Amid this unfolding disaster, we have seen countless acts of kindness and solidarity. It’s this spirit of generosity that will help guide us out of this crisis and into a better future. By Rebecca Solnit
Category Archives: Aid
Oxfam funding crisis puts 200 UK jobs at risk
Threatened job losses follow announcement of 1,500 redundancies internationally and closure of offices in 18 countries
More than 200 UK jobs could be lost at Oxfam, after the charity’s funding plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic.
The threatened UK job cuts are in addition to the loss of almost 1,500 staff roles internationally and the closure of offices in 18 countries, announced by the aid organisation in May.
Continue reading...Yemen faces ‘macabre tragedy’ as aid funding falls short by $1bn
UN says country is on cliff edge after fundraising summit raises only $1.35bn for the year
Yemen remains on the brink of “a macabre tragedy”, the UN has warned after a humanitarian fundraising summit raised only $1.35bn (£1.05bn) for this year, around $1bn short of the target and only half the sum raised at the equivalent pledging conference last year.
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, said unless more money was raised Yemen “will face a horrific outcome at the end of the year”.
Continue reading...Nigerian forces accused of torture and illegal detention of children – report
Amnesty International alleges that at least 10,000 died while being wrongly held – some of them in a centre part funded by the UK
Widespread unlawful detention and torture by Nigerian security forces has aggravated the suffering of a generation of children and tens of thousands of people in north-east Nigeria, according to a new report.
At least 10,000 victims – many of them children – have died in military detention, among the many thousands more arrested during a decade-long conflict with jihadist groups, according to Amnesty International.
Continue reading...‘The issue now is surviving’: countries react with shock to Oxfam withdrawal
Locals, NGOs and politicians express fears for world’s most vulnerable as charity announces withdrawal from 18 countries due to financial impact of Covid-19
Oxfam International’s announcement that it will close operations in countries including Afghanistan and Haiti has prompted fears that regions are being abandoned just as the coronavirus pandemic makes them more vulnerable.
Oxfam said the impact of Covid-19 on its finances had forced it to fast-track a global restructuring programme, which entails the closure of 18 country offices.
Continue reading...£40m for islanders exiled from British territory goes unspent
Chagossians promised aid go hungry as coronavirus renders them jobless in a foreign state
Chagos Islanders living in exile from the territory claimed by Britain, and left destitute by the coronavirus downturn, have been refused support by the UK government, leaving some unable to buy enough food.
They question why a £40m support package – which was announced by the UK government in 2016 to assist Chagossians living in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles – isn’t being used to help them during this time. The fund has gone largely unspent since its launch.
Continue reading...UK aid efforts to tackle gender equality marred by ‘inaccuracy’, says watchdog
Whitehall auditor warns ‘ambitious aims’ will not be achieved without better oversight, planning and evaluation of programmes
Efforts by the UK government to achieve gender equality through its aid programmes need to be better managed and more transparent, according to the financial watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said the Department for International Development’s (DfID) 12-year gender equality strategy was wide-ranging, but did not have a long-term, costed, implementation plan, limiting “its ability to assess progress and consider value for money”.
Continue reading...Coronavirus ‘could undo 30 years of UK’s international development work’
Impact of pandemic could be felt by world’s poorest for years to come, international development secretary tells MPs
The coronavirus pandemic threatens to undo 30 years of international development work, with a bleak picture for the world’s poorest, the international development secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, told MPs.
Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of UK aid, Trevelyan said her biggest fear was that the secondary impact of the health crisis would be felt by the world’s poorest for years to come.
Continue reading...Coronavirus pandemic ‘will cause famine of biblical proportions’
Governments must act now to stop 265 million starving, warns World Food Programme boss
The world is facing widespread famine “of biblical proportions” because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the UN’s food relief agency has warned, with a short time to act before hundreds of millions starve.
More than 30 countries in the developing world could experience widespread famine, and in 10 of those countries there are already more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation, said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme.
Continue reading...UN agencies issue urgent coronavirus appeal after $2bn request falls well short
Exclusive: aid officials seek $350m for transport system to get support to poorest regions
The heads of all the UN’s major agencies have issued a graphic warning of the risk of coronavirus to the world’s most vulnerable countries after disclosing that international donors had pledged around a quarter of the $2bn the UN requested for its emergency Covid-19 response in March.
In an open letter shared before publication with the Guardian, the world’s most senior emergencies, health and development officials, warned that help for the world’s weakest countries was in everyone’s “interest to stop the virus from spreading unchecked, destroying lives and economies, and continuing to circle around the world”.
Continue reading...Countries urged to step up spending as national goals go unmet
Campaigners call for action as majority of big countries fall short of 0.7% aid target
The world’s major powers have failed to make progress towards meeting their commitments on aid spending, according to new data, prompting calls for countries to step up in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) update on spending in 2019, published on Thursday, showed aid contributions by its forum of the largest donors were less than half the targeted 0.7% of their gross national income.
