‘A colonial mindset’: why global aid agencies need to get out of the way

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Admin

With the world’s humanitarian system in crisis, many NGOs now recognise that local charities can deliver much more at far less cost

Before civil war engulfed her Ethiopian home region of Tigray in 2020, Tsega Girma was a prosperous trader who sold stationery and other goods. But when hungry children displaced by the conflict started appearing in the streets, she sold everything and used the proceeds to buy them food.

After that money dried up, Tsega appealed to Tigray’s diaspora for donations. At the height of the war, her Emahoy Tsega Girma Charity Foundation provided meals to 24,000 children a day.

US delegate says Solomon Islands PM was too ‘busy’ to meet him

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Admin

Congressman Neal Dunn, part of select committee on competition with China, says failure to meet Manasseh Sogavare was a ‘missed opportunity’

Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare declined a request this week to meet members of a high-profile US congressional delegation who are focused on competition with China.

The visit to Solomon Islands by representatives from the US select committee on the Chinese Communist party comes amid a growing struggle for influence between the US and China in the Pacific region. Last year, Solomon Islands signed a controversial security pact with the Chinese government and in July, the prime minister agreed a new deal on police cooperation while on a trip to Beijing.

Sudan unrest: evacuations intensify as US warns of humanitarian crisis

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Admin

US agency sends in disaster response teams as western nations pull diplomats and citizens out of strife-torn country

The US has warned of shortages of vital medicines, food and water in Sudan and deployed disaster response experts to the region, as efforts intensified to evacuate foreign diplomats and citizens from Khartoum.

On Sunday, the UK successfully evacuated its diplomatic staff and their dependants from Khartoum in a complex operation, while Germany and France said they had each evacuated more than 100 people. Italy, Spain and Canada also evacuated their citizens among other nationalities. A Dutch military plane took evacuees to Jordan early on Monday, the Dutch foreign ministry said. The US evacuated diplomats, embassy workers and their families on Saturday night.

Russian SolarWinds hackers launch email attack on government agencies

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Admin

Microsoft says group targeted more than 15o American and foreign organisations using USAid account

The state-backed Russian cyber spies behind the SolarWinds hacking campaign launched a targeted phishing assault on US and foreign government agencies and thinktanks this week using an email marketing account of the US Agency for International Development (USAid), Microsoft has said.

The effort targeted about 3,000 email accounts at more than 150 different organisations, at least a quarter of them involved in international development, humanitarian and human rights work, the Microsoft vice-president Tom Burt wrote in a blog post late on Thursday.