Kabul, July 1 (IANS) As many as 50 people are killed or injured each month in Afghanistan due to unexploded ordnance left behind after decades of conflict, with children being nearly 80 per cent of the victims, local media reported on Wednesday citing the United Nations (UN) data. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) urged that people of Afghanistan should be able to live safely without the threat posed by unexploded ordnance left behind after war, Afghan…
Latest OCHA News & Updates
United Nations, June 27 (IANS) An upsurge in armed clashes between rival gangs has displaced thousands of people from their homes across several regions of Haiti, UN humanitarians have said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday (local time) said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 2,600 people were displaced in the Artibonite department last week. More than three-quarters of them sought refuge in the commune of Marchan…
United Nations, June 18 (IANS) Violent armed groups, some briefly detaining aid workers, are obstructing the Ebola response in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians said.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that five response workers were briefly detained on Tuesday by armed groups in Ituri province, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, accounting for more than 90 percent of all confirmed cases.The office said that in South Kivu pr…
United Nations, June 11 (IANS) With the reopening of the Rafah crossing, UN humanitarians said medical evacuations of people seeking treatment outside Gaza are now ready to resume.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border reopened for a limited number of people travelling in both directions after a two-day closure imposed by the Israeli authorities. Assistance was also offered to people returning to the Gaza Strip.The Kerem S…
Washington, May 28 (IANS) The United States has mobilised more than $112 million in bilateral foreign assistance in less than two weeks to combat the fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the State Department said on Thursday.The announcement came as US health officials warned that the outbreak remained “rapidly evolving and fluid”, while insisting that the current risk to the United States remained low.The State Department said it had finali…
United Nations, May 22 (IANS) The aid community in Sudan, amid insecurity and access challenges, is fighting to contain outbreaks of dengue fever, mpox and suspected cholera cases, UN humanitarians said.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in the El Nuhud area of West Kordofan state, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners are responding to a suspected outbreak of acute watery diarrhea, commonly associated with cholera. More than 100 suspected …
United Nations, May 14 (IANS) UN humanitarians have reported an alarming escalation of armed violence since Sunday in a neighbourhood in Haiti’s Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.The violence in Cite Soleil has forced more than 5,300 people to flee their homes. More than half of them have sought shelter in 12 sites, while many others are being hosted by already overstretched communities, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday (local time), citing figur…
Gaza, May 5 (IANS) Humanitarians are warning of the lack of prosthetic and rehabilitation care in Gaza for amputees, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said. The OCHA on Monday (local time) said its partners reported that more than 6,600 amputees, one in five a child, need prosthetic and rehabilitation care, including thousands newly amputated since October 2023. Yet only eight prosthetic technicians are available to respond.”With severe shortages of specialist…
United Nations, April 18 (IANS) Following the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, thousands of the 1.2 million people displaced in southern Lebanon are returning home despite warnings of unexploded ordnance, UN humanitarians said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday (local time) said its partners reported that displaced families are starting to return to Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon, including parts of Nabatieh and Tyre.However, OCHA warned that ri…
United Nations, March 31 (IANS) Amid Middle East hostilities, UN humanitarians pointed to a sharp rise in attacks on healthcare in Lebanon and growing obstacles for humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said attacks on healthcare facilities, ambulances and medical personnel in Lebanon have risen at an alarming rate.The World Health Organization (WHO) reported seven incidents over the weekend alone, which killed at least nine h…