Category: Health

MIL-OSI United Nations: 11 February 2025 News release WHO, St. Jude launch groundbreaking international delivery of childhood cancer medicines

Source: World Health Organisation

The World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have commenced distribution of critically-needed childhood cancer medicines in 2 of 6 pilot countries, through the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines. Currently, these medicines are being delivered to Mongolia and Uzbekistan, with next shipments planned for Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal and Zambia. The treatments are expected to reach approximately 5000 children with cancer across at least 30 hospitals in these countries within this year.

The Global Platform is a first initiative of its kind. Countries in the pilot phase will receive an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured childhood cancer medicines at no cost. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), childhood cancer survival rates are often below 30%, significantly lower than those in high-income countries. Six additional countries have been formally invited to join the platform.

The initiative is poised to become the largest, with the goal of reaching 50 nations in the next 5 to 7 years. It aims to eventually provide medicines for the treatment of approximately 120 000 children with cancer in LMICs, significantly reducing mortality rates.

“For too long, children with cancer have lacked access to life-saving medicines,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This unique partnership between WHO and St. Jude is working to provide quality-assured cancer medicines to paediatric hospitals in low-and middle-income countries. WHO is proud to be part of this joint initiative with St. Jude, bringing health and hope to children around the world.”

Every year, an estimated 400 000 children worldwide develop cancer. The majority of these children, living in resource-limited settings, are unable to consistently obtain or afford cancer medicines. It is estimated that 70% of the children from these settings die from cancer due to factors such as lack of appropriate treatment, treatment disruptions or low-quality medicines.

“A child’s chances of surviving cancer are largely determined by where they are born, making this one of the starkest disparities in global healthcare,” said James R. Downing, MD, president and CEO of St. Jude. “St. Jude was founded on Danny Thomas’ dream that no child should die in the dawn of life. By developing this platform, we believe this dream can someday be achieved for children stricken by cancer, irrespective of where they live.”

St. Jude and WHO announced the platform in 2021 to ensure children around the world have access to lifesaving treatments. The platform brings together governments, the pharmaceutical industry and non-governmental organizations in a unique collaborative model focused on creating solutions for children with cancer. The co-design approach addresses the broader needs of national stakeholders, with a focus on capacity building and long-term sustainability.

The platform provides comprehensive end-to-end support, from consolidating global demand to shaping the market, assisting countries with medicine selection and developing treatment standards. It represents a transformative model for the broader global health community working together to tackle health challenges, in particular for children and noncommunicable diseases. To accomplish this, St. Jude and WHO partner with UNICEF Supply Division, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Strategic Fund.

Notes to editors:

World Health Organization

Dedicated to the well-being of all people and guided by science, the World Health Organization (WHO) leads and champions global efforts to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance at a safe and healthy life. WHO is the UN agency for health that connects nations, partners and people on the front lines in 150+ locations – leading the world’s response to health emergencies, preventing disease, addressing the root causes of health issues and expanding access to medicines and health care. WHO’s mission is to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.

On childhood cancer, WHO works with over 100 global partners through the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, to support governments in developing high-quality cancer centres and regional satellites that ensure early, accurate diagnosis and effective treatments for children with cancer. WHO also develops standards and tools to guide the planning and implementation of interventions for diagnosis, treatment and palliative and survivorship care. Progress on childhood cancer, as well as on other noncommunicable diseases, are part of the agenda for the UN General Assembly Fourth High-Level Meeting of the on noncommunicable diseases to take place in September 2025.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening disorders. It is a non-profit organization based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 60 years ago. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org, read Progress: A Digital Magazine and follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.

WHO and St. Jude first collaborated in 2018, when St. Jude became the first WHO Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer and committed US$15 million for the creation of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (Global Initiative). This initiative supports more than 70 governments in building and sustaining local cancer programs and aims to increase survival to 60% by 2030. The Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines (Global Platform) synergizes with the Global Initiative, with activities implemented through this new effort expected to contribute substantially to the achievement of the initiative’s goals. The Global Platform is part of the St. Jude Strategic Plan focused on accelerating progress on catastrophic childhood diseases on a global scale through the institution’s largest investment in research and patient care.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: 11 February 2025 Departmental update Heads of road safety agencies meeting to drive down road deaths

Source: World Health Organisation

Heads of national road safety agencies and officials from more than 80 countries will meet to share knowledge to advance their national road safety strategies and action plans on the eve of the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech, Morocco, next week.

The Global network of heads of national road safety agencies meeting, co-hosted by WHO and the Global Road Safety Facility at the World Bank, will bring more than 110 officials together in Marrakech on 17 February to discuss the opportunities and challenges lead road safety agencies face in meeting the global goal of halving road deaths as set out in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.

“Empowering heads of road safety agencies is key to helping countries reduce road deaths and apply proven solutions. Lead road safety agencies drive national road safety strategies and coordinate across government. The network is here to help them advance that important work,” said Matts-Ake Belin, WHO global lead on the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Launched after the United Nations High-Level Political Declaration on Global Road Safety in 2022, the WHO-hosted network supports governments in establishing the policies, coordination and actions to ensure safe mobility for all citizens. It fosters collaboration and learning, provides technical support and monitors progress against the Global Plan for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.

As part of the network, WHO and the Global Road Safety Facility at the World Bank have delivered a range of capacity-building initiatives for road safety leaders in the last few years. Occasionally they have partnered with the Swedish Vision Zero Academy, the Indian Institute of Technology and other partners.

Road safety governance is a key theme at the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. A session on governance will leading experts together to examine how different organizational models and governance mechanisms can deliver sustainable, results-driven road safety outcomes.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Around 90,000 children impacted by Cyclone Chido in Mozambique

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

17 December 2024 Humanitarian Aid

Tropical Cyclone Chido struck northern Mozambique over the weekend, bringing torrential rains and powerful winds that caused devastation for communities in Cabo Delgado province.

Current assessments show the storm destroyed or damaged over 35,000 homes, displaced thousands of families, and impacted more than 90,000 children, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

Classrooms destroyed; infrastructure damaged

According to the latest situation report, at least 174,000 people have been impacted overall but numbers may increase as assessments continue.

In addition to homes damaged, at least 186,000 classrooms were destroyed, and 20 health facilities hit, after the storm made landfall on Sunday.

Cyclone Chido hit close to the city of Pemba in Cabo Delgado, blowing away roofs, damaging civilian infrastructure, and leveling electricity and communication systems.

“Mozambique is considered one of the most affected countries in the world by climate change and children were already experiencing several life-threatening emergencies before Cyclone Chido, including conflict, drought, and disease outbreaks,” said Mary Louise Eagleton, UNICEF Representative in Mozambique.

UNICEF – along with other UN agencies, the government, NGOs and local partners – is “responding and prioritizing decisive actions for emergency humanitarian action despite the enormous challenges children face in Mozambique”, Ms. Eagleton added.

Seven years of conflict

Cabo Delgado has endured at least seven years of brutal conflict, leading to more than 1.3 million people becoming internally displaced, 80 per cent of them women and children.

For many, Cyclone Chido has caused renewed hardship, washing away what little they had managed to rebuild, according to UN agencies in the region.

© UNICEF/Guy Taylor

Young boys look at the damage caused by Cyclone Chido.

The cyclone also tore through Nampula and Niassa provinces, leaving over 25,000 families without electricity and damaging two water facilities.

In a region already fighting a cholera outbreak, the latest devastation creates an ominous likelihood that the outbreak will further deteriorate, UNICEF added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has experts on the ground in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces, supporting authorities to conduct health assessments to identify and address immediate needs.

Affected rural areas

Within the first 48 hours, UN refugee agency, UNHCR, provided aid to those in need in Pemba, where more than 2,600 people received emergency relief and essential items such as blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, and emergency shelter supplies.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday in Geneva, UNCHR’s spokesperson Eujin Byun said that “while the full extent of the damage in rural areas remains unclear, preliminary assessments suggest that around 190,000 people urgently need humanitarian assistance, 33 schools have been affected and nearly 10,000 homes were destroyed. In some villages, very few houses remain standing”.

UN standing ready

Posting on X, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that UN teams in the region are helping deliver emergency assistance, and that the organization stands ready to provide additional support as needed.

According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, limited supplies are hampering the response. Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $4 million to Mozambique in support of the early humanitarian response.

With nearly 3.3 million people projected to be in “crisis” or higher levels of food insecurity in Mozambique next year, the World Food Programme (WFP) added that the agency would be scaling up to help those most affected by the cyclone.

Other affected areas

Cyclone Chido also caused significant devastation in Mayotte, a French overseas territory, resulting in fatalities, infrastructure damage, and increased risks for vulnerable communities, including asylum-seekers and refugees, added UNHCR.

And in southern Malawi, the storm brought strong winds and rains leading to destruction of houses and infrastructure in several areas. The agency is actively monitoring the situation and coordinating with local partners.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Diabetes during pregnancy can cause serious problems later – mothers need proper screening after birth

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phyllis Ohene-Agyei., Doctoral Researcher in Maternal Health, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Shutterstock/Dragana Gordic

A growing number of women experience high blood sugar levels during pregnancy which typically resolve after birth.

Known as gestational diabetes, this is the most common metabolic disorder in pregnancy and affects one in seven women worldwide and one in sixteen in New Zealand.

Gestational diabetes is associated with complications during pregnancy. This includes high blood pressure, giving birth to a big baby (which increases the risk of vaginal birth complications) and increased rates of Caesarean section. It can also significantly affect the mother’s mental health and wellbeing.

Worryingly, more women are being diagnosed with gestational diabetes than ever before. Our new review of later health impacts for these women suggests they could be receiving better care after birth and in the long term.

Recommended care

Women who experienced gestational diabetes are ten times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and twice as likely to experience cardiovascular disorders such as heart disease in the years following birth, compared to women who don’t develop gestational diabetes.

These mothers may also suffer from mental health problems, including depression, particularly in high-risk groups such as women of non-European ethnicity and those with a previous history of gestational diabetes.

For these reasons, care after birth for these women is important. This should include regular screening for blood sugar levels, cardiovascular problems and mental wellbeing after birth. It is also important women receive advice on diet and exercise.

Support for continued breastfeeding is also important as women who get gestational diabetes may experience a delay in milk flow and generally have lower breastfeeding rates compared to others. Breastfeeding may even reduce the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes can delay the flow of milk and make breastfeeding more difficult.
Shutterstock/Pixel Shot

Screening should continue for more than the first year after giving birth. Best practice would see women who had gestational diabetes being provided with long-term follow-up care, given their high risk for type 2 diabetes and heart problems.

Current evidence, however, suggests this isn’t necessarily happening. In a 2018 British study across several general practice centres, women who had gestational diabetes reported their levels of care during pregnancy dropped sharply after birth – to the point where they felt abandoned by the health system.

In a 2024 New Zealand study, mothers who had had gestational diabetes were interviewed five years after birth and expressed the need for more support from the health system.

While this study involved mothers’ perceptions about the optimal health and wellbeing for their children who were exposed to gestational diabetes, the findings also suggest room for improvement in care for the women themselves.

Gaps in clinical guidelines

Following on from this, our research team reviewed existing clinical practice guidelines to see if there were any gaps. These guidelines play an important role in contributing to quality care because they summarise research findings to provide recommendations for healthcare professionals to optimise health and reduce harm.

We looked at recommendations from 26 clinical practice guidelines published in the past decade in 22 countries, including New Zealand. The findings showed we could be doing better for women who have experienced gestational diabetes.

A key example relates to screening for diabetes after birth. It is common practice to check the blood sugar levels of women within three months of giving birth to see if they have gone back to normal.

This testing ensures any abnormalities (like high blood glucose, which may suggest diabetes) are detected so that appropriate management begins early on. Sadly, a nationwide study reported only about half of women receive this screening within six months after birth in New Zealand.

Sending reminders and combining these tests with other postnatal baby health checks and care procedures might encourage more women to check their blood sugar levels. However, very few guidelines we assessed recommend ways to raise the number of women who attend this screening.

Even fewer guidelines talk about screening for poor mental health, despite an increased chance these women could experience depression after birth.

Research we carried out in 2022, using randomised trial data of women with a previous history of gestational diabetes, revealed that around one in five self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression or poor mental functioning at six months after birth.

Postnatal screening for mental health problems for all women who had gestational diabetes should be recommended to help improve quality of care.

Encouraging women who have had gestational diabetes to attend screening tests, continue breastfeeding and adopt healthy dietary choices and physical exercise requires health professionals to provide adequate counselling on the long-term risks of this condition. This will help women stick with their care plan after birth.

