World Food Programme calls for urgent $125m injection after being forced into axing supplies into Bangladesh refugee camps by 17%
The UN has been forced to cut food rations for Rohingya refugees by 17% and has warned of “unconscionable” further cuts in April as a result of dwindling international donations.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said it needs $125m (£104m) urgently to avoid the further cuts.
Continue reading...Reports that fighters have threatened those issuing birth control medicines come as Afghan midwives and activists warn of impact on women’s health and rights
Taliban fighters have stopped the sale of contraceptives in two of Afghanistan’s main cities, claiming their use by women is a western conspiracy to control the Muslim population.
The Guardian has learned that the Taliban has been going door to door, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies to clear their shelves of all birth control medicines and devices.
Continue reading...‘Racist’ inequalities leave sub-Saharan region bearing burden of more that half world’s new HIV infections, says Winnie Byanyima
The head of UNAids, Winnie Byanyima, has attacked pharmaceutical giants for prioritising profits over saving lives, and warned that “racist” inequalities are undermining progress towards ending Aids, especially in Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than half of all new infections, with women and marginalised groups facing higher new infection rates. Aids-related illnesses were the leading cause of mortality among African women, and adolescent girls and young women were three times more likely than men to get HIV.
Continue reading...Revelation shows dangers posed by bad actors and paid operatives in democratic systems across Africa
An Israeli disinformation specialist hired to run covert dirty tricks campaigns in African elections hacked political advisers close to Kenya’s president, William Ruto, in the run-up to last year’s election, an investigation can reveal.
The interference did not prevent Ruto winning the poll, nor the peaceful transfer of power in Kenya, but the revelation highlights the growing risks posed by the involvement of bad actors and paid operatives in the relatively new democratic systems and institutions across Africa.
Continue reading...The verdict, the first of its kind in almost a decade, has shocked many who fear country is sliding back into state extremism
Three Sudanese men have been sentenced to hand amputation for stealing, the first time in almost a decade that such a punishment has been handed down in the country’s courts.
The three men in their 20s were convicted of stealing gas cylinders in Omdurman, Sudan’s most populous city, which sits across the Nile River from the capital, Khartoum.
Continue reading...Determination to get donations to stricken areas is galvanising people haunted by fears for family and friends
Dozens of volunteers are packing boxes piled high on a north London industrial estate, filling them with vital donations to be sent to Gaziantep, the south-eastern province in Turkey devastated by the earthquake that hit in the early hours on Monday.
Huseyin Goran, 36, has been helping for three days straight. “The first two days I didn’t sleep and did as much as I could. I took a three-hour rest and carried on.”
Continue reading...Humanitarian groups urge foreign secretary to issue correction to a recent report, amid fears it could provide cover for repression in the Gulf state
The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been urged by humanitarian organisations to issue a correction over a “misleading” Foreign Office (FCDO) report on Bahrain, as they say it represents a “dangerous whitewash” on human rights that risks emboldening abusers in the Gulf state.
A letter to the foreign secretary, signed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), said the report is “fraught with inaccuracies” and amounts to disinformation that could be used as propaganda by the government of Bahrain.
Continue reading...Rescue teams say death tolls will continue to rise if UN does not speed up ‘overly cautious’ delivery of aid into rebel-held region
Pressure is mounting on the UN to provide urgent support to north-western Syria, which is yet to receive meaningful aid five days after the earthquake that devastated the region, and with the chance of finding any survivors beneath the rubble almost gone.
A convoy of 14 UN lorries entered the opposition-held part of the country from Turkey on Friday at the Bab al-Hawa crossing, containing humanitarian-kit, solar lamps, blankets and other items, one day after a six-lorry convoy crossed the border with blankets and basic supplies. Thursday’s convoy had been arranged before the disaster that has killed at least 3,500 people inside Syria and left thousands more buried under rubble.
Continue reading...Turkey says it is working to open two more border crossings; girl and father pulled alive from rubble in Antakya
The first convoy of humanitarian assistance for victims of Monday’s earthquake has crossed into north-west Syria, as the death toll in Turkey and Syria climbed to more than 21,000 amid fading hopes of finding survivors under rubble in freezing weather.
Six trucks passed through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey carrying tents and hygiene products, as Turkey said it was working to open two more border crossings with Syria to allow in more humanitarian aid.
Continue reading...Presidential election comes as fuel shortages and currency woes take toll on continent’s most populous country
Nigeria’s election on 25 February has been described as pivotal to the progress of democracy in Africa, where military coups and attempts by longstanding rulers to cling to power have raised fears of a “democratic retreat” from advances made since the end of the cold war.
More than a dozen African countries go the polls in the coming 12 months, but experts agree that the presidential and parliamentary vote in the continent’s most populous country is the one that matters the most.
