Ethiopia declared a truce in the Tigray region fighting on Thursday, citing the need for humanitarian aid that the government has long been accused of preventing or withholding. “Thousands from the Tigray region are trekking into neighboring regions in search of assistance,” said the Ethiopian statement. “The government believes that…
The British government is urging its citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately, because of conflict that has now lasted more than a year but appears to be intensifying in recent days. “The conflict in Ethiopia is deteriorