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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
The hunger crisis in Gaza: ‘Efforts not enough to counter current starvation'
As the growing hunger crisis in Gaza gained global attention over the past week, the Israeli military on Sunday began limited pause in fighting in three of the city's populated areas for ten hours per day in order to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory. The military announced the 'tactical pause' would remain in place between 10 am to 8 pm in densely populated areas, including Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah, and Muwasi, even as combat operations continued in the territory. This comes after Gaza's two million people faced a near-total blockade on food, water, medicine, and electricity, leading to starvation, sickness, and deaths. Border closures and continuous airstrikes have, moreover, left shelves empty, hospitals overwhelmed, and families struggling to survive. Israeli strikes have killed at least 41 Palestinians between late Saturday and Sunday, including 26 of them while seeking aid, according to Gaza health officials. Amid Israel's scale-up of aid, UN officials and aid workers warned that the measures fall far short of the much-needed ceasefire and unfettered aid access that could help stem the spiralling humanitarian catastrophe, as per UN News. 'Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through,' UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher shared on X. 'This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis,' he added. According to the UN, one in three people in Gaza hasn't eaten for days. What does the 'tactical pause' entail? Within the so-called 'tactical pause' announced by Israel late Saturday, its military began to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip. The move came amid increased international pressure and increasing incidents of starvation-related deaths in Gaza. The aid included seven packages of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food, the Israel Defence Forces stated over a Telegram post on Sunday. The Israeli military also said on Saturday that it would establish humanitarian corridors for United Nations convoys, however, it refrained from providing further details. The statement also emphasised 'that combat operations have not ceased' in Gaza against Hamas. It reiterated the IDF's position that there is 'no starvation' in the territory, as quoted by CBS News. Following the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, 'Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies.' On Saturday, Israel said that over 250 trucks carrying aid from the UN and other organizations entered Gaza this week. However, this is comparatively way less than the 600 trucks which entered Gaza per day when the ceasefire was in place until March 2025, CBS News stated. The hunger crisis in Gaza About 470,000 people are facing catastrophic hunger in Gaza, with 100,000 women and children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, who are in desperate need of treatment. The WHO has warned malnutrition has reached 'alarming levels' in Gaza with rates on a 'dangerous trajectory' after aid air drops resumed to the Strip, BBC News reported. BBC also quoted the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry data which stated at least 133 people have died from malnutrition since the war began. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also denounced global inaction, calling the suffering in Gaza a 'moral crisis that challenges the global conscience.' 'We will continue to speak out. But words don't feed hungry children,' he wrote over a post on X. 'The @UN stands ready to make the most of a ceasefire to dramatically scale up humanitarian operations,' he added in his post last week. US President Donald Trump too on Sunday called the images of emaciated and malnourished children in Gaza 'terrible.' On July 23, more than 100 organisations, including Oxfam, sounded an alarm, urging governments to act: 'open all land crossings; restore the full flow of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items, and fuel through a principled, UN-led mechanism; end the siege, and agree to a ceasefire now,' a release by Oxfam International stated. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also sounded the alarm, reporting that one in four children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its Gaza clinics were malnourished. 'Rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have tripled in the last two weeks alone,' MSF said, blaming what it described as Israel's 'policy of starvation'. Even before the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that began from January 19 and lasted till March 18, there were famine-like conditions in pockets of Gaza as the amount of aid that was allowed to enter was pitiful compared to the needs. The ceasefire allowed international organisations and NGOs to scale up aid to the minimum required level, which helped stave off hunger in the initial days. However, when the ceasefire collapsed and aid blockade began in March, the situation worsened, and continues to be projected as 'serious' and 'critical', as per the assessment of the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) which came out on the 12th that month. Aid blockade: Beginning and end The food crisis in Gaza intensified early March this year, when Israel completely cut off supplies of food, medicine, fuel, among others to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, demanding Palestinian militant group Hamas to release all the remaining hostages. Currently, fifty of them remain in Gaza, with over half of them believed to be dead, as per an AP report. Israel had restricted the entry of aid to Gaza claiming Hamas of siphoning it off to bolster its rule, however, it did not provide any evidence for the same, AP noted in its report. The March aid blockade, which continued for two-and-a-half months began to push Gazans towards prolonged food shortages, illness, and death, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO). Amid international pressure, Israel lifted the 11-week blockade in May, however, allowed only limited deliveries by the United Nations (UN) to resume. Since then, Israel has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the UN and other aid groups to distribute, including 2,500 tons of baby food and high-calorie special food for children, Israel's Foreign Ministry stated last week. Meanwhile, the UN said that since then, the average of 69 trucks entering the Strip per day has been far below the 500 to 600 trucks, which is ideally needed. The UN also said it has been unable to distribute much aid because hunger-stricken crowds pick most of it from the trucks, AP quoted. Role of US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation A private humanitarian organisation backed by the United States and Israel was tasked with distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza soon after the aid blockade ended in May. 