Phyllis Ohene-Agyei. does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Diabetes during pregnancy can cause serious problems later – mothers need proper screening after birth – https://theconversation.com/diabetes-during-pregnancy-can-cause-serious-problems-later-mothers-need-proper-screening-after-birth-245658

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Kazakhstan tightens laws to combat trafficking of newborns

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

By Kulpash Konyrova, in Kazakhstan

30 July 2024 Law and Crime Prevention

Babies are being sold for up to $4,500 in Kazakhstan, but the government is cracking down on traffickers with a new law adopted earlier this month.

To fight against trafficking newborns, the new legislation facilitates the criminal prosecution for such crimes as kidnapping, illegal deprivation of liberty, human trafficking, involvement in prostitution and more.

Approved ahead of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, marked annually on 30 July, the law responds to a grim reality.

Last year, 19 cases of trade in newborns were registered in the country, for which more than 15 people were brought to justice, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

So far in 2024, six cases of trade in newborns have been registered, with the ministry reporting prices for each child range from $200 to $4,500.

© Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan

Doctors check the condition of a newborn baby who needs medical assistance at a hospital in Kazakhstan.

True extent of the problem

But, that is just the surface, said Gulnaz Kelekeyeva, head of the project Kazakhstan’s Actions in Combating Child Trafficking project at Winrock International, a United States-based non-governmental organization (NGO). Ms. Kelekeyeva said she believes that official statistics do not reflect the real state of affairs.

“Unfortunately, in Kazakhstan, there has been virtually no nationwide research on socially vulnerable children and the vulnerability of children to trafficking and exploitation,” she told UN News. “There are also no accurate statistics to assess the true scale of the problem.”

The only study on vulnerable Kazakhstani children who have been victims of human trafficking in and outside the country, as well as sexual exploitation, was conducted in 2012 by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan.

Trafficking moves online

Since then, human and child trafficking has moved online, Ms. Kelekeyeva warned.

“Much has changed over the past 12 years, in particular, human and child trafficking is now increasingly taking place in cyberspace,” she said. “It is necessary to conduct a new analysis of the current situation in the country regarding the protection of children from trafficking and exploitation.”

Human and child trafficking is now increasingly taking place in cyberspace

Today, there is only isolated information about cases of child trafficking that gets into the media from crime reports, she emphasised.

Last fall, media reports spotlighted a case about the sale of an abandoned baby by obstetricians at a maternity hospital in Kazakhstan. The doctors were found guilty of selling a newborn for $3,000 and sentenced to eight years of imprisonment.

Another case involved a 23-year-old mother tried to sell her two children. The eldest was about a year old, and the second was less than a month old. The children are now under state protection.

Protecting children

Unfortunately, those tasked with caring for children are often unaware of the role they play in preventing and combatting child trafficking, Ms. Kelekeyeva said. That includes health and education authorities, maternity hospitals and schools, children’s homes, guardianship and trusteeship institutions, visiting nurses and paediatricians at clinics, emergency wards and private medical centres in Kazakhstan.

“Often, they mistakenly believe that this issue falls within the competence of purely law enforcement agencies,” she said. “Although it is precisely in this issue that there should be interaction between all interested services.”

Child trafficking is not only the adoption of children, but also sexual exploitation, forced labour and the sale of organs, she said.

Digital tools are helping

The new Kazakh law is toughening penalties for human trafficking requires healthcare workers to report abandoned newborns or face administrative liability, and digital technologies are helping to identify such cases.

Since last year, a pilot project has been tested in one of the maternity hospitals Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Each newborn was immediately given an individual identification number, which eliminates the possibility of criminal transactions.

This year, the pilot is being rolled out across the country.

Legal support

Scientific achievements at the time, such as the possibility of artificial insemination, are now causing many difficulties in developing a law aimed at preventing the trafficking of newborns, explained member of parliament Sergei Ponomarev, who took part in developing the new anti-trafficking legislation.

Today, cases have been encountered where women from Kazakhstan, especially from the southern regions of the country, are used as incubators to bear other people’s children, he said.

The child’s DNA is then taken to determine parental rights with a man who is a citizen of another country, he said, noting that when determining kinship, the biological father has every right to take his child abroad.

“Regarding this matter, we are open to studying the experience of other countries,” he said.

A Kazakh sold abroad returns home

When 21-year-old Eddy Jean (born Zhanibek) was born, he was adopted by a single Belgian woman who reportedly paid €12,000. In 2022, he came to Kazakhstan in search of his birth mother.

“I don’t need anything; I just want to see my mother’s face, hug her at least once and calm my heart,” Eddy said at the time on a popular talk show that aired on national television. “I still worry, especially when I talk about my mother.”

I just want to see my mother’s face, hug her at least once and calm my heart

Renowned journalist Kymbat Doszhan told UN News that she was so moved by Eddy’s story that she became his official representative in Kazakhstan in the search for his biological mother.

She said Eddy’s biological mother had asked to leave the maternity hospital with a receipt in 2002, but never returned. In those years, when the nation’s economy was recovering after the Soviet Union’s collapse, she said many Kazakhstani children were adopted by foreigners and taken abroad.

The Kazakhstan Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that foreigners can now pay as much as $50,000 for a trafficked newborn. But, Ms. Doszhan said “it is still very difficult to find Eddy’s biological mother.”

She said archival documents from the orphanage have either disappeared or do not contain accurate information.

“Perhaps this was done intentionally,” she continued. “There were two meetings with Eddy’s alleged mothers, but the DNA results did not confirm the relationship. When we contacted his adoptive mother from Belgium, it turned out that she had paid the orphanage staff €12,000.”

Today in Kazakhstan, issues of child adoption are regulated by law. In the event of the detection of a crime, in particular an act of purchase and sale or other transactions in relation to a minor, the fact is registered under article 135, on trafficking minors, of the Criminal Code.

Still, the search for Eddy’s birth mother continues, Ms. Doszhan said.

“We were faced with the fact that we had no one to even file claims against,” she said. “Those who sold children in those years have long since left Kazakhstan.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Underinvestment threatens universal health coverage goals

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

12 December 2024 Health

Coinciding with Universal Health Coverage Day on Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO) released its 2024 Global Health Expenditure Report, revealing troubling declines in government health spending.

The report, titled Global Spending on Health: Emerging from the Pandemic, shows a reduction in per capita government health expenditures in 2022 across all income groups, following a surge during the early COVID-19 pandemic years.

This concerning trend undermines progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC), a goal enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the agency said.

This year, Universal Health Coverage Day emphasises the urgent need for governments to prioritise financial protection, ensuring access to essential health services for all without risking financial hardship.

A global health emergency

The statistics are stark: 4.5 billion people worldwide lack access to basic health services, and 2 billion experience financial hardship from healthcare costs.

For many, the high price of medical care presents impossible choices between vital treatments and necessities like food and housing.

These challenges disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, including women, children, and adolescents, who face the greatest barriers to healthcare access.

“While access to health services has been improving globally, using those services is driving more and more people into financial hardship or poverty,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“Universal Health Coverage Day is a reminder that health for all, means everyone can access the health services they need, without financial hardship,” he added.

The cost of inaction

Reduced government health investments can have far-reaching consequences.

Without sufficient funding, health systems waver, leaving populations vulnerable in both their routine health needs and crises.

The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the connection between UHC and health security, underscoring the need for resilient health systems that protect everyone, everywhere.

Investing in health is not just a moral imperative but an economic one.

Access to affordable healthcare improves workforce participation, boosts productivity, and fosters social cohesion.

On the contrary, when healthcare costs force people into poverty, the economic ripple effects can be devastating.

UHC Day 2024: A call to action

Since the UN General Assembly’s endorsement of UHC in 2012, global leaders have reaffirmed their commitments in multiple declarations. Yet, financial protection has worsened over the last two decades.

This Universal Health Coverage Day, advocates are urging governments to meet their commitments by prioritising health funding in national budgets.

The 2024 UHC Day theme, “Health: It’s on the Government”, underscores the role of governments in ensuring equitable and affordable healthcare for all.

Advocates are calling on leaders to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from impoverishing health costs and to ensure no one has to choose between healthcare and basic needs.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Syria: UN health agency launches $56.4 million appeal to meet critical needs

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

By Vibhu Mishra

24 December 2024 Humanitarian Aid

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday launched a $56.4 million flash appeal to address urgent health needs in Syria, where years of conflict have cripped the healthcare system.

In addition, the developments since late November, culminating with the overthrow of the Assad regime added new dimensions to the crisis, including population displacements as well as return of Syrian refugees from neighbouring countries.

Since November 2024, over 882,000 Syrians have been displaced amid surging violence, further straining the country’s fragile healthcare system. Attacks on health facilities also escalated, with 37 incidents reported in the past month, according to WHO.

Over half of Syria’s hospitals are now non-functional, and 141 health facilities in northern Aleppo and Idlib face imminent closure due to funding shortages.

Healthcare under unprecedented strain

“The health infrastructure in Syria is severely strained, more than ever,” said Christina Bethke, acting WHO Representative for the country.

“Our teams are currently providing care through mobile clinics, restoring immunization services and integrating mental health support into health facilities, especially for those affected by trauma. This appeal is about safeguarding health and dignity while offering Syrians hope for a safer future.”

Fully funded, WHO’s six-month strategy aims to further strengthen trauma care, deploy ambulances, restore maternal and child health services, enhance disease surveillance, and enable timely patient referrals.

The agency also aims to bolster health system coordination through its hub in Gaziantep, Türkiye, which coordinates assistance to about five million Syrians, including those in hard-to-reach areas.

UNHCR highlights refugee challenges

Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported significant challenges for displaced populations and returning refugees, particularly for vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, women and children.

Those returning from neighbouring countries face severe hardships, with destroyed homes forcing them to live in tents, with extended family members or pay exorbitant rental fees.

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) particularly in agricultural land or homes near former frontline areas pose significant risks. Returnees also cited the need for legal assistance, psychosocial support and school rehabilitation.

In response, UNHCR partners in Aleppo, Hassakeh, Ar-Raqqa and rural Tartous have resumed protection activities, including programmes to keep children engaged, livelihood grants, relief distribution, prevention of sexual violence, and awareness sessions on UXOs and other harmful objects.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Turning the tide’ on childhood violence

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

7 November 2024 Law and Crime Prevention

More than 100 governments made historic commitments to end childhood violence on Thursday at a landmark event in Bogotá, Colombia.

Among the pledges, nine countries pledged to ban corporal punishment – an issue that affects three out of every five children regularly in their homes.

“Despite being highly preventable, violence remains a horrific day to day reality for millions of children around the world – leaving scars that span generations,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General.

“Today countries made critical pledges that, once enacted, could finally turn the tide on childhood violence,” he added.

One billion children affected

Over half of all children aged two to 17 worldwide – some one billion – are estimated to suffer some form of violence, such as child maltreatment (including corporal punishment, the most prevalent form of childhood violence), physical or emotional abuse and sexual violence.

Some three in five children are regularly punished by physical means in their home, and one in five girls and one in seven boys experience sexual violence.

For some of these children, violence results in death or serious injury. Every 13 minutes, a child or adolescent dies as a result of homicide – equating to around 40,000 preventable deaths each year. Moreover, violence, often involving firearms or other weapons, is now the leading cause of death among adolescent males.

For others, experiencing violence has devastating and life-long consequences. These include anxiety and depression, risky behaviours like unsafe sex, smoking and substance abuse and reduced academic achievement.

Violence against children is also often hidden, with WHO estimates that fewer than half of affected children tell anyone they experienced violence and under 10 per cent receive any help.

Enacted prevention strategies

At the Bogotá conference, countries committed to a range of evidence-based strategies aimed at preventing childhood violence.

Key measures include expanding parenting support programmes to encourage positive, non-violent discipline. School-based programmes targeting bullying and enhancing social skills also play a crucial role in fostering safer learning spaces.

Additionally, governments pledged to improve child-friendly health and social services to support young survivors, while new digital safety initiatives aim to protect children from online exploitation.

Research shows that implementing these strategies could reduce violence against children by 20 to 50 per cent, underscoring the importance of these new commitments in turning the tide on childhood violence.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: Hostilities in northeast Syria, response plan in Mali, Uyghur deportations in Thailand

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

21 January 2025 Humanitarian Aid

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued an alert on Tuesday over intensifying hostilities in the northeast in recent days.

Between 16 and 18 January, at least three civilians were killed and 14 injured in shelling and other attacks impacting Manbij, Ain al-Arab and other villages near the Tishreen Dam in the eastern Aleppo region.

UN partners also reported that shops in the main market were damaged when an improvised bomb detonated inside a car in Manbij.

