Over 350 people have died and almost eight million others have been affected by the worst flooding to hit Nigeria in over 40 years. The United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Geneva says that about 6,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed and over two million Nigerians have registered as internally displaced persons or IDPs. [...]
Sri Lankan migrant workers, many of whom are women who work in the Gulf region, suffer abuses at on the job, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The agency is supporting authorities in the country as they design a comprehensive national migration health policy to help Sri Lankans who work abroad. IOM [...]
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned that it is running out of money to contain an outbreak of Hepatitis E among Sudanese refugees in South Sudan. The agency says the disease, which damages the liver and is caused by consuming contaminated food and water, has killed 26 refugees in Upper Nile state. According [...]
The United Nations human rights chief has urged the government of South Sudan to reverse an expulsion order against a senior United Nations human rights officer issued two weeks ago. In a statement released on Friday, Navi Pillay says the expulsion of the officer working for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is in [...]
A decision by the Brazilian government to grant permanent residency to nearly 2,000 former Angolan and Liberian refugees has been welcomed by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). Brazil's Ministry of Justice issued a decree on October 26 confirming the new status for this group. UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards says the measure was adopted by the [...]
Representatives of governments and international aid organizations meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday heard reports of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria. UN agencies participating in the sixth Syria Humanitarian Forum fear a lack of funds could threaten their assistance to people inside and outside the country who depend on aid relief. Charles Appel reports. [...]
Parliaments around the world are making unprecedented use of social media and mobile technologies to facilitate the work of their members and increase citizens' engagement. That's according to a report jointly published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations. IPU spokesperson Jemini Pandya says that for the first time, social media is among [...]
Hardy, strong, adaptable to local conditions and easy to care for: these are some of the traits that small livestock farmers value in their animals. But some farmers are being urged to abandon indigenous chickens, goats, sheep, pigs and other animals for high-performing hybrid breeds such as Holstein-Friesian cows, the world's leading milk producers. Women [...]
The United Nations is supporting the Caribbean countries that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Ban briefed the General Assembly on the impact of the hurricane which also disrupted the work of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. He said that five million people were affected in [...]
Over 408,000 Syrians have now crossed into neighbouring countries to escape the violence in their country according to United Nations agencies. The UN refugee agency UNHCR says in the last two days, over 11,000 Syrian refugees have entered Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. UNHCR says there were little efforts by both sides of the conflict to [...]
Humanitarian agencies in Nigeria are appealing for $38 million to respond to widespread flooding in Nigeria which has affected over 7.7 million people. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says over two million people have been driven out of their homes by rising waters of the River Niger. The bulk of [...]
The number of internally displaced people in Myanmar's Rakhine State has risen to more than 110,000, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Patrick Maigua in Geneva sat down with OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke who describes the situation as "volatile" and "tense." ILO works to get Indian child laborers [...]
Hardy, strong, adaptable to local conditions and easy to care for: these are some of the traits that rural women who keep livestock value in their animals. But some of these pastoralists and family farmers are being urged to abandon their indigenous chickens, goats, sheep, pigs and other animals for high-performing hybrid breeds. Women comprise [...]