'We plan to scale rapidly to serve the full population in the weeks ahead,' the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had then said in a statement after its director resigned, citing the organisation's lack of independence. The UN called the GHF as a 'controversial' aid operation, with Guterres terming it as 'inherently unsafe.' 'It is killing people,' he had said. UN officials and Gaza-based doctors reported the killing of over 400 Palestinians as they tried to reach the four designated aid sites run by GHF. The GHF rejected these numbers and said it was doing what other organisations could not, that is, delivering aid without it being looted or seized by Hamas. Israel supported the foundation as 'a mechanism to provide secure aid,' insisting its military did not 'deliberately target civilians collecting food,' as per a report in The Indian Express. Even though Israel stands firm in its allegation that the UN system allows Hamas to steal aid, the global body has denied the same. In a letter sent to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a group of Democratic senators Sunday expressed 'grave' concerns about 'the US role in and financial support for the troubled GHF,' urging the Trump administration to suspend American financial support for it, CBS News reported. 'We urge you to immediately cease all US funding for GHF and resume support for the existing UN-led aid coordination mechanisms with enhanced oversight to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in need,' the letter read. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also told CBS on 'Face the Nation' that Gaza is on the 'brink of food catastrophe' and that France expected 'the Israeli government to stop the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused [a] bloodbath in humanitarian health distribution lines in Gaza.' Killed while seeking aid Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May this year while trying to get food, mostly near those sites, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said. According to a report by the AP, Awda Hospital in Nuseirat claimed Israeli forces recently killed at least 13 people, including four children and a woman, and wounded 101 as they headed toward a GHF aid distribution site in central Gaza. To this claim, Israel's military said it fired warning shots to prevent a 'gathering of suspects' from approaching, hundreds of meters from the site before opening hours. GHF also asserted there were no such incidents at or near its sites, as per the report. Thirteen others were killed seeking aid elsewhere, including northwestern Gaza City, where more than 50 people were wounded, and near the Zikim crossing where over 90 were wounded, hospital officials and medics told AP. 'Not enough to counter current starvation' Israel's military late last week said about 28 aid packages containing food were airdropped, adding it would put in place secure routes for aid delivery, AP reported. It also said the steps were made in coordination with the UN and other humanitarian groups. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program stated that it had enough food in, or on its way, to feed all of Gaza for nearly three months, highlighting that nearly half a million people were enduring 'famine-like conditions'. Antoine Renard, WFP's country director for the occupied Palestinian territories, said around 80 WFP trucks entered Gaza, while another over 130 trucks arrived via Jordan, Ashdod and Egypt. He said other aid was moving through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, AP report quoted. However, he stressed it was not enough to counter the 'current starvation.' In the month of July alone, Gaza saw 63 malnutrition-related deaths, which included 24 children under the age of five, as per WHO data. Israeli forces also forcibly displaced nearly two million Palestinians with the most recent mass displacement order issued on July 20, UN highlighted. Amid the rising cases, Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, Gaza Health Ministry's director-general, called for medical supplies to treat child malnutrition. 'This (humanitarian) truce will mean nothing if it doesn't turn into a real opportunity to save lives,' he told AP. 'Every delay is measured by another funeral.' Death toll and ceasefire talks Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas began its attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages, more than 59,700 Palestinians have been killed, according to latest numbers released by Gaza's Health Ministry. Over half of those dead are women and children, AP reported quoting the ministry. Ceasefire efforts, meanwhile, continue to remain failed. Israel and the US recalled negotiating teams from Qatar last Thursday, blaming Hamas, where Israel said it was considering 'alternative options' to talks. Israel also said it was prepared to end the war if Hamas surrendered, disarmed and went into exile, which the latter refused. Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas' negotiating delegation, said the group had displayed 'maximum flexibility.' Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi also said Israel's change of approach on the humanitarian crisis amounted to an acknowledgement of Palestinians starving in Gaza, and asserted that it was meant to improve Israel's international standing and not save lives, as quoted in the AP report. Support from other countries in delivering aid Amid global condemnation of Israel's aid blockade in Gaza, leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany have called for lifting all the restrictions on aid and urged the countries in conflict to consider an immediate ceasefire. UK prime minister Keir Starmer, speaking to French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz on Saturday, said that his government will be 'taking forward' plans to airdrop aid into Gaza, in collaboration with Jordan, and evacuate children who need medical assistance to the UK for treatment, according to a BBC report. According to a spokesperson quoted by The Guardian, the three leaders agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace.' 'They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan, building on their collaboration to date, which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region.' Moreover, as Israel agreed to let Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) airdrop aid into Gaza, the UAE's foreign minister on Saturday said the country would resume aid drops over Gaza 'immediately' citing the 'critical' humanitarian situation, as per the report. Jordan and the UAE said it delivered '25 tonnes of food aid and essential humanitarian supplies' by aid air drops, BBC News reported. 'The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached a critical and unprecedented level,' Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a post on X. 'We will ensure essential aid reaches those most in need, whether through land, air or sea. Air drops are resuming once more, immediately.' Besides these countries, Egypt also delivered aid into Gaza by land and air.


Scoop
2 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Women And Girls Of African Descent: Celebrating Contributions, Recognising Challenges
It recognises their immense contributions to society, but also acknowledges the challenges they face due to the double burden of racism and sexism. Although woman and girls of African descent embody strength, resilience and untapped potential, they remain among the most marginalised groups globally due to the intersection of racial, gender and socioeconomic discrimination. For example, they suffer alarming maternal mortality rates, according to the UN's reproductive health agency, UNFPA. Oftentimes, cases are not related to income or education, but rather to racism and structural inequality stemming from a legacy of slavery and colonialism. 'The good news is these things are not irreversible,' Patricia DaSilva, a senior programme adviser with the agency told UN News. 'We can fix them. We have the solutions for many of the problems that we are facing in terms of maternal health for women and girls of African descent.' Data and solutions UNFPA advocates for stronger health systems and investment in midwifery programmes, culturally sensitive training for healthcare providers and improvements in data collection. The agency also invests in partnerships such as an initiative in the Pacific region of Colombia, home to large communities of people of African descent. 'We have worked with the traditional midwives for them to integrate ancestral knowledge with modern health practices. This includes supporting accurate birth registration,' she said. 'It sounds like a really simple thing, but when you are in a remote community without access to technology, without access to administrative offices, it becomes this really, really important issue.' Agents of change Ms. DaSilva upheld the theme for the International Day, which focuses on women and girls of African descent as leaders, not just beneficiaries. 'I think it is important that the international community, the global community, understands that women and girls of African descent are not recipients of aid. They are leaders. They are innovators. They are agents of change,' she said. 'We have an opportunity and even an obligation and a responsibility to support the efforts to resource their solutions, to elevate their voices and continue to really double our efforts to dismantle the structural barriers that continue to impede their progress.' The first celebration of the International Day coincides with the start of the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, which runs through 2034. The aim is to take concrete actions to confront the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, deliver reparatory justice, and secure the full human rights and freedoms of people from the African diaspora worldwide, building on the previous Decade, which ended last year.


Scoop
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Home Is Where The Heart Is – And Where Development Begins
23 July 2025 Mathare, one of the country's largest slums, houses upwards of 500,000 people in five square kilometres, cramming them together and storing the human waste they produce in uncovered rivulets. But, when he recounted the visit later to UN News, this was not the image that stuck with him the most. What he remembered most clearly was a group of boys and girls, dressed in navy blue school uniforms – the girls in skirts and the boys in pants, both with miniature ties underneath their vests – surrounded by squawking chickens and human waste. There was no formal or UNICEF-funded school nearby. But, the Mathare community had come together to create a school where their children might just have the chance to break an intergenerational cycle of poverty and invisibility. 'That was a message for me that development should be localised. There is something happening at the community [level],' said Mr. Jobin. Globally, over one billion people live in overcrowded slums or informal settlements with inadequate housing, making this one of the largest development issues worldwide, but also one of the most underrecognised. 'The first place where opportunity begins or is denied is not an office building or a school. It is in our homes,' UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told a high-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Tuesday. A litmus test Mr. Jobin was one of the experts taking part in the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development at UN Headquarters in New York this month to discuss progress – or lack thereof – towards the globally agreed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the goals aspires to create sustainable cities and communities. However, with close to three billion people facing an affordable housing crisis, this goal remains unrealised. 'Housing has become a litmus test of our social contract and a powerful measure of whether development is genuinely reaching people or quietly bypassing them,' said Rola Dashti, Under-Secretary-General for the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Housing as a mirror for inequalities With over 300 million unhoused people worldwide, sometimes it is easy to forget about the one billion people who are housed inadequately. These people, who populate informal settlements and slums, live in unstable dwellings and in communities where few services are provided. 