These incidents have forced people from their homes and obstructed aid access, OCHA reported after sending a mission to the city on Monday.

The mission visited the Manbij National Hospital and met with local officials, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and local non-governmental organizations to identify and address the issues at stake, according to Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.

OCHA and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also completed a monitoring mission on Monday to the Ain Al Bayda water station in eastern Aleppo.

Deadly remains

UN partners have recorded 69 explosive ordnance incidents over the first two weeks of January due to contamination, in which 45 people were killed and 60 others wounded.

“Since 26 November, a total of 134 new areas with explosive remnants of war have been identified by partners across five governorates – Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Deir-ez-Zor and Latakia,” said Mr. Haq.

As people continue to move and return to their communities, UN partners are calling for increased and flexible funding for mine action, including risk education and emergency clearance.

Meanwhile, with water and sanitation services suspended in many displacement camps due to funding gaps affecting more than 635,000 people, OCHA asked for increased funding to ensure the continuation of its services.

$770 million response plan launched in Mali

On Tuesday, the UN in collaboration with Mali’s transitional authorities, launched a $770 million humanitarian needs and response plan in the capital Bamako to support millions of people across the country this year.

© UNFPA Mali/Amadou Maiga

Two girls at the Barigondaga displacement site in Mali.

The plan aims to address the urgent needs of 4.7 million people affected by conflict, displacement, health emergencies and climate shocks, according to the Deputy Spokesperson.

Mostly women and children

Nearly 80 per cent of the people to be reached with aid are women and children who are in need of food, water, healthcare and protection support.

Last year, UN partners mobilised nearly 40 per cent of what was required – just over $270 million – enabling lifesaving assistance and protection to reach 1.8 million people.

The Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator on the ground, Khassim Diagne, said it is urgent that the entire humanitarian community and donors renew their commitment to addressing essential needs in the region.

UN rights experts urge Thailand to halt Uyghur deportations

Independent UN human rights experts have called on Thailand to immediately stop the deportation of 48 Uyghurs to China, citing serious concerns over potential torture and inhumane treatment.

“The treatment of the Uyghur minority in China is well-documented,” the Human Rights Council-appointed experts stated. “We are concerned they are at risk of suffering irreparable harm.”

The experts emphasised the international prohibition on refoulement, which forbids returning individuals to countries where they face real risks of torture or cruel treatment. They urged Thailand to provide urgent medical care to the mostly Muslim Uyghurs being held.

The 48 individuals are part of a larger group of around 350 Uyghurs detained in Thailand since 2014 after crossing the border irregularly. They have reportedly been held incommunicado for over a decade, without access to legal representation, family members or UN officials.

No return

“It is our view that these persons should not be returned to China,” the experts said. “They must be provided with access to asylum procedures and humanitarian assistance, including medical and psycho-social support.”

The experts highlighted that 23 of the 48 Uyghurs held suffer from severe health conditions, including diabetes, kidney dysfunction and paralysis. “It is essential they receive appropriate medical care,” the experts added.

Thai authorities were reminded of their obligation to treat all detainees humanely and with dignity, ensuring access to legal representation, medical assistance and the ability to communicate with lawyers and family members.

The plea underscores the urgent need for Thailand to uphold international human rights standards and protect the Uyghur detainees from potential harm.

Special Rapporteurs and other experts are not UN staff, receive no salary for their work and are fully independent of any government or organization.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Bringing Accountability and Transparency Back

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Ron Johnson

The first subpoena I issued as the new chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records relating to COVID-19 vaccine safety data and communications about the COVID-19 pandemic, including Dr. Anthony Fauci’s emails.
These records and data were previously withheld by the Biden administration. This is a culmination of a multi-year fight to overcome the obstruction of the Biden administration to get unredacted records and data about the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. For years, Biden officials at HHS and its subcomponent agencies withheld crucial health information the public. Many of my 70 oversight letters were either completely ignored or inadequately addressed.
It is well past time to bring accountability and transparency back to our U.S. health agencies.
I made this announcement during Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s confirmation hearingbefore the Senate Finance Committee. Watch my call for this nomination to unify and heal our nation.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joining forces with President Trump to address chronic illness was the answer to my – and millions of other Americans’ – prayers. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to confirm his nomination and give him the opportunity to Make America Healthy Again.
WATCH: Sen. Johnson’s entire 7-minute questioning of RFK Jr.
WATCH: News Nation interview with Sen. Johnson on RFK Jr. hearing
SOCIAL: Daily Signal X post
SOCIAL: Eric Daugherty X post
READ: Why Sen. Johnson suggests a Secretary of Information Extraction

My budget proposals are as close as we will ever get to zero-based budgeting. Use one of the pre-pandemic spending levels as a starting point instead of starting at $7 trillion and suffering death by a thousand cuts. I’ve suggested using $5.5 trillion (which would match Biden’s projected revenue) and add if we must.
If we use President Trump’s projected FY2025 outlays, plus Biden’s projected FY2025 spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Interest, then FY2025 outlays would equal $6.1 trillion. This will dramatically reduce the deficit, and put us in a position where actually balancing the budget is entirely doable.
We’ve got to bring spending down. It’s not a revenue problem, it’s a spending problem.
We just released the text of the Senate’s fiscal year 2025 budget resolution.
This will be the blueprint that unlocks the pathway for a fully paid-for reconciliation bill to secure the border, bolster our military, increase American energy independence, and begin the process of fiscal sanity.
WATCH: Newsmax interview on budget battle
WATCH: “I have greater faith in Elon Musk to root out waste, fraud, and abuse than unelected bureaucrats who refuse to be held accountable.”
READ: Sen. Johnson’s Wall Street Journal op-ed on fiscal sanity
SOCIAL: Sen. Johnson’s X post response to Elon Musk
WATCH: Badger Institute Speaker Series — Forthright facts from the Senate’s pre-eminent accountant

I joined the Megyn Kelly Show to talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination and restoring integrity to science. We need to make sure that the data is transparent and that everybody has a seat at the table.

On the Steve Deace Show, I talked about why ALL of Trump’s cabinet appointments must be approved and why we must balance the budget with out-of-the-box thinking.

On the Daily Signal podcast, I sat down with Fred Lucas to talk about serving as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. I told him I’ll be like a mosquito in a nudist colony — it’s a target rich environment!

MIL OSI USA News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Global solidarity key to future pandemic preparedness, says UN chief

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

27 December 2024 Health

In a message commemorating Friday’s International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged all nations to invest in resilience and equity to make a healthier and safer world for all.

The world remains dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic, despite the harrowing lessons of COVID-19, Mr. Guterres warned.

“COVID-19 was a wake-up call to the world,” he stated, reflecting on the devastating human, economic and social toll of the pandemic.

“The crisis may have passed, but a harsh lesson remains: the world is woefully unprepared for the next pandemic,” he emphasised.

Resilient systems and equitable access

While recent outbreaks of mpox, cholera, polio, and Marburg virus serve as stark reminders of persistent threats, the Secretary-General emphasised the need for stronger, more inclusive health systems.

He underscored the need for bold investments in pandemic monitoring, detection and response, alongside Universal Health Coverage, as critical pillars of preparedness.

He said that equitable access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics is a moral imperative, underscoring the lessons learned during COVID-19 when disparities in healthcare access were striking.

A global approach to prevention

The Secretary-General also underscored the importance of the pandemic preparedness and response accord, which is under intergovernmental negotiations, to ensure the world works better, together, to prevent and contain future pandemics.

“Today, and every day, let’s commit to working together for a safer and healthier world for everyone, everywhere,” he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated this message, highlighting its ongoing collaboration with governments to strengthen emergency and epidemic preparedness systems.

In a statement, the UN health agency underscored the importance of the One Health approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health sectors to mitigate epidemic risks.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Health needs in Syria worsen amid winter conditions

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

By Vibhu Mishra

27 December 2024 Humanitarian Aid

Health challenges in northwest Syria have escalated due to harsh winter conditions, exacerbating the vulnerability of displaced populations, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)-led Health Cluster reported on Friday.

It also cited rising cases of respiratory illnesses, compounded by inadequate heating, overcrowded camps and damaged infrastructure.

“There is continuous significant rise in influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), since the beginning of winter with subsequent rise in hospital visits and heightened public health concerns,” the Health Cluster said.

Led by WHO, the Health Cluster coordinates the efforts of over 900 partners globally to address health needs in humanitarian emergencies, providing expertise, capacity-building and technical guidance to ensure effective and life-saving responses in crisis-affected regions.

Worsening conditions

Harsh winter conditions in northwest Syria continue to exacerbate the existing health vulnerabilities, especially among the internally displaced, who often reside in makeshift shelters and overcrowded camps that lack adequate insulation and heating, it added.

Public health officials also warned of heightened risks, including hypothermia, as temperatures fall.

To address these issues, health partners emphasized the need for targeted interventions, including better insulated shelters, heating and access to essential medical supplies.

Humanitarian response

The UN and partners have also intensified efforts to improve healthcare access.

As of Wednesday, 750 trucks carrying aid from seven UN agencies, including WHO and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), crossed into northwest Syria through Bab Al-Hawa and Bab Al-Salam crossings, with 37 trucks arriving this week.

These shipments include vital medical supplies, food and other humanitarian aid.

WHO has supported 37 health facilities and 14 health cluster partners with 510 trauma supply kits, enabling treatment for over 90,000 individuals.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has also delivered health kits and material to shore up sexual and reproductive health services. Mobile mental health units continue to deliver psychological support to vulnerable populations, including children and IDPs, in isolated areas.

To address critical shortages, health partners such as the WATAN foundation have deployed three mobile blood banks, collecting 210 blood units through donation campaigns. Other partners are also extending support to hospitals in Aleppo, focusing on pediatric care and trauma services.

Ongoing challenges

Despite these efforts, the health crisis in northwest Syria remains dire.

Recent landmine explosions in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama have caused fatalities and injuries, further straining the health system. On 24 December, three explosions killed a man in Idlib and injured others in Aleppo, including a child.

Funding shortages are another critical concern.

The Health Cluster requires $22 million over the next three months to sustain essential healthcare services for 450,000 people. Severe underfunding has left 140 health facilities at risk, including general and specialized hospitals, primary health centers and dialysis units.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: WHO continues to urge China to share data five years after COVID-19

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

31 December 2024 Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) this week reflected on COVID-19, and ongoing efforts to understand the disease, five years after its emergence.

WHO recalled that on 31 December 2019, its Country Office in China picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of “viral pneumonia” in the city.

“In the weeks, months and years that unfolded after that, COVID-19 came to shape our lives and our world,” the UN agency said on Monday.

Worldwide, there have been 777,074,803 confirmed cases of the disease, which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and more than seven million deaths.

Share data and access

“We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of COVID-19,” WHO said.

“This is a moral and scientific imperative. Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics. “

In marking the five-year milestone, WHO also honoured lives lost to the disease, and recognized those are still suffering from it or from long COVID.

The agency also expressed gratitude to the health workers “who sacrificed so much to care for us, and commit to learning from COVID-19 to build a healthier tomorrow.”

Timeline of actions

WHO has published an interactive timeline of its response to COVID-19.

It said staff initiated emergency procedures on 1 January 2020 and informed the world three days later.

By 9 to12 January, WHO had published its first set of comprehensive guidance for countries, and on 13 January, brought together partners to publish the blueprint of the first SARS-CoV-2 laboratory test.

“All along, we convened experts and ministries of health from around the world, gathered and analysed data, and shared what was reported, what we learned and what it meant for people,” the agency said.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Syria: UN teams support cholera vaccination in northeastern camps

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

3 January 2025 Health

In northeast Syria, UN teams pressed ahead with a lifesaving cholera vaccine campaign in Al Hol detention camp complex on Friday, despite rumours of attacks by ISIL extremists and uncertainty across the war-torn country, following the overthrow of the Assad regime.

The cholera outbreak was detected in the camp in early October and subsequently confirmed by laboratory tests. Because Al Hol does not have a specialist treatment centre for acute watery diarrhoea, it is crucial that as many people are vaccinated as quickly as possible, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, insists.

“For the first time we received the vaccine of cholera from northwest Syria to the northeast to vaccinate people in Al Hol camp, even [despite] the escalation and security situation in the country, but we managed to access to the people and get them with the vaccine,” UNICEF health and nutrition officer Khourchid Hasan told UN News.

Mr. Hasan credited the caretaker authority in Damascus with making the shipment possible, along with the local authorities in Syria’s northeast, who facilitated delivery of the vaccines to the gates of Al Hol, which is controlled by the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Conditions ‘back to normal’

And despite threats published on social media last December “that there will be an attack on this camp and [that ISIL planned on] releasing their families” which closed access to Al Hol for three days, Mr. Hasan insisted that the vaccine rollout will not stop.