Continue reading...Foreigners targeted in Central African Republic as coronavirus fears grow
Peacekeeping and aid operations face disruption as outsiders are scapegoated in one of Africa’s most vulnerable countries
A backlash against foreigners in Central African Republic threatens to disrupt peacekeeping and aid supplies in one of Africa’s most fragile countries.
Since an Italian missionary was identified as CAR’s first coronavirus case last month, xenophobia has been on the rise. Unfounded stories widely published in the country’s newspapers and on social media have portrayed foreigners as unwelcome importers of a disease that could further impoverish the country.
Continue reading...Sanctions should not impede coronavirus fight, EU diplomat says
Josep Borrell backs UN call for global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on pandemic
Sanctions should not stop the delivery of medical equipment and supplies to countries trying to contain outbreaks of coronavirus, the EU’s top diplomat has said.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, made his comments in a declaration on Friday in which he backed the UN’s call for an immediate global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on the pandemic.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison calls the Pacific our ‘family’; Covid-19 is Australia’s chance to prove that | Pat Conroy
It is Australia’s duty – and in our national interest – to respond to the health and economic challenges caused by coronavirus in the Pacific
The Covid-19 crisis has caused Australians to examine our hospital system with one question in mind: can it handle the coronavirus surge? There has been fierce debate about whether doubling our ventilators from 2,200 to over 4,000 is sufficient.
Australia currently has one ventilator and one Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed per 11,000 people. We have one doctor for every 285 Australians and one nurse for every 78.
Continue reading...Covid-19 presents people in the crosshairs of conflict with a terrifying new threat
As the Red Cross launches an emergency appeal, its president calls for the world to pull together
If the first casualty of war is truth, the second may very well be something the entire world values highly right now: healthcare.
Families fleeing conflict, or currently in its crosshairs, know that medical assistance is a rare and precious privilege in war zones. Amid the terror of bombs and bullets, a functioning medical facility is a life-saving oasis, but it’s a near certainty medical staff will be overworked and short on supplies.
Continue reading...Coronavirus threatens to turn aid crises into ‘humanitarian catastrophes’
Restrictions on movement prevent food and medicine from reaching people in adversity, experts warn
Stringent new international restrictions on movement introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic are threatening the lives of millions of people across the world already caught up in humanitarian emergencies.
UN agencies, aid groups and international experts have warned that the new restrictions, which have closed borders and ports, and severely limited the movement of key staff from Africa to South America and Asia, threaten a “dramatic” knock-on effect in countries suffering from conflict, extreme climate events and other crises.
Continue reading...EU and Turkey hold ‘frank’ talks over border opening for migrants
Brussels agrees to rehouse up to 1,500 children as conditions in Greek camps deteriorate
EU leaders in Brussels held “frank” talks with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğanon Monday over his decision to open Turkey’s border to migrants travelling to Europe, as deteriorating conditions in Greek camps led to the bloc agreeing to rehouse up to 1,500 child refugees.
The presidents of the European commission and council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, sought a way to save the current migration deal with Turkey during difficult discussions with Erdoğan in Brussels.
Continue reading...Ethiopia detains 13 Canadians accused of improperly practising medicine
Canadian Humanitarian members deny distributing expired medication or acting without approval
Authorities in Ethiopia have detained 13 Canadian healthcare workers and volunteers, alleging the group were improperly practising medicine in the country.
Canadian Humanitarian, a non-profit organisation based in the province of Alberta, confirmed the detentions but denied allegations it had distributed expired medication or was offering medical services without prior approval.
Continue reading...UK taxpayers funding African fossil fuel projects worth $750m
Watchdog reveals huge sum ploughed into ‘world’s dirtiest fossil fuels’ despite climate vow
UK taxpayer funds totalling $750m (£577m) have been invested in new fossil fuel projects in developing African countries despite the government’s public commitment to tackling the climate crisis, according to an international watchdog.
Global Witness found that a London-based investment group raised $1bn from the UK government over 16 years and spent three-quarters of this supporting oil and gas projects in some of Africa’s poorest countries.
Continue reading...Examining Britain’s part in the Biafran war | Letters
Robert Bennett says no account of the war should ignore its origins in a mainly Igbo military coup in 1966. Alan Healey thinks too many people still look at Britain’s colonial past as a golden age. Judith Nicoll recalls her father, who was shot down and killed while flying food and medicines into Biafra
Frederick Forsyth (Buried for 50 years: Britain’s shameful role in Biafra, Journal, 21 January) arrived in Biafra shortly after I was evacuated in June 1967 at the start of the war, just 15 miles north of Nsukka, where I was working as a university lecturer.
No account of the Biafran war should ignore its origins in a mainly Igbo military coup in January 1966, a coup in which three Nigerian political leaders were assassinated (none of them Igbo). Among them was a man who, by popular accounts, was a modest and good politician: the prime minister, Tafawa Balewa.
Continue reading...