'Housing reflects the inequalities shaping people's daily lives. It signals who has access to stability, security and opportunity and who does not,' said Ms. Dashti. Children living in slums or informal settlements are up to three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday. They are also 45 per cent more stunted than their peers as a result of poor nutrition. Women and girls are more likely to experience gender-based violence. And human trafficking and child exploitation are also more prevalent. An intergenerational invisibility People in informal settlements are often not a part of the national census, according to Mr. Jobin, meaning that they are not taken into consideration in policies, social programmes or budgets. Even if they were given social protections, these settlements rarely have addresses at which families could receive cash transfers. This is why experts often say that the people living in informal settlements and slums are invisible in official data and programmes. 'You're born from an invisible family, so you become invisible,' Mr. Jobin said. 'You don't exist. You're not reflected in policies or budgeting.' This invisibility makes it almost impossible to escape poverty. 'You become a prisoner of a vicious circle that entertains itself and then you reproduce yourself to your kid,' he said, referring to an inescapable cycle of deprivation. The urban paradox More and more people are migrating into urban centres, leading to the growth of these informal settlements. With their growth comes more urgency to address the issues. The World Bank estimates that 1.2 million people each week move to cities, often seeking the opportunities and resources that they offer. But, millions of people are never able to benefit, instead becoming forgotten endnotes in an urban paradox that portrays urban wealth as a protection against poverty. By 2050, the number of people living in informal settlements is expected to triple to three billion, one third of whom will be children. Over 90 per cent of this growth will occur in Asia and Africa. 'These statistics are not just numbers; they represent families, they represent workers and entire communities being left behind,' said Anacláudia Rossbach, Under-Secretary-General of UN Habitat, which is working to make cities more sustainable. Housing as a human right It is not just national and local governments which struggle to contend with informal settlements. Organizations like UNICEF are also 'blind', Mr. Jobin said, regarding the scope of problems in informal settlements. Development partners face twin issues in designing interventions. There is not enough national data and informal governance, or slum lords, can be more critical for coordinating programs than traditional governmental partners. 'We know the issue, but somehow we have not really been able to intervene,' he said. Ms. Mohammed emphasised that 'we need to begin to see adequate and affordable housing as more than just a result of development; it is the foundation upon which all other development must rest." 'Housing is not simply about a roof over one's head. It's a fundamental human right and the foundation upon which peace and stability itself rests.'


Time of India
21-07-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
Death toll rises to 216 as monsoon wreaks havoc in Pakistan
Pakistan is facing severe consequences from heavy monsoon rains. Many people have died and several are injured due to floods and collapsed buildings. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the most affected areas. Children are among the deceased. Homes have been destroyed and livestock lost. There are fears of glacier lake outburst floods. Many families living in vulnerable structures had little chance once the rains hit. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads At least 13 more people were killed due to rain and flood-related incidents in the last 24 hours in Pakistan as heavy monsoon continues to lash parts of the country, Geo TV reported on Monday, citing Pakistan's disaster management authority. The downpours have thus pushed the death toll to 216 people since June 26, and have left 580 injured so to Geo TV, the rainfall have caused flooding and resulted in the collapse of buildings, with the most number of deaths caused by the roofs of weaker homes failing. The NDMA said most of the deaths were caused by collapsed homes, sudden floods, lightning strikes, drowning, and disaster management watchdog reported that 12 were reported in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Among the victims were four children and three the start of this deadly spell, 101 children have families living in vulnerable structures had little chance once the rains statement issued by the NDMA also further added that nearly 800 homes have been destroyed since the rains began, while livestock losses are also piling up, with nearly 200 animals reportedly killed or swept away by floods, Geo TV to a recent report by UN News, there are also fears of glacier lake outburst floods in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan News highlighted how these floods show Pakistan's vulnerability to climate shocks. In the past in 2022, the monsoon floods had killed more than 1,700 people, displaced millions and devastated water systems. It had also resulted in economic damage estimated at nearly USD 40 faces regular monsoon flooding from June to September, often resulting in deadly landslides, infrastructure damage and large-scale displacement, particularly in densely populated or poorly drained regions.