“Everything is back to normal,” he said, adding that at least 14,000 people have received a cholera vaccination so far: “The campaign is ongoing even during the season’s holidays and the vaccination teams are doing a great job there to give this lifesaving as treatment to children and their caregivers.”

Soundcloud

Teams of vaccinators work by making their way on foot through the camp’s tented shelters with a loudhailer urging families to bring themselves and their children to receive their dose. Once delivered, the vaccine protects against cholera, which can be deadly within hours if it is not treated correctly.

Mr. Hasan stressed that that the campaign was able to go ahead after the agency successfully transported 25,000 doses of vaccine from northwest Syria across former active battle lines. He also praised the awareness-raising work of UNICEF’s social behaviour change and risk communication colleagues and partners, who engaged with community networks in support of the oral cholera vaccine campaign and fostered trust among Al Hol’s population.

For years, Al Hol has housed the wives and children of ISIL fighters, displaced people and refugees caught up in the Syrian war, which erupted after deadly Government repression of peaceful protesters in 2011.

Conditions remain dire

The majority of those held there by the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are Syrian and Iraqi nationals. Conditions are dire and have been the subject of numerous alerts by top rights experts reporting to the Human Rights Council.

Foreign nationals who either went to or were coerced to travel to Syria to join ISIL fighters and their children are held in an annexe of the camp, which is divided into five zones. In December, the population of the tented settlement was almost 40,000 people.

Al Hol is in fact two different camps: Al Hol, which is close to the Iraqi border, and Roj camp, located on the border with Turkïye; they are both in Al-Hasakeh governorate. Male ISIL fighters are held in a prison in Al-Hasakeh city about 45 kilometres away.

Cholera was detected for the first time in Syria in 2022 but the camp escaped infection. “We vaccinated immediately (in 2022) as a precautionary measure, but this time it’s appeared and started in Al Hol camp,” UNICEF’s Mr. Hasan explained, citing funding shortfalls, poor nutrition, dirty water and bad sanitation as contributing factors in the current outbreak.

Agencies on site

Several UN agencies have a presence in Al Hol in addition to the UN Children’s Fund, including the UN sexual and reproductive agency, UNFPA, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the NES NGO Forum network operating in northeast Syria.

“Those [NGOs] are supported by the local authority, but the need is still very high, especially for secondary health care,” Mr. Hasan stressed.

“There are three field hospitals in Al Hol camp and one field hospital in Roj camp, but still there is a huge need for medicines for non-communicable diseases, for secondary healthcare. And now, because of the security situation, it’s a big challenge to refer the people from those camps outside the camp to go to private hospitals, for example, in Al-Hasakeh, or Qamishli.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Avian flu risk still ‘low’ after first US patient dies from H5N1 virus: WHO

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

7 January 2025 Health

A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) insisted on Tuesday that the risk to the wider population remains “low”.

WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “not circulating in humans but jumping into humans” who are exposed to poultry or dairy cattle. “We’re not seeing sustained circulation,” she insisted.

Underlying conditions

The man who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions, Dr. Harris said.

According to the health authorities, he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds. Several dozen people in the US have contracted avian influenza – commonly referred to as bird flu – during the current outbreak, mainly farmworkers in close contact with poultry flocks and cattle herds.

Dr. Harris stressed that WHO’s assessment of the risk to the general population “is still low and remains set”. The main concern is for people who work in animal industries because they need to be better protected from infection.

The WHO spokesperson added that the United States was continuing to carry out “a lot of surveillance” in the human and animal population, “in the methods we use for farming, for our food production…all those things need to be combined because indeed it always does pose a risk”.

China respiratory virus is not new

Meanwhile, a respiratory virus gaining ground in China, known as the human metapneumovirus, or hMPV, has been sparking media attention in recent weeks, but it does not represent a new or major threat, Dr. Harris insisted.

The UN health agency spokesperson said that such infections are on the rise in China “as expected during winter”, with seasonal influenza being “by far the most common among them”, as reported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“China’s reported levels of respiratory infections are within the usual range for the winter season,” Dr. Harris explained. “Authorities report that hospital utilization is currently lower than this time last year, and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered,” she added.

As for hMPV, it was first identified in 2001 and “has been in the human population for a long time”, Dr. Harris clarified.

‘Very, very low’ risk

She added that it is a common virus that circulates in winter and spring and usually “causes respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold”.

Like any of the hundreds of common cold viruses known to exist, it can lead to more serious disease in patients with low immunity, particularly but not limited to newborns and the elderly.

Asked about hMPV’s mortality rate, Dr. Harris described it as “very, very low”. It is not a pathogen that normally leads to deaths in humans, save for the most vulnerable, she concluded, recommending “simple” prevention measures, such as wearing a mask, improving ventilation of closed spaces and handwashing.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: DR Congo crisis: Thousands flee clashes in South Kivu

Source: United Nations 2

7 February 2025 Humanitarian Aid

Continued clashes in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are triggering mass displacement and causing civilian casualties, UN humanitarian affairs office OCHA said on Friday.

Escalating fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese troops has caused thousands of people to flee, with many heading towards the provincial capital, Bukavu – where UN humanitarian agencies in the east are now located following the fall of Goma.

Local aid partners report that a bombing on Thursday resulted in three civilians being injured and power infrastructure damaged in the town of Nyabibwe, located some 60 kilometres north of Bukavu.

This happened a day after three workers with a non-governmental organization (NGO) were killed in North Kivu province under circumstances that remain unclear.

Humanitarians at risk

“This incident is a reminder of the unacceptable risks facing aid workers,” said OCHA, adding that the NGO has had to suspend food and agriculture assistance in the area, affecting 36,000 people.

Elsewhere in North Kivu, OCHA and humanitarian partners continue to assess conditions in and around Goma, where hundreds of thousands of people are still on the move.

 An assessment this week estimates that nearly 33,000 people have returned to villages in Nyiragongo Territory, immediately northeast of the city.

Health facilities destroyed

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that health facilities in North Kivu have been heavily impacted by recent violence. Many are destroyed while some others struggle to restart operations.

Cancer, diabetes, hypertension, mental health and other routine services are also affected as medicines have run out, and health workers are either absent or overburdened.

WHO warned that the threat of infectious diseases has multiplied in a region where cholera, malaria, measles, meningitis, mpox and tuberculosis are among the major concerns.

Water supply in Goma was disrupted and has been partially restored in some areas, leading people to rely on water from the lake and heightening the risk of cholera. Nearly 600 suspected cases of the disease, and 14 deaths, were reported in North Kivu between 1 and 27 January.

In response to the crisis, WHO has deployed emergency medical supplies, hygiene and water treatment supplies, and tents to increase hospital capacity by 1,000 beds. However supplies are being depleted rapidly, and more resources are urgently needed.

On Friday, leaders from East and Southern Africa met in Tanzania for a summit on the crisis in the eastern DRC, which was also the focus of a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The situation will again be discussed at a Summit-level meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council in Ethiopia next week, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres will attend.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: Egypt malaria-free, tropical storm lashes Cuba, Mozambique killings, WHO support for South Sudan

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

21 October 2024 Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially certified Egypt as malaria-free. The achievement marks the culmination of a century-long effort to eradicate a disease that has plagued the nation since ancient times.

“Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history and not its future,” said Tedros Adhanom-Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“This certification of Egypt as malaria-free is truly historic, and a testament to the commitment of the people and Government of Egypt to rid themselves of this ancient scourge.”

Egypt’s success story represents a significant victory in the global fight against malaria, especially for a country with a population exceeding 100 million.

Growing list

In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, Egypt becomes only the third country to receive this certification, following the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.

Egypt joins a group of 44 countries and one territory worldwide that have achieved this status.

Tedros emphasised the broader implications of this achievement.

“I congratulate Egypt on this achievement, which is an inspiration to other countries in the region, and shows what’s possible with the right resources and right tools.”

UN ready to support Cuba, as millions left without power

The UN Country Team in Cuba stands ready to support the Caribbean nation and mobilise technical assistance amidst reports of rolling power outages and a slow-moving tropical storm which threatens flooding in both urban and rural areas.

Cuba’s power grid reportedly failed on Friday after weeks of rolling outages, leaving an estimated 10 million without electricity. There have been three other crashes up to Monday, all of which is being compounded by Tropical Storm Oscar, which made landfall on Sunday.

According to news reports, the Cuban Government has said the weeks of worsening blackouts are due to infrastructure problems, fuel shortages and rising demand, together with the impact of the United States trade embargo and an inability to acquire spare parts for Cuba’s oil-fired fuel plants, resulting from economic sanctions.

Significant rain

“The strong but slow-moving storm has generated significant rainfall in the eastern and central parts of Cuba over the past few days,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, at the regular press briefing in New York on Monday.

“The slow movement of the storm at only four kilometres an hour will compound the situation with more rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours.”

He said the UN was aware of the reported ongoing outages adding that under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator in Cuba Francisco Pichon, “we stand ready to support and mobilise technical assistance if needed. The UN Emergency Technical Team is activated and in touch with national counterparts.”

Mr. Haq said the storm was also impacting the Bahamas where the UN is working together with local and regional authorities to respond as necessary.

Guterres calls for swift probe into killing of opposition figures in Mozambique

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appealed for calm in Mozambique following the killing of two opposition figures amid a dispute over elections held earlier this month.

Elvino Dias, legal advisor to presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, and Paulo Guambe, the legal representative of the political party PODEMOS, were gunned down in the capital, Maputo, on Friday night.

PODEMOS rejected provisional results of the 9 October presidential elections which showed that the FRELIMO party, which has ruled Mozambique for nearly 50 years, was in the lead.

Secretary-General Guterres urged the authorities to swiftly investigate the killings and bring the perpetrators to justice.

He called on all Mozambicans, including political leaders and their supporters, to remain calm, exercise restraint and reject all forms of violence ahead of the official announcement of the electoral results.

He also reaffirmed the UN’s unwavering support to peace and stability in Mozambique during this important phase in the country’s history.

WHO supports South Sudan amid severe flooding

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with authorities and partners in South Sudan as the country faces some of the worst flooding in decades, affecting 42 out of 78 counties and impacting some 890,000 people.

Although heavy downpours during the rainy season between April and November often trigger floods, they have become increasingly severe due to climate change, WHO said.

So far, more than 226,000 people have been displaced, and roads and key infrastructure have been submerged. This includes 58 health facilities, while nearly 90 others are inaccessible.

The floods have exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation in the country, which is hosting almost 800,000 refugees and returnees fleeing the war in neighbouring Sudan.

Most refugees and returnees pass through Renk county in Upper Nile state, where two suspected cholera cases have been detected. Meanwhile, malaria is on the rise, with more than 120,000 suspected cases and 31 suspected deaths as of late September.

WHO has distributed about 88 metric tonnes of emergency health kits to Renk and other key locations to assist flood-affected communities. The kits can treat over 870,000 people and include critical medical supplies such cholera treatment and antimalarial drugs.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: UN agencies warn of worsening humanitarian and human rights crisis in eastern DR Congo

Source: United Nations 2

31 January 2025 Humanitarian Aid

United Nations agencies on Friday called for an end to the violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as fighting between Government forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group expands.

The rebels have already seized the provincial capital, Goma, and reports indicate that they are closing in on the key city of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province.

The hostilities are occurring in a mineral-rich region that has been volatile for decades amid a proliferation of armed groups, which has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes over the years and seek safety in displacement camps.

WFP

A camp in eastern DR Congo provides security for some of the seven million displaced people in the country.

Critical supplies dwindling

UN humanitarians warn that the situation continue to worsen for civilians likely trapped by days of intense fighting in and around Goma, which has a population of over one million.

Displacement camps on the city’s outskirts, previously hosting more than 300,000 people, are emptying out as people flee the violence. Medical services are overwhelmed by the number of injured, both civilians and military personnel.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said water and food are running low, and the next 24 hours are crucial.

“People are really running out of food, clean water, medical supplies and that’s a big concern. So, the supply chain has really been strangled at the moment,” said WFP Spokesperson Shelley Thakral.

Several WFP warehouses have been looted and teams are taking stock of what they will need to procure locally and transfer by road to ensure they have provisions once operations resume in the critically affected areas.

WFP’s priority is keeping its staff and their dependents safe, and only critical staff remain in the area who are getting ready to resume operations as soon security permits.

Summary executions and sexual violence

Meanwhile, the human rights crisis also continues to deepen in the east.

At least two sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been bombed, causing civilian casualties, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported.

Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said OHCHR has documented summary executions of at least 12 people by the M23 between 26 and 28 January.

The Office has also documented cases of conflict-related sexual violence by the army and allied Wazalendo fighters in Kalehe territory, located in South Kivu.

It is also verifying reports that 52 women were raped by Congolese troops in South Kivu, including alleged reports of gangrape.

Violations could worsen

Meanwhile, in other areas under M23 control in South Kivu, such as Minova, fighters have occupied schools and hospitals, forced IDPs out of camps and subjected the civilian population to forced conscription and forced labour.

Additionally, DRC officials report that at least 165 women were raped by male inmates during the mass prison break from Goma’s Muzenze prison on 27 January, as M23 began its assault on the town.

Mr. Laurence recalled that conflict-related sexual violence has been an appalling feature of armed conflict in eastern DRC for decades, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, “is particularly concerned that this latest escalation risks deepening the risk of conflict-related sexual violence much further.“

End the violence

He said OHCHR continues to receive urgent requests from civilians for protection and is working with UN colleagues and other partners to ensure their safety.

“As M23 reportedly advances towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, the High Commissioner calls for an end to the violence and for all parties to uphold their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” he said.

Recognize the crisis

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also voiced deep concern over the hundreds of thousands of civilians uprooted by the heavy fighting and violence in Goma, some of whom were already previously displaced.

IOM appealed to the international community to recognize the staggering scale of the crisis and support the humanitarian response. 

“With the current alarming upsurge in fighting, an already dire situation is rapidly becoming very much worse,” said Director General Amy Pope.

“IOM joins the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and full humanitarian access, so that we can rapidly scale up our response and ensure that life-saving aid reaches those in need.”

Appeal for support

The UN agency has been supporting displaced and host communities in Goma and surrounding areas by providing emergency shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance, among other aid.

IOM warned, however, that both the agency and humanitarian partners are struggling to meet the urgent needs in the DRC.

This year, humanitarians are seeking $2.5 billion for the country, with at least $50 million urgently needed to address the latest displacement, scale-up life-saving assistance, and prevent further suffering.

Death and disease

Humanitarian organizations in Goma continue to assess the impact of the crisis, including the widespread looting of warehouses and the offices of aid organizations, the UN said on Friday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners conducted an assessment with the Government over the past five days.

They report that 700 people have been killed and 2,800 injured are receiving treatment in health facilities, though numbers are expected rise as more information becomes available.

On Friday, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, and partners visited sites for internally displaced people in the areas of Bulengo and Lushagala, located on the outskirts of Goma.

They found that water and healthcare services are still operational, but conditions remain dire. However, cholera cases have been reported and there are risks of an Mpox outbreak among displaced people.

OCHA warned that without urgent action, the risk of waterborne disease outbreaks will continue to increase.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: What the UN is doing in DR Congo
Source: United Nations 2

By Eileen Travers

4 February 2025 Humanitarian Aid

The current phase of fighting erupted in late January in the mineral-rich eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between government forces and the armed M23 group.
Despite security challenges, UN agencies and peacekeepers have pledged to stay and deliver amid rising deaths and injuries alongside an alarming spread of highly contagious mpox and other endemic diseases as the rainy season intensifies.

Here’s what you need to know about how the UN, its peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies are helping on the ground in this central African country of 105 million people, many currently facing urgent multipronged crises.

Humanitarian assistance

Operating in DRC since 1960, when the country declared its independence from Belgium’s colonial rule and became a UN Member State, UN field agencies have served those in need, from education and lifesaving vaccines to food and shelter for people displaced by the current spiralling violence. The country has been caught in cycles of violence over the decades with an uptick of violence in the early 2000s and the emergence of the M23 armed group.

Even though recent deadly clashes led to the deaths of peacekeepers and the temporary relocation of non-essential UN staff from North Kivu in the eastern region last week, the UN emergency relief agency, OCHA, reports that teams are currently on the ground, where they say needs are growing.

Just a few details for context:

Food to shelter

In a deteriorating environment, food insecurity is on the rise as other health, shelter and living conditions worsen. For example:
- Currently, 2.7 million people face severe food insecurity in the eastern towns of Ituri and North and South Kivu, OCHA reported. As such, the agency is currently working with such partners as the UN food agency (WFP), UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to deliver lifesaving aid, from groceries to medical supplies and services.
- The UN refugee agency, UNCHR, is providing protection and assistance to those forced to flee.
- The UN human rights agency, OHCHR, is connecting those in need with UN partners.
- Meanwhile, the UN migration organization, IOM, is supporting displaced and host communities in and around Goma by providing emergency shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene services and camp coordination and management services. It is also monitoring population movements through its displacement tracking matrix, which informs humanitarian agencies of critical information for effective response efforts.
  
  © WHO/Guerchom Ndebo
  
  A three-week-old girl suffering from mpox in the emergency room at Kavumu Hospital in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (file)
Public health ‘nightmare’
- The UN health agency reported that repeated mass displacement has created a public health “nightmare” with ideal conditions for the spread of many endemic diseases, from cholera to mpox, in camps and communities around North and South Kivu. WHO teams remain in place to deliver much-needed healthcare services as hospitals are overwhelmed by growing numbers of patients injured by the ongoing violence. Thousands of doses of mpox vaccines are stockpiled and ready to be administered.
- The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is responding to urgent needs, including deliveries of emergency medical kits to hospitals in Goma to treat more than 50,000 people affected by the violence.
- A breakdown in healthcare infrastructure has also led maternal mortality rates to soar, with three women dying every hour from pregnancy or childbirth complications, and recurrent kidnappings, rape and exploitation continue to be wielded as weapons of war against women and girls, according to the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.
- While the agency suspended staff travel to camps for displaced people due to the security crisis, UNFPA continues to provide lifesaving support, from mobile clinics to rapidly adapting to respond to the needs of the newly displaced. However, due to swiftly growing needs, these and other UN agencies are calling for urgent support to fund emergency operations.
To support the DRC Humanitarian Fund, click here.

Peacekeeping operations

The UN peacekeeping mission, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, was mandated by the Security Council in 2010 to assist the Congolese Government in protecting civilians and humanitarians as well as help with its peace and stabilisation efforts. Peacekeeping operations are often located in conflict areas but their responsibilities and those of the humanitarian agencies are distinct, although complementary, in terms of protecting and meeting the needs of civilians.

Read our explainer on UN peacekeeping history in DRC, dating back to 1960, here.

While the 11,500 UN Blue Helmets were meant to disengage by 2025, the Security Council renewed the mandate at the request of the government in late December.

Weeks later, MONUSCO chief Bintou Keita told the Security Council in an emergency meeting held on Sunday, 26 January that “we are trapped.”

Over the last week, M23 combatants have killed almost 20 peacekeepers serving with the UN and the South African Development Community (SADC) mission in the country, both mandated to provide combat support for the Congolese armed forces.

MONUSCO/Aubin Mukoni

UN peacekeepers patrol in Goma past discarded military uniforms.

Working closely with Congolese authorities

In line with its civilian protection mandate, the UN mission has enhanced its support to the Congolese armed forces, FARDC, and is actively participating in combat along with the SADC security mission in the country, the UN mission chief explained to the Council.

Since then, the MONUSCO chief has held discussions with top officials, including the prime minister and the leaders of the army and police. A joint government-MONUSCO group has also been established to coordinate on various issues, including in the security, human rights, humanitarian and communications spheres as well as the legal status of the territories under the control of the M23.

Learn more about MONUSCO here.

MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti

Residents of Bunia, DRC, protesting the capture by the M23 rebel group of Goma in 2012. (file)

Addressing the roots of the crises

The clashes in the east date back to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in neighbouring Rwanda. The sporadic fighting has been deadly and vicious, as shown in the Congolese military court’s landmark case against armed group leader Sheka, which was instrumental in recognising rape as a war crime.

Watch our award-winning documentary on bringing a war criminal to justice here.

The crisis remains partly rooted in the rare mineral deposits dotting the border areas of DRC and Rwanda. DRC’s vast deposits of precious metals, gems and rare minerals include gold and diamonds along with key components used in making mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Coltan, tin, tantalum, tungsten and others are known as conflict minerals, which are mined and sold by armed groups to finance their militias.

Find more details on this sinister trend in the December report of the Security Council’s group of experts on DRC here.
MIL OSI United Nations News –
February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Reverend Warnock Introduces Legislation to Cap the Cost of Prescription Medication

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia

Senator Reverend Warnock Introduces Legislation to Cap the Cost of Prescription Medication

The Capping Prescription Costs Act would cap annual out-of-pocket prescription drug costs per year at $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families
The legislation builds on the success of the Inflation Reduction Act and extends out-of-pocket caps to the commercial health care market
Senator Reverend Warnock successfully capped the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare recipients
Senator Reverend Warnock: “When you are sick, nothing else matters, this is a moral issue that transcends partisan politics, and I will keep fighting until we get it done”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), introduced the Capping Prescription Costs Act. The legislation would lower prescription drug costs for millions of Americans by placing annual caps on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families with private insurance.
The Senator’s bill builds on the success of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes the Senator’s provision capping prescription drug cost-sharing for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, extending the savings to the commercial health care market.
“In my decades-long fight to lower medication costs and make health care more accessible, I’ve heard stories of people having to skip refills, ration prescriptions, and make financial decisions that risk their health just to afford the medications they need to survive,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “In a nation as rich and powerful as the United States, that should never be the case, which is why the Capping Prescription Costs Act is so important. When you are sick, nothing else matters, this is a moral issue that transcends partisan politics, and I will keep fighting until we get it done.”
“No Nevadan – and no American – should have to negotiate against themselves when choosing between the medications they need to be healthy and food they need to survive,” Rep. Horsford said. “I’m proud to partner with Senator Warnock on the Capping Prescription Costs Act, and look forward to introducing the House companion bill. Our legislation would help Americans with private insurance save on needed prescriptions each year. The choice between health and survival is impossible – it’s beyond time we stop forcing Americans to make it.”
Over 60 percent of American adults take at least one prescription drug, with 25 percent of adults taking four or more. Yet Americans often pay more for the same prescription drugs than people in other countries, and due to the cost burden, American patients often cannot afford their medications as prescribed. This results in patients skipping doses, cutting doses in half, or taking over-the-counter medications instead of their prescriptions. One study found that 31 percent of patients did not take their medications as prescribed due to cost. The new $2,000 cap on cost-sharing for individuals and $4,000 for families will apply to all of the 173 million Americans who have private health insurance.
“This bill would provide desperately needed relief for patients with chronic conditions and many others that face prescription drug bills that total thousands of dollars in a given year. Capping out-of-pocket costs for medications in Medicare is popular and provides practical help for many, but millions more who rely on private insurance should have the same benefit. Congress should continue to address the underlying price of prescription drugs, while also capping out-of-pocket costs to provide practical relief to patients and families. We appreciate leadership from Senator Warnock to continue to lower daily and monthly costs for families that desperately need help accessing and affording care,” said Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Families USA.
“By introducing the Capping Prescription Costs Act, Senator Warnock is fighting to help level the playing field for working families. As Republicans push to raise health care costs for Americans struggling to pay their bills, Democrats are fighting to lower prescription drug costs for millions of families nationwide. The contrast couldn’t be more clear: Republicans want to put profits over people and raise costs to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, and Democrats want to lower costs, improve care, and ensure that every American can afford the health care they need,”said Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care Chair.
Senator Reverend Warnock has long championed efforts to expand affordable health care access, starting with his advocacy to close the health care coverage gap in Georgia. In the Inflation Reduction Act, Senator Warnock got two proposals included in the final version of the bill —provisions from his bill to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for Medicare patients, and his plan to cap the cost of prescription drugs for seniors at $2,000 a year. The Senator has been a years-long advocate for expanding Medicaid. In Washington he’s pushed for solutions to close the coverage gap. Senator Warnock is committed to preserving and protecting access to health care for the most vulnerable. Last year, Senator Warnock also introduced the Bridge to Medicaid Act, legislation to provide health care coverage to the hundreds of thousands of Georgians in the health care coverage gap. The bill would provide a temporary health care option for people in the Medicaid coverage gap to get subsidized private health care until non-expansion states like Georgia finally expand Medicaid.
In addition to Senator Warnock, the Capping Prescription Costs Act was cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maritn Heinrich (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).
Full bill text of the Capping Prescription Costs Act is available HERE.
A one-pager on the Capping Prescription Costs Act is available HERE.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: First Person: Bodies of children in Haiti have turned into ‘battlegrounds’

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

7 February 2025 Humanitarian Aid

Armed groups in Haiti are inflicting “unimaginable horrors” on children, turning their “bodies into battlegrounds”, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The agency’s spokesperson James Elder has just visited Port-au-Prince, the capital of the embattled Caribbean nation and has been speaking about what he experienced there.