Continue reading...Campaigners accuse Museveni regime of evading international scrutiny after shock move to end agreement with OHCHR
Rights activists and campaigners have condemned the Ugandan government’s decision to shut down the country’s UN human rights office, describing it as “shameful”.
In a letter to the Office of the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) in Uganda dated 3 February, the foreign affairs ministry said it will not renew the host country agreement it signed with the OHCHR, which established its initial mandate in the country in 2005. The current mandate, signed on 9 February 2020, expires in August.
Continue reading...Decision on case of ex-Facebook moderator, who claims the work left him with PTSD, hailed as win for accountability of big tech in Africa
A Kenyan court has ruled that a case brought against Facebook by a former content moderator can go ahead.
Daniel Motaung, who was hired as a Facebook content moderator by the tech firm’s subcontractor Sama in 2019, filed a suit against the two companies last year, alleging that he had been exposed to graphic and traumatic content at work, without adequate prior knowledge or proper psychosocial support – which he says left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Continue reading...Catholic charity Cafod says local NGOs are best placed to respond on the frontline but are being cut out of the process
South Sudan is facing the world’s most severe food insecurity crisis, yet the local groups most effective at delivering aid are not being directly funded, according to a new report.
Only 0.4% of humanitarian funding meant for food is directly channelled towards South Sudanese NGOs, despite them being the most effective at tackling hunger, according to the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod).
Continue reading...Triple threat sees Caribbean country in worst crisis since 2010 earthquake, with young people bearing the brunt, warns Unicef
An escalation of gang violence, political instability and a deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti has left half its children relying on humanitarian aid to survive, Unicef says.
At least 2.6 million are expected to need immediate lifesaving assistance this year as the overlapping crises leave Haiti’s children in the worst position since the earthquake of 2010, Unicef’s Haiti representative, Bruno Maes, told the Guardian.
Continue reading...Three other accused will serve sentences of up to 30 years over deaths of Willie Kimani, Josephat Mwenda and Joseph Muiruri, in case that sparked national protests
A police officer, Fredrick Leliman, who was among those convicted of killing Nairobi lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri, has been sentenced to death by a Nairobi court.
In the judgment delivered on Friday, three other accused, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku and Peter Ngugi, will serve 30, 24, and 20 years in prison, respectively.
Continue reading...Politicians and human rights groups demand justice for Tiba al-Ali after father’s confession
The death of a young YouTube star at the hands of her father has sparked outrage in Iraq, as so-called “honour” killings continue in the conservative country.
Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on 31 January in the southern province of Diwaniya, interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday.
Continue reading...Norway’s sovereign wealth titan threatens to vote against boards on firms it holds investments with over lax climate and social targets
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s single largest investor, has warned company directors it will vote against their re-election to the board if they don’t up their game on tackling the climate crisis, human rights abuses and boardroom diversity.
Carine Smith Ihenacho, chief governance and compliance officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages more than 13tn Norwegian kroner (£1tn) on behalf of the Norwegian people, said the fund was preparing to vote against the re-election of at least 80 company boards for failing to set or hit environmental or social targets.
Continue reading...Herero and Nama people demand direct talks and take Namibian government to court for accepting reparations on their behalf for 1904-1908 killings
Descendants of victims of genocide in Namibia have called on Germany to “stop hiding” and discuss reparations with them directly, as they take their own government to court for making a deal without their approval.
The Herero and Nama people have gone to Namibia’s high court, rejecting an apology made in 2021 after years of talks between Namibia and Germany, which they say falls short of atoning for the 1904 to 1908 genocide, the first of the 20th century.
Continue reading...An open letter, backed by opinion poll, urges the UK to restore aid budget on eve of a three-day ‘pilgrimage for peace’ in the east African country
The British government’s financial support for Ukraine must not be at the cost of aid to other areas of the world in crisis, three faith-based charities have warned, on the eve of an unprecedented joint pilgrimage to South Sudan led by Pope Francis.
The organisations are calling on the government to restore the 59% cut in the UK’s aid budget to South Sudan, and invest in peacebuilding, conflict management and reconciliation.
Continue reading...Two weeks on from the death of government critic John Williams Ntwali, police have failed to answer questions over the alleged road accident in which they say he was killed
Calls are growing for an investigation into the apparent accidental death two weeks ago of a prominent Rwandan journalist and government critic.
John Williams Ntwali, a regular critic of the authorities, was found dead on 18 January. According to reported police accounts, he was killed when a speeding vehicle rammed a motorcycle on which he was riding pillion in the capital, Kigali. A US senate committee said he had been “silenced”. Human rights organisations have joined other activists in raising doubts about the cause of the death of the 44 year-old editor of The Chronicles newspaper.
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