Scoop
20-07-2025
- Health
- Scoop
‘You Have To Be Able To Rule Your Life': The Care Revolution In Latin America
The workers we don't pay or see are grandmothers, mothers, daughters — the women who take care of children, look after ill family members and give dignity to the elderly. To do this vital care work, they give up formal employment with pay cheques. 'Our system is designed as if women didn't do care work, and that forces us to choose between raising children or working,' said Meredith Cortés Bravo, a founder of a grassroots organization in Chile that supports these women. But, in Latin America, this is slowly changing – a care revolution is underway that is asking governments and employers to consider what it would mean to recognise, protect and fund care work. 'Care is essential for every family and for every community. The revolution is to make it visible, to make it valuable and to invest,' María Noel Vaeza, UN Women's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, told UN News. The most off-track goal The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development is convening at UN Headquarters in New York in order to discuss progress – or lack thereof – towards the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While 18 per cent of the Goals are on track for 2030, achieving gender equality remains the most off-track. Discriminatory laws and gender-based norms persist worldwide, with women dedicating approximately twice as many hours to unpaid care work as men. 'Gender equality is not a side issue. It is central to peace, it is central to justice and it is central to sustainable development and the credibility of the multilateral system itself,' Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, said at a forum session this week. The revolution is underway Before the revolution began, Latin America faced a care crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ms. Vaeza. There was not enough care available outside of the home for sick people, forcing society to recognise that taking care of others is work. 'Unpaid care work is what keeps the economy running, but it's unfair because it's invisible, undervalued and underfunded. We must recognise it,' Ms. Vaeza said. In Latin America, a number of countries are actively working to redesign their care economies, ensuring more protections and income for the women and men who provide this work. 'The biggest shift has been putting care at the centre of public policy, not just academic debates,' said Virginia Gontijo, UN Women's programme lead in Brazil. This work is already bearing fruit. In Chile, one of the region's most ambitious care systems is already delivering in 151 municipalities, with the ultimate goal of reaching 75,000 people in the next few years. UN Women is working with governments and civil society groups to ensure that these new systems, policies and laws are shaped by and for caregivers. A care system in Brazil worked closely with an activist network to train caregivers in labour rights and promote long-term professional development. 'I never felt my work was valued, but after this project, I feel better prepared to take part in political discussions and make our voices heard,' said Lucileide Mafra Reis, a domestic worker activist in Brazil. Care is a human right Mexico and Peru have taken a more rights-based approach to care, codifying it as a basic human right. While the international community has yet to make a similar guarantee, Ms. Vaeza said that the human rights framework is an exceptionally effective one – it restores dignity and recognises that care is a fundamental part of human life trajectories, from birth to death. 'If you say that care is a human right, it means that the government and the state have to provide support,' said Ms. Vaeza. It is equally as important that employers protect women's right to do care work, said Aideé Zamorano González, a mother who founded Mama Godin, an organization in Mexico which evaluates the impact of care policies on women. This means ensuring that workplaces have policies that are supportive of mothers as workers, such as schedules that allow them to drop their children off at school. For her, these sorts of policies are crucial for women's rights and particularly for their freedom and autonomy. 'You have to be able to rule your life,' Ms. Zamorano González told UN News. Beyond just autonomy, however, it is also about safety. If a woman can make her own money – and therefore, her own decisions – she can leave abusive relationships and avoid economic exploitation. 'Every other type of violence depends on the economic power that you have. If you have the ability to make your own decisions and own money, you are safer,' said Ms. Zamorano González. An economic investment Changes to legal classifications and governmental support for care work not only benefit the caregivers, but also promote economic growth across societies. '[Care] is an investment, a strategic investment for social justice, for gender equality and for sustainable development,' Ms. Vaeza said. She noted that dedicating government funds to paying caregivers will return the investment three-fold, both by increasing their purchasing power and by generating tax revenue. In Chile and Colombia, new care systems are estimated to contribute 25.6 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively to their national GDPs, according to UN Women. 'When you invest in a women's organization, you strengthen a living network, a tree with many branches that reaches places no office or institutional programme ever could,' Ms. Bravo said. Export the revolution Latin America's progress on care is a model for other regions around the world and demonstrates the importance of changing legal frameworks for women and girls, according to Ms. Vaeza. 'It's extremely important that this revolution be exported. It's an investment, a strategic investment for social justice, for gender equality and for sustainable development,' she said. While the revolution is ongoing, Ms. Zamorano González underlined the importance of economic empowerment for women as a means to protect their own rights even when laws and policies fall short. 'We are under capitalism, so while we change the system, let's play the game. Let's get our own means to have freedom,' she said.