Staggering abuse and neglect

“There has been a staggering 1,000 per cent rise in sexual violence against children in Haiti, which has turned their bodies into battlegrounds. The 10-fold rise, recorded from 2023 to last year, comes as armed groups inflict unimaginable horrors on children.

Almost equally staggering is how little coverage this gruesome statistic has received. And so, if numbers have lost meaning, perhaps the children living this horror will count.

© UNOCHA/Giles Clarke

Gangs control the majority of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

Roseline* is 16. Late last year, she left her friend’s house to go to the shop and was abducted by armed men.

She was placed in a van with other young girls and taken to a warehouse. There she was extensively beaten. She was then drugged and over the course of what she believes to be a month, she was relentlessly raped.

When the armed group realised Roseline had no one to pay her kidnapping ransom, she was released. She is currently in a UNICEF-supported safe house with more than a dozen other girls, all receiving care.

Astounding insecurity

Armed groups now control 85 per cent of Port-au-Prince. Let me repeat that. 85 per cent of the capital of Haiti is under the control of armed groups, an astounding case of insecurity in a capital city.

Last year alone, child recruitment into armed groups surged by 70 per cent. Right now, up to half of all armed group members are children, some as young as eight years old.

Many are taken by force. Others are manipulated or driven by extreme poverty. It’s a lethal cycle. Children are recruited into the groups that fuel their own suffering.

And in Haiti, the suffering is immense – 1.2 million children live under the constant threat of armed violence.

Collapse of essential services

Essential services have collapsed. Hospitals are overwhelmed. More than half of Haiti’s health facilities lack the equipment and medication to treat children in emergencies.

© UNICEF/Maxime Le Lijour

A woman collects relief items distributed by UNICEF.

Playgrounds, schools and homes have turned into battlegrounds, forcing many families to flee. More than 500,000 children have been displaced. An estimated three million will require urgent humanitarian assistance this year.

And education? More than 300,000 children have seen their education disrupted due to recurrent population displacement and school closures.

And as noted, sexual violence is rampant. The abhorrence of an attack on a child is obvious. A 10-fold increase is ruinous. The pain of course does not stop with the survivor – it ripples through families, shatters communities and scars society as a whole.

Engaging communities through young reporters

And yet, Haitians refuse to give up in the face of crisis.

Take one example: UNICEF’s 135,000 “U-reporters” in the country. These young people embody the commitment of everyday Haitians, bringing their energy and dedication to help those who need it most.

© UNICEF/Rachel Opota

A U-reporter gives a presentation on proper hygiene practices and cholera prevention.

U-Report is a digital platform created by UNICEF to engage communities, especially youth, in social issues.

And in Haiti, in one month in 2024 alone, U-reporter efforts led to the identification and referral of cases of malnutrition, under-vaccination and essential support for pregnant women in displaced sites and host communities.

Underfunded programmes

Haiti’s progress starts with its children. With incredible partners, UNICEF has created 32 mobile safe spaces to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, deployed more than 380 health professionals across 105 institutions, distributed cash to almost 30,000 families and treated more than 80,000 children for moderate and severe wasting.

Programmes that meet children’s needs can disrupt cycles of violence and reduce the risk of them becoming perpetrators or victims.

Despite this, UNICEF Haiti’s 2024 emergency funding appeal of $221.4 million was 72 per cent underfunded.

This starkly contrasts with the urgent need for education, protection and development opportunities to prevent children from being drawn into violence. Without these efforts, violence will continue to consume future generations.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: UN surge teams mobilise as Vanuatu hit by second earthquake

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

By Vibhu Mishra

22 December 2024 Humanitarian Aid

UN agencies are intensifying their response in Vanuatu after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed 12 people and injured over 200 earlier this week, with a second 6.1 magnitude tremor on Sunday further exacerbating the challenges for affected communities.

A state of emergency remains in effect across the island nation, and a seven-day dusk-to-dawn curfew in parts of Port Vila was scheduled to end on 24 December. Access road to the seaport is also reportedly blocked.

The second earthquake heightened concerns, with further updates on its impact, including on the reopening of Port Vila airport to commercial flights, still awaited.

Humanitarian needs

As of Saturday night (local time), over 80,000 people have been affected by Tuesday’s earthquake, with nearly 1,700 individuals temporarily displaced. Eleven evacuation centres are sheltering more than 1,200 people, while others are staying with host households.

Immediate needs include access to clean water, food and healthcare, as communities face rising risks of waterborne diseases.

Health services are also reported to be severely strained, with the Vanuatu Central Hospital (VCH) requiring essential medical supplies and coordinated surge support to address critical gaps.

Source: UNOCHA

Vanuatu earthquake Impact in Shefa province (as of 21 December 2024).

Coordinated response

In response to the escalating crisis, a humanitarian flight coordinated by the UN World Food Programme (WFP)’s Pacific Humanitarian Air Service (PHAS) landed in Port Vila on Saturday, delivering surge teams from UN agencies, huamnitarian partners and relief supplies.

Agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are working alongside national authorities to support the response.

UNFPA has set up maternity tents at VCH, while UNICEF has established four tents to manage patient overflow and deployed child protection teams to support families and healthcare workers.

UNICEF also delivered bladder water tanks to VCH to ensure continued access to clean water.

WFP has deployed emergency telecommunications specialists to restore disrupted communication networks crucial for coordinating relief efforts. It is also working with the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and partners to assess food security needs.

Additionally, the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) is conducting satellite-based damage assessments to guide resource allocation and prioritize affected areas.

Humanitarian partners, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), are also providing on-the-ground assistance alongside national response teams.

Timely response crucial

Alpha Bah, Director for WFP Pacific Multi-Country Office, based in Fiji, underscored the need for timely response for affected families.

“We are saddened by the loss of lives and destruction to property caused by this earthquake. This concerted effort is crucial to ensure that people affected by the earthquake receive timely and essential assistance,” he said.

“WFP is dedicated to supporting the NDMO and other national institutions, and we will continue to step up our efforts to bolster Vanuatu’s response in the face of this crisis.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Toxic air threatens children’s lives across East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF warns

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

By Vibhu Mishra

6 February 2025 Health

More than 100 children under the age of five die every day in East Asia and the Pacific due to air pollution, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned in a new analysis released on Thursday, calling for urgent action to tackle the crisis.

The analysis underscores the devastating impact of toxic air on young lives, with air pollution now linked to nearly one in four deaths of under fives in the region.

Exposure begins in the womb, increasing risks of premature birth and low birth weight, and continues throughout childhood, impairing lung development, reducing cognitive function, and contributing to chronic diseases such as asthma and cardiovascular conditions.

“Every breath matters but for too many children every breath can bring harm,” said June Kunugi, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific.

“The air they breathe, at a time when their bodies and minds are still developing, too often contains unhealthy levels of pollution that can comprise their growth, harm their lungs, and impair their cognitive development.”

Every child at risk

The report reveals that all 500 million children in the region live in countries with unhealthy air.

Over 325 million children are exposed to annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines by five times or more, while 373 million live in areas with dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide, a gas emitted by vehicles and industrial processes.

Nearly half of PM2.5 pollution in the worst-affected countries comes from the burning of fossil fuels, biomass, and agricultural waste – also major contributors to climate change.

As extreme weather events worsen due to climate change, air pollution is expected to become an even greater threat, UNICEF warned.

Impacts beyond health

The impacts of the air pollution crisis go beyond health.

High pollution levels force school closures, disrupt learning, and increase medical expenses, straining already overwhelmed healthcare systems.

The World Bank estimates that in 2019, the economic cost of air pollution from PM2.5 in East Asia and the Pacific amounted to $2.5 trillion, or 9.3 percent of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP).

© UNICEF/Patipat Janthong

Students at a primary school in Bangkok wear masks during their morning lineup as air pollution levels soar.

Urgent call for action

In response to the “silent killer,” UNICEF called on governments, businesses, healthcare professionals, parents, and educators to take immediate steps to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health.

Governments must enforce stronger environmental policies, transition to clean energy sources, and implement air quality standards aligned with WHO guidelines, alongside, businesses should adopt cleaner technologies, reduce emissions, and ensure their practices prioritize child safety.

Parents and educators also have a crucial role in raising awareness, advocating for cleaner environments, and empowering young people to take action, UNICEF highlighted.

Solutions exist

Furthermore, UNICEF is collaborating with governments, businesses, and communities on multiple initiatives to reduce children’s exposure to air pollution.

These include pushing for stronger environmental regulations, improving air quality monitoring by installing affordable sensors and implementing programmes to reduce household air pollution, such as cleaner cooking stoves and better ventilation.

The agency is also working to strengthen healthcare systems to better diagnose and treat pollution-related illnesses and is supporting young people to become clean air advocates, raising awareness, and pushing for stronger policies.

“Addressing air pollution will lead to enormous improvements in children’s health, education, and well-being, with ripple effects across entire societies and economies,” Ms. Kunugi underscored.

“Solutions exist, and our collective future depends on implementing them.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: Deadly virus outbreak in Uganda, $500 million human rights appeal, Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws in spotlight

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

30 January 2025 Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday confirmed an outbreak of Sudan virus disease in Uganda, which is part of the Ebola virus family.

Health authorities in Kampala confirmed that one patient has died – a nurse who had sought treatment at various other medical facilities after developing fever-like symptoms.

In response to the outbreak of the often deadly and infectious haemorrhagic fever which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and tissue, WHO is mobilising efforts to support national health authorities in swiftly containing and ending the outbreak.

Senior public health experts and staff from WHO’s country office are being deployed to support key outbreak response measures.

Additionally, WHO has allocated $1 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to accelerate early action. Medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, are being readied for delivery from WHO’s Emergency Response Hub in Nairobi.

Race to develop a vaccine

Although there are no licensed vaccines for Sudan virus disease, WHO is coordinating with developers to deploy candidate vaccines once all necessary approvals are obtained.

Regarding the deceased man, no other health workers or patients have shown symptoms, said WHO.

A total of 45 contacts, including health workers and family members are under close monitoring. The identification of the case in a densely populated urban area necessitates a rapid and intense response, the agency stressed.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, welcomed the prompt outbreak declaration saying the agency was supporting the Government and partners “to scale up measures to quickly identify cases, isolate and provide care, curb the spread of the virus, and protect the population.

“Uganda’s robust expertise in responding to public health emergencies will be crucial in ending this outbreak effectively.”

There have been eight previous outbreaks of Sudan Ebola Virus Disease, with five in Uganda and three in Sudan. Uganda last reported an outbreak in 2022.

UN rights chief launches $500 million global appeal

The UN human rights chief on Thursday launched a $500 million funding appeal for 2025 to address a multitude of crises threatening to reverse decades of progress.

The appeal aims to support critical human rights efforts, including rights mainstreaming, advisory services and technical cooperation, alongside field offices of the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

It will also boost special trust funds, such as those supporting victims of torture, Indigenous Peoples, or those impacted by slavery.

Launching the appeal in Geneva, UN rights chief Volker Türk, reiterated the importance of these efforts: “During conflicts and in peacetime; in developing countries and advanced economies; from historic grievances to emerging risks – my Office is holding the line for humanity.

Low cost, high impact

“Human rights are a low-cost, high-impact investment to mobilize people for peace, security, and sustainable development; and to build social cohesion based on the contributions of every individual,” he added.

The appeal is in addition to the OHCHR’s regular budget of $238.5 million as part of UN’s overall budget that was approved in late December 2024. That amount is not sufficient to cover all of its mandated work and the requests for assistance it receives.

Mr. Türk underscored the need to ensure OHCHR has sufficient resources to carry out its vital work.

“I am very concerned that if we do not reach our funding targets in 2025, people who should otherwise be free, may remain in prison,” he said.

“Women and girls may lose out on opportunities, ignored by the world. Violations and abuses may go undocumented, leading to a lack of accountability and increased impunity. And human rights defenders may lose the little protection they have,” he warned.

[embedded content]

Independent rights experts urge Thailand to end lèse-majesté prosecutions

A group of independent UN human rights experts condemned Thailand’s continued use of lèse-majesté laws to imprison activists and human rights defenders, calling for the repeal or significant revision of the country’s criminal code.

In a news release on Thursday, the experts – who are mandated and appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council – warned that Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code, which punishes criticism of the monarchy with up to 15 years in prison, violates international human rights standards.

Free speech rules

“Under international law, individuals have the right to criticise public officials, including a King, and to advocate peacefully for the reform of any public institution, including the monarchy,” the experts said.

