Author: Amnewsworld

The 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan lays out how more than 120 partners aim to assist the most vulnerable people in addition to the efforts already being undertaken by the Government. The well-being of children in sub-Saharan Africa is under siege from all directions since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now suffering its first-ever economic recession, pushing about 50 million people into extreme poverty, a majority of whom are children. This would be the largest single year change ever recorded in either absolute or percentage terms – and by a wide margin. The total number of extreme…

An analysis finds that based on the self-reports by African countries, the region has an average score of 33% readiness for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, which is well below the desired benchmark of 80%. As the race to find a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is showing increasing promise, a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis finds that Africa is far from ready for what will be the continent’s largest ever immunisation drive. All 47 countries in the WHO African Region have received WHO’s Vaccine Readiness Assessment Tool which is intended to be used by Ministries of Health, with support from…

Save the Children spoke to parents who had been forced to leave the camps. They told harrowing accounts of finding unexploded bombs and corpses in buildings and under rubble in areas they now live in. Thousands of children and their families are forced to live in badly damaged houses in abandoned areas with unexploded bombs, dead bodies and rubble, after the sudden closure of several camps for displaced people in Iraq, Save the Children has witnessed. Save the Children teams spoke to parents who had been forced to leave the camps. They told harrowing accounts of finding unexploded bombs and…

In eastern Sudan, UNHCR continues to ramp up its relief effort together with Sudan’s Commission on Refugees and local authorities amidst complex logistical challenges. Since the start of fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region in early November, more than 43,000 refugees have crossed into Sudan seeking protection and shelter. Even before this influx the country was hosting nearly one million refugees, mainly from South Sudan. Grandi will review UNHCR operations in support of the government-led response to the latest influx. He is also scheduled to meet with refugees. In eastern Sudan, UNHCR continues to ramp up its relief effort together…

Football icon Diego Maradona has died. Considered one of the greatest players ever, Maradona was known for far more than his infamous ‘Hand of God’ incident. The 60-year-old had recently struggled with health issues. Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona has died at the age of 60, his lawyer announced Wednesday. According to those in his circle, Maradona suffered a heart attack at his home in the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Earlier this month, Maradona left hospital having undergone surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain, with his lawyer, Matias Morla, saying it was a “miracle” that the…

The Spanish Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, has announced that it would back fast deportations of migrants who attempt to enter Spain’s north African enclaves Ceuta and Melilla. In a move criticized by human rights groups, Spain’s Constitutional Court has upheld most of the country’s 2015 security law which allows for express deportations of migrants trying to cross from Morocco into the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla on the African continent. The announcement was made on Thursday, November 19. The two enclaves represent the EU’s only land border with Africa. Each year, as the French news agency Agence France…

Mawda Shawri was just two years old when she died in May 2018. The Kurdish toddler was in a van transporting her parents and other migrants towards the Belgian coast, in the hope they could make it to the UK. A policeman was charged with involuntary manslaughter in January this year — today the trial begins. In the case of Mawda Shawri, the trial of three men began today on November 23 in Mons, Belgium. A Belgian police officer is charged with involuntary manslaughter and two Iraqi Kurds, one of whom was driving the van that Mawda Shawri died in,…

The Spanish foreign minister met with her counterpart in Senegal on Sunday to talk about how the two countries can increase measures to deter potential migrants attempting to make the 1,500 kilometer Atlantic crossing from West Africa to the Canary Islands. In order to discuss ways that Spain and Senegal could deter illegal migration, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya traveled to the Senegalese capital Dakar at the weekend to meet with the country’s president, Macky Sall, Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall, as well as other members of the foreign ministry. According to news agency Reuters, Spain promised to increase its…

Many have lost their source of income and have found it even harder to buy food or pay rent. Unaccompanied and separated children have become increasingly vulnerable and reports of GBV are rising. Pacing around the small living room of the apartment she shares with three other women, Zahra keeps her eyes locked on her phone. For months, she has been clutching on to the hope of receiving a phone call from a prospective employer. The 20-year-old Eritrean refugee arrived alone in Egypt four years ago. As a child, she received financial support from UNHCR as well as educational and…

WFP estimates that 271.8 million people in countries where it operates are acutely food insecure – or directly at-risk of becoming so – due to the aggravating effect the protracted COVID-19 crisis is having in areas affected by conflict, socio-economic downturn, natural hazards, climate change and pests. The latest estimate marks an increase in acute food insecurity from the earlier June projection. This November update of WFP’s Global Response Plan to COVID-19 takes stock of efforts by regional bureaux and country offices to continue to sustain and scale-up operations to assist vulnerable communities and to support governments in their health…