold suffering and further disruption of public services, pushing humanitarian needs higher, said a press release issued by the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) team in Yemen.

A collapsing economy, another product of the seven-year war, has exacerbated vulnerabilities for the poorest, with a record 19 million people projected to require food assistance in the second half of 2022.

There are an estimated 161,000 who face “the most extreme hunger”, says OCHA. “Children continue to suffer horribly”, with 2.2 million acutely malnourished, including more than half a million at severe levels. Limited access to critical services continues to worsen the conditions of the most vulnerable groups, including women and children.

‘Moment of hope’

“This is also a moment of hope for Yemen. The UN-led truce is a vital opportunity for aid agencies to scale up life-saving assistance and to reach more people in acute need quickly, including in areas where access was limited due to armed conflict and insecurity,” said Mr. Gressly. “For aid agencies to immediately step up efforts, we count on sufficient donor funding. Otherwise, the aid operation will collapse despite the positive momentum we are seeing in Yemen today.”

At a high-level fund-raising event for Yemen held in March this year, donors pledged $1.3 billion – just 30 percent of the total requirement for the 2022 HRP.

Another $300 million has been pledged since then, said OCHA. However, the response remains severely underfunded, leaving aid agencies with limited resources at a time when two-thirds of major UN programs in Yemen were forced to scale back or close due to underfunding. “I urge all donors to fund the appeal fully and commit to disbursing funds quickly,” said Mr. Gressly.

More than 4.3 million people have fled their homes since the current war erupted in 2015, making it the fourth largest internal displacement crisis on Earth.

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30,000 Ukrainians returning home every day, say relief agencies

News Agency nabakhabar — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 10:52:35 +0000

More than 870,000 people who fled abroad since the Russian invasion on 24 February, have now returned to Ukraine, UN humanitarians said in their latest emergency update, amid concerns about deteriorating food security inside the country.

Citing the State Border Guard Service, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that 30,000 people are crossing back into Ukraine every day.

The recent returnees reportedly include women with children and older persons, compared to most men at the beginning of the escalation.

Relief delivery challenge

“This significant figure suggests that migration back to Ukraine might continue increasing, potentially creating new challenges for the humanitarian response as people will need support to reintegrate into their communities or find suitable host communities if returning to their homes is no longer viable,” OCHA said in a statement.

Of the 12 million people in need in Ukraine, humanitarians have reached 2.1 million of them, and the UN’s $1.1 billion flash appeal for Ukraine is now 64 percent funded.

War rages in the east and south

Fighting is concentrated in the eastern and southern oblasts – or regions – of Ukraine, causing damage and civilian casualties and driving humanitarian needs. OCHA also reported rockets strikes in central and northern Ukraine, before citing Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SESU), which said that 300,000 km2 – or almost half of Ukraine – requires demining.

Relief workers killed

In its latest emergency update, OCHA also reported that two humanitarian workers and five of their relatives have been killed in eastern Dontesk oblast.

They were sheltering at the Caritas Mariupol office when the building was reportedly hit by rounds fired from a tank, probably on 15 March, although the information only became available recently, as the city had been cut off for weeks.

In a statement, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news of the deaths.

“Both aid workers dedicated their lives to the service of others through their work for Caritas. On behalf of the United Nations and the humanitarian community, I send our heartfelt condolences to their families and colleagues, and to those of the other civilians who were killed.

“This deeply tragic and unacceptable event is just one example of this war’s horrific consequences for civilians, including aid workers“, the UN relief chief added.

“Tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol — which has been an epicenter of horror since the conflict began — and in other locations around Ukraine have now endured 50 days of violence and shelling. More than 1,932 civilians have died since 24 February, including more than 150 children. This must stop.”

Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that there are “immediate food insecurity issues” in nearly three in 10 oblasts – with a further 11 percent of oblasts (that are partially exposed to fighting) expecting shortages within two months.

Farming support

Rural and isolated communities have been worst hit by food insecurity, FAO said, as it announced support for farmers to plant their fields, save their livestock and produce food.

Urgent cash support is also planned for the most vulnerable families, including those headed by women, the elderly and those with disabilities.

Meanwhile, OCHA also noted that Russia reported that more than 783,000 people – including nearly 150,000 children – have crossed into Russia from Ukraine since 24 February.

The latest data from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, indicates that more than 4.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began. Another seven million are internally displaced.

UNAIDS warns of ‘wave of deaths’

The war in Ukraine has resulted in the destruction and disruption of health services and logistical supply chains that hundreds of thousands of people living with and affected by HIV, depend on for survival, the UN agency committed to ending AIDS said in a press release on Wednesday.

Some 250,000 Ukrainians are living with HIV, and a lack of access to antiretroviral therapy and prevention services would mean a wave of deaths and risk a resurgence of Ukraine’s AIDS pandemic, said UNAIDS.

“The community-led networks which are vital to maintaining life-saving services need an urgent upscaling of international support.”

More than 40 health facilities that offered HIV treatment, prevention and care services before the war, are now closed and there are various levels of service disruption at other sites.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has this week verified more than 100 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine, while supply routes within the country have been thrown into disarray.

Initial delivery of more than 18 million doses of life-saving antiretroviral medicine procured by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which arrived in Lviv last week, is now being distributed in partnership with the Ukrainian health ministry, and 100% Life, the largest organization of people living with HIV in Ukraine.

“If they can be delivered to those in need, the medicines are sufficient to cover a six-month supply for all people living with HIV on first-line treatment”, said UNAIDS.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is also providing emergency funding to ensure the continuity of life-saving HIV and tuberculosis services.

Civil society organizations are mounting “a heroic effort”, said UNAIDS, to deliver vital medical supplies and HIV services to people living with and affected by HIV, including vulnerable populations.

“They are reaching people in extraordinary challenging locations, despite the huge obstacles. But the civil society organizations on which this delivery and care system depends need further international support to be able to continue their work.”

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