They described the law as “harsh and vague”, highlighting that it grants excessive discretion to authorities and courts, leading to widespread misuse.

Since 2020, more than 270 people have been prosecuted under Article 112, many receiving lengthy consecutive sentences.

“Lèse-majesté laws have no place in a democratic country,” the experts said, warning that their use stifles political expression and silences activists, journalists, and opposition members.

They urged the Thai Government to amend the country’s criminal code to align with international human rights laws and called for an immediate moratorium on prosecutions and imprisonments under lèse-majesté laws.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Explainer: How family planning saves lives

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

5 February 2025 Health

Sakina Sani was married off when she was 12 years old amid conflict and food shortages in northern Nigeria. She became pregnant at 15 but miscarried and then had two children in rapid succession.

“I will never allow my daughter to go through what happened to me,” she told UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency.

What happens when conflict displaces tens of thousands of people in hotspots like Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Ukraine, and women die every day in childbirth or pregnancy?

UNFPA is there, equipping displacement camps and medical personnel with lifesaving supplies.

When an earthquake tumbles whole city blocks, it puts contraceptives onto emergency relief convoys alongside kits for delivering babies and medicines to stop internal bleeding.

When a cyclone slashes through remote island communities, the agency sends contraceptives just as it sends sterile medical equipment, including condoms, oral and injectable contraceptives, contraceptives implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs).

Why? Because contraceptives are part of lifesaving humanitarian care.

This may be counterintuitive to some, but it is a settled fact in the eyes of medical science, humanitarian responders and women themselves.

Even outside emergency settings, having access to modern, safe contraceptives empowers women to make their own decisions about their fertility, which in turn reduces unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, improves health outcomes and lowers the risk of maternal and child mortality.

In short, family planning saves millions of lives. Here are some of the reasons why:

© UNFPA/Karel Prinsloo

A woman is injected with a contraceptive at a UNFPA-supported health centre in the Central African Republic.

Getting pregnant does not stop in emergency settings

More than 60 per cent of all maternal deaths are estimated to take place in humanitarian crises and fragile settings, places where women struggle to access the care and nutrition needed to safely carry a pregnancy.

Even in the best circumstances, alarming proportions of women are unable to say no to sex, roughly one quarter of women, according to the most recent data.

In a humanitarian crisis, women experience about twice the rates of gender-based violence as well as the heightened risk of rape as a weapon of war and tool of genocide and the increased risk of intimate partner violence. All of this elevates their vulnerability to an unintended pregnancy.

© UNFPA/Danil Pavlov

Preventing fatal complications

While contraception is sometimes criticised – incorrectly – as a new medication, one that is unnatural or poorly understood, the truth is that they have existed for millennia. Condoms, for example, have been used for centuries.

When it comes to modern forms of contraception, they are among the most prescribed and well-studied medications in existence. Contraceptives have been investigated not just by pharmacologists and medical researchers, but also by healthcare economists, epidemiologists and policymakers, and the findings are conclusive: by preventing unintended pregnancy, contraceptives prevent women from dying.

How? Every pregnancy carries a risk, and pregnancies in crisis settings, where health systems are in tatters and medical care scarce, are particularly dangerous.

[embedded content]

Lifesaving aid because babies don’t wait

What happens when a woman is ready to give birth after a hurricane or in a war zone?

In the crisis-addled DRC, a breakdown in healthcare infrastructure has led maternal mortality rates to soar, with three women dying every hour from pregnancy or childbirth complications.

“Many women in northwest Syria lose their lives while being transferred between hospitals in the absence of essential supplies for critical conditions,” Dr. Ikram Haboush, in Idlib, said.

Unintended pregnancies are also directly correlated with higher maternal mortality rates.

“That is why every public health programme designed to reduce the number of maternal deaths incorporates contraception as one of the pillars of action,” according to the experts who wrote UNFPA’s flagship annual publication, the State of the World’s Population Report, Seeing the unseen: The case of action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy.

By preventing unintended pregnancy, contraceptives also reduce the incidence of maternal injuries and illness, stillbirth and neonatal death.

In 2023, UNFPA’s dedicated supplies partnership procured $136 million worth of contraceptives, which is estimated to have prevented nearly 10 million unintended pregnancies and over 200,000 maternal and newborn deaths. It is estimated these contraceptives also prevented nearly three million unsafe abortions.

© UNFPA

Two community workers provide information about contraceptives in Bihar, India.

Preventing fatal illness, chronic ailments

Contraceptives like male and female condoms additionally save lives by decreasing the chances of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.

Even a treatable STI can be life-threatening in settings with limited access to medical care, as is the case for women and girls in Haiti, for example, where widespread and relentless sexual violence has led to rising rates of unintended pregnancy as well as STIs, while the health system has all but collapsed.

Only around three per cent of survivors in Haiti report receiving post-rape treatment within 72 hours of being assaulted. This treatment includes emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy and post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV transmission.

Contraceptives also treat ailments unrelated to sexual activity that are debilitating in even stable and secure circumstances like polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, dysmenorrhea and extremely heavy bleeding.

For women like Omaira Opikuko from Venezuela, there is no question that long-term contraception after her sixth delivery was lifesaving.

She suffered both haemorrhaging and a prolapsed uterus during her last labour.

“I was on the brink of death,” she said.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

Two Thai peer educator high school students describe a range of available condoms.

Cost-effective humanitarian interventions

Family planning is cost effective.

In 2023, more than 50 countries that received UNFPA contraceptive supplies made collective savings of over $700 million through reduced healthcare costs for pregnancy, delivery and post-abortion care.

Numerous studies have shown that family planning is a critical investment for society, not only by averting unintended pregnancy and the maternal health problems that accompany it, but also by increasing education and employment gains among women.

In humanitarian settings, contraceptives are all the more critical, helping women and families survive and stabilise and leaving them better prepared to recover.

No one knows this better than survivors of humanitarian crises themselves

“There is a lot of demand for family planning services,” one emergency responder said in the immediate aftermath of a deadly cyclone.

Amid the world’s growing precarity, rising catastrophes and increasing displacements, these services are a light in the dark for women and girls around the world.

As Ms. Opikuko in Venezuela said, “I don’t want to be scared anymore.”

Learn more about UNFPA here.

[embedded content]

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: US executive orders continue, killings in Sudan, breast cancer alert in Africa, human rights in Tunisia

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

5 February 2025 UN Affairs

New executive orders issued by the White House are set to further impact the cooperative, multilateral work of the United Nations, two weeks since the United States declared that it was pulling out of the UN health agency, WHO.

According to President Trump’s latest directive from the White House on Tuesday on international cooperation, the US will no longer participate in or financially support the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is set to meet on Friday to discuss the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The executive order also calls for a review of US membership of UNESCO, the UN agency for education, science and culture.

Leading the review will be US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has 90 days to evaluate “how and if” UNESCO supports Washington’s interests.

The third UN agency immediately affected by the order is UNWRA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, which the White House order maintained “has reportedly been infiltrated” by terrorist affiliates.

The presidential order withdraws US funding from UNRWA and notes the UN agency’s alleged involvement in the 7 October attacks on Israel, something which UNRWA strongly condemned and responded to by opening itself up to an independent as well as an internal investigation, ultimately sacking nine staff for their possible involvement.

Israel did not provide independent investigators with evidence to fully corroborate its allegations.

By 4 August 2025 – in just six months’ time – the US executive order also calls for a review of US membership in “all international intergovernmental organizations” and all conventions and treaties.

Praise for lifesaving US support

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in response to questions regarding the latest executive order that “from day one”, it has been clear that US support for the UN has “saved countless lives and advanced global security”.

“As I have mentioned, the Secretary-General looks forward to speaking to President Trump. He looks forward to continuing what was a very frank and productive relationship during the first term,” he said.

Mr. Dujarric recalled President Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office on Tuesday where he said the UN has “got great potential” with a critical role to play in taking on many big challenges facing the world.

At least 40 children killed in three days as violence escalates in Sudan

A surge in violence across Sudan has reportedly killed at least 40 children in just three days, with shelling targeting multiple areas of the country, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

On Monday, heavy shelling in Kadugli, South Kordofan state, killed 21 children and injured 29 others.

Over the weekend, attacks on markets in El Fasher in Darfur state and Sabreen in Khartoum state claimed the lives of at least 19 more children, with several others wounded.

“Sadly, it is rare that more than a few short days go past without new reports of children being killed and injured,” said Annmarie Swai, the UNICEF representative in the country.

Daily killings

Since June 2024, as the conflict has spread into new regions, an average of over four incidents per day has been documented, with an overwhelming 80 per cent of these cases involving killings and maimings.

The violence has also hit vital civilian infrastructure. In late January, shelling reportedly struck the only functioning hospital in El Fasher, killing and injuring seven children, while another attack on a UNICEF child-friendly space in Khartoum state left three children dead or wounded.

“Children in Sudan are paying the ultimate price of the relentless fighting,” Ms. Swai said, urging all parties to uphold international humanitarian law.

135,000 women in Africa could die from breast cancer by 2040, warns WHO

An estimated 135,000 women could die from preventable breast cancer by 2040 in sub-Saharan Africa without urgent action, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

According to a WHO study in 42 of the region’s 47 countries, there are significant gaps and disparities in breast cancer control.

Key findings included a critical shortage of healthcare workers who are essential for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Tackling breast cancer is also limited by a lack of access to specialised cancer centres, WHO said.

Lack of screening

The UN health agency found that only five out of 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have regular breast cancer screening programmes. Lab screening facilities are also lacking, with only two countries meeting the standard of one lab per 100,000 people.

Breast cancer-related deaths in the region continue to be driven by late diagnosis and insufficient prevention and care. Much more healthcare investment is needed, WHO insisted.

In 2022 alone, the UN agency said that 38 out of every 100,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 19 per 100,000 died from the disease.

Tunisia: Rights panel demands immediate release of activist on hunger strike

Top independent rights experts reiterated their call to the Tunisian authorities on Wednesday to release an imprisoned activist who is intensive care after going on hunger strike.

Sihem Bensedrine, 75, was the former president of the Truth and Dignity Commission in Tunisia until she was detained in August last year.

In a joint appeal, the independent rights experts insisted that Ms. Bensedrine must be immediately and unconditionally released and any charges against her dropped.

The rights experts – Special Rapporteurs Bernard Duhaime, Mary Lawlor and Margaret Satterthwaite – said that her arrest appeared to be in retaliation for her activism.

Truth to power

In particular, they cited her contribution to the Truth and Dignity Commission’s report which they said “should lead to the prosecution of alleged perpetrators of serious violations of past regimes”.

The Tunisian commission was established in 2014 in collaboration with the UN human rights office, OHCHR, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). It was tasked with investigating alleged abuses going back six decades as well as acting as an arbiter in cases of corruption and gross human rights violations.

Ms. Bensedrine is accused of falsifying the commission’s report on corruption in the banking system and has been the subject of judicial investigations since 2021, before her pre-trial detention last year.

The Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts further argued that commission members and staff cannot be held liable for any content, conclusions or recommendations in the report as their work was carried out in line with their mandate.

Chad and Nigeria sign agreement for voluntary refugee repatriation

The governments of Chad and Nigeria, in collaboration with UN refugee agency, UNHCR, have signed a tripartite agreement to allow the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees currently residing in Chad.

It marks a significant milestone in regional efforts to provide durable solutions for refugees, ensuring that any future returns are voluntary, safe and dignified.

A tripartite commission will be set up to develop standard operating procedures for implementing the agreement. This includes facilitating ongoing dialogue, joint assessments and coordination between Chad, Nigeria and UNHCR. The commission will ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and that the protection needs of refugees remain central to the process.

“This tripartite agreement is a crucial step toward ensuring that any voluntary repatriation of refugees is conducted in a manner that upholds their fundamental rights and dignity,” said UNHCR regional bureau director Abdouraouf Gnon-Kondé.

The signing of this agreement is part of a broader commitment by the governments of Chad and Nigeria to strengthen protection and solutions for forcibly displaced populations. This includes ongoing cooperation with neighbouring countries to enhance regional coordination on voluntary repatriation and reintegration efforts.

UNHCR commends the governments of Chad and Nigeria for their leadership in promoting durable solutions while safeguarding refugee rights. The agency stands ready to implement its commitments under this tripartite agreement.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Meds platform launch gives children with cancer a fighting chance

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

11 February 2025 Health

A new UN-partnered project to distribute essential childhood cancer medicines has begun in Uzbekistan and Mongolia, the first rollout for a project due to be piloted in six countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Around 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year and most of them live in low-income countries where medicines are either unaffordable or unavailable, resulting in an overwhelming 70 per cent death rate.

In high-income countries, more than eight in 10 children who are diagnosed survive.

“The platform is now set to close this gap”, said Dr. Andre Ilbawi, Technical lead of the WHO cancer control programme.

The UN agency’s goal – working with leading US paediatric facility St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – is to reach 50 countries where needs are greatest, providing medicines to treat 120,000 children with cancer in the next five to seven years. Although it is an ambitious goal, it is achievable, Dr Ilbawi told journalists in Geneva.

“This marks the beginning of a global movement to provide children with cancer the medicines that they need, regardless of where they live, or their ability to pay”, he insisted thanks to the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines.

Major funding boost

The launch of the platform has been made possible by a $200 million investment by St. Jude’s – marking the largest financial commitment ever made for childhood cancer medicines globally.

The initiative also draws on the experience of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization Strategic Fund, which procure and distribute the medicines. “This innovation has now become a needed beacon of hope for families around the world”, Dr. Ilbawi said.

The platform is not a donation programme, but rather a joint venture involving governments, the pharmaceutical industry, non-governmental organizations and local stakeholders such as hospitals.

Complex and challenging

The remaining four countries of the pilot phase that will soon receive cancer medication are Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal and Zambia. Within days, El Salvador, Moldova, Senegal, Pakistan, Ghana and Sri Lanka will join the programme too.

The needs of a child suffering from cancer are complex and demanding, ranging from qualified professionals to pharmaceutical companies and communities that are ready to support a family through the traumatic process of diagnosis, WHO explained.

But with the launch of this platform come hopes of scaling it up. “The vision of giving every child a chance to fight cancer – no matter where they are born, is now becoming a reality” Dr. Ilbawi said.

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MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Palestinians’ rights matter, says UNRWA chief

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

7 February 2025 Humanitarian Aid

The head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA underscored its commitment to assist a population whose rights “continue to be violated”.

In a social media post on Friday, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that “people in Gaza have undergone systematic dehumanization” since the war there began.

He emphasized that “Palestinians do matter, including those in Gaza. Their rights, lives and futures matter,” noting that “human rights cannot be applied selectively.”

His comments come in the wake of United States President Donald Trump’s proposal made earlier this week that the US should seize control of Gaza and permanently displace the entire Palestinian population – a move which the UN Secretary-General said would be an act of “ethnic cleansing.”

Two-State solution

In his statement, Mr. Lazzarini quoted UN chief António Guterres who has stressed that “peace requires ending the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part; a viable and sovereign Palestinian State side-by-side with Israel”.

The UNRWA chief said his agency’s teams “are committed to continue providing critical assistance to Palestine refugees who need us most until empowered Palestinian institutions become a lasting and viable alternative.”

UNRWA continues to face huge challenges in carrying out its work. Last month, two Israeli laws came into effect which ban UNRWA operations within its borders and forbid Israeli authorities from having any contact with the agency.

UNRWA was ordered to vacate its premises in East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, and visas for international staff were not renewed.

Teams are still providing aid to communities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in Gaza, where a ceasefire continues to hold following 15 months of war.

© UNOCHA/Olga Cherevko

UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher talks to a child at an UNRWA shelter in Gaza.

‘Relief chief’ meets displaced families

In other developments, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Tom Fletcher continued his week-long visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

On Friday he visited an UNRWA-run shelter in the city of Deir Al-Balah in Gaza before heading to Jerusalem via the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Mr. Fletcher met with displaced families who spoke of the hardships they have endured over the past 16 months. He also heard from staff managing the shelter about the ongoing response and challenges they face in providing critical support.

The UNRWA site is one of the many schools in Gaza that were turned into shelters. The UN relief chief met children who are missing out on their education, stressing the need to re-open schools in Gaza as soon as possible.

In Jerusalem, Mr. Fletcher met heads of UN aid agencies and other humanitarians, where he discussed how to sustain aid flows to Gaza and support West Bank operations.

Medical evacuations and food assistance

UN agencies continue to provide updates on their work in the Gaza Strip.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on social media that its team has supported the medical evacuation of 178 patients this month, including 115 children, to Egypt. However, between 12,000 and 14,000 more still need to be evacuated.

For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) has sent more than 15,000 tonnes of food into Gaza since the start of the ceasefire, reaching more than 525,000 people with food parcels, hot meals and cash.

UN child rights agency UNICEF added that since the ceasefire took effect, it has reached more than 10,000 infants across Gaza with ready to use complementary foods.

UN News

A family sits outside a makeshift shelter in Gaza.

Insufficient shelter

This week, UN partners have been assessing the impact of a winter storm on shelters in different locations in the enclave. Partners in the north are also preparing to distribute 1,500 tents to returnees in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates.

Humanitarians note even though shelter support is scaling up, nearly one million displaced people are living in substandard tents or makeshift dwellings – some families resorting to sewing old rice sacks together for basic cover.

West Bank crackdown continues

The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, also updated on the situation in the West Bank.

Ongoing operations by Israeli forces in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas continue to displace Palestinians, severely restricting their access to essential services and causing widespread destruction.

Humanitarians estimate that 82 per cent of displaced families in the northern West Bank are currently living in rented accommodations.

Significant increase in child fatalities in the West Bank

Meanwhile, nearly half of all Palestinian child fatalities in the West Bank over the past two decades occurred within the last two years, UN aid coordination office OCHA said in a humanitarian update published on Thursday.

Since January 2023, 224 children (218 boys and six girls) have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers, representing nearly half of the 468 child fatalities the agency has documented since the beginning of 2005.

They include 11 children killed since January of this year, all by Israeli forces, including six killed in airstrikes, and 10 killed in the northern governorates of the West Bank.

“This is generally consistent with trends observed over the past two years,” OCHA said.

Concern over use of force

The agency noted that in 2023 and 2024, 64 per cent of Palestinian child fatalities in the West Bank were in the northern governorates. Most, 82 per cent, were shot by live ammunition, and 18 per cent were killed by airstrikes.

Furthermore, more than 2,500 Palestinian children were injured during the same period, 28 per cent of them by live ammunition.

So far this year, 89 Palestinian children were reported injured by Israeli forces or settlers, 48 per cent by live ammunition.

“The significant number of children killed and injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli forces or in airstrikes raises concerns over unnecessary and excessive uses of force against children by Israeli forces during operations in the West Bank,” said OCHA.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: UN chief offers condolences amid devastating wildfires in California

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

9 January 2025 Climate and Environment

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed sorrow over the fast-moving wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area, claiming lives and displacing thousands.

The fires, described as some of the worst in the city’s history, have burned thousands of acres, destroyed homes and left firefighters battling to contain multiple blasts in unprecedented conditions.

“The Secretary-General is shocked and saddened by the widespread devastation caused by the fast-moving wildfires,” said his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, in a statement released on Thursday.

Mr. Guterres extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and expressed solidarity with those displaced, many of whom have lost their homes.

The fires have claimed at least five lives, displaced more than 100,000 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. Damages are estimated to exceed $50 billion, according to US private forecaster AccuWeather.

Commending first responders

The Secretary-General commended the courage and dedication of first responders working in “extremely difficult conditions” to protect lives and contain the fires.

More than 7,500 firefighters are battling the blazes, with officials describing the conditions as historic and dangerous.

Local fire chiefs reported that dry vegetation and winds with the force of hurricanes have fuelled the fires, leaving four out of six major ones completely uncontained.

Efforts are being further delayed by resource shortages and the challenging landscape.

Prevention and preparedness

Rainfall levels from late 2024 until now have been below average. This has created dry conditions that, combined with the Santana Winds – a well-known weather pattern in the region – have exacerbated fire risks, according to experts.

The Santana Winds, which typically sweep through the mountains, raise temperatures and drastically lower humidity, rapidly drying out vegetation and creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the importance of prevention strategies to mitigate the impact of wildfires, including regular clearing of underbrush in forests, available water for firefighters and testing firefighting capacities.

Evacuation planning is another critical priority, with experts stressing the importance of avoiding blocked evacuation routes.

“Wildfires move rapidly, and any evacuation system needs to account for all people, especially those who are elderly and unable to move quickly,” said James Douris of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), an expert in early warning systems.

Health risks and climate factors

Beyond the immediate destruction, wildfires also pose significant public health risks.

According to WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris, wildfire smoke, a toxic mixture of pollutants, can cause premature deaths and long-term damage to the lungs, heart and brain.

Vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, face heightened risks.

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UN readiness to assist

Reiterating the United Nations’ commitment to global solidarity, Mr. Guterres stated that “the United Nations stands ready to provide assistance if needed.”

While no formal request for aid has been made, his statement emphasised the organization’s willingness to support affected communities.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 12, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Almost £300 million to gear up new walking, wheeling and cycling schemes
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

We are making sure local authorities can provide high-quality and easily accessible active travel schemes across England.
300 miles of brand new footpaths and cycle tracks will help encourage 30 million more journeys by bike or foot every year

new guidance to help councils engage and ensure local communities are involved in new projects

funding will lead to 43,000 less sick days a year to ease pressure on the NHS and help deliver government mission of building an NHS fit for the future

Millions of people will benefit from 300 miles of new walkways and cycle lanes thanks to almost £300 million in funding to boost walking, wheeling and cycling in England.

The funding package announced today (12 February 2025) by the government and Active Travel England (ATE) will also allow the construction of improved crossings and junctions to make walking, wheeling and cycling easier, safer and better across the country. The investment will also help fund cycle training for hundreds of thousands of children.

In addition to today’s funding, ATE is publishing its guidance to help councils ensure that local residents and businesses are heard when designing and delivering transport changes in neighbourhoods.

The improvements will help people make 30 million more journeys by bike or foot every year, including more than 20 million new walk-to-school journeys by children and their parents.

Cycle lanes and walkways funded today will lead to 43,000 fewer sick days a year, due to the health benefits of increased active travel, easing pressure on the NHS and helping people live happier and healthier lives.

The new infrastructure will also add £9 million every year to the economy by supporting local businesses and making it easier to walk and cycle to work, as the government continues to deliver its Plan for Change.

National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman, said:

Making it simple and safe to walk, wheel or cycle to schools, shops and workplaces is one of the most effective actions we can take to improve the nation’s health, economy and get to net zero, all in one.

Free exercise, zero emissions and no risk of getting stuck in traffic are benefits already being enjoyed as standard by our European neighbours and it’s time we had the same life-improving choices.

This funding will help make our towns, cities and villages happier, healthier and greener places to live.

Minister for Local Transport, Simon Lightwood, said:

Walking and cycling is an affordable way to get around and is hugely beneficial for both mental and physical health. We’re making sure local authorities can deliver high-quality and easily accessible schemes for everyone.

Investing in our national cycling and walking infrastructure is a key part of our mission for growth and today’s investment will not only provide better connectivity but boost local businesses, grow local economies and ease pressure on the NHS, helping us deliver our Plan for Change.

In total, today’s £291 million funding package includes:

£222.5 million to local authorities for the development and delivery of local walking, wheeling and cycling schemes, alongside community engagement and training

£30 million to provide Bikeability cycle training to children

£30 million to the Sustrans charity to deliver improvements to the National Cycle Network, a UK-wide network of signed active travel routes

£8.5 million for Cycling UK, Living Streets and Modeshift to deliver walking, wheeling and cycling initiatives in schools and communities

In addition to providing this funding, ATE is dedicated to ensuring that new schemes are built faster and to a high quality that works best for their communities. With ATE expert advice, local authorities have completed active travel projects at more than twice the rate of other small transport schemes.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:

Helping more people to get the health benefits of walking, wheeling and cycling is at the heart of the Bee Network. Our plan to connect 95% of our residents to within 400 metres of high-quality active travel routes is arguably the boldest in the country.

We’re already seeing more people choose active travel over the car for short journeys. This latest funding will help us build on our success to date and demonstrates confidence – at the highest level – in the Bee Network.

Stockport is the blueprint for what we want to deliver across Greater Manchester, focusing new homes and regeneration around excellent public transport infrastructure in our town centres.

The more people we can persuade to leave the car at home, the more we will make the traffic flow and the roads better for everyone.

National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman, and Local Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, will mark the announcement of this funding with a visit to Greater Manchester, where active travel policies have been hugely successful.

A recent report by Transport for Greater Manchester found infrastructure upgrades are encouraging more residents to get about under their own steam, with the number of people walking short journeys now at 57%, up from 52% 5 years ago.

Head of Communications, Active Travel England

Email pressoffice@activetravelengland.gov.uk

Media enquiries 020 7082 6603

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Published 12 February 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
February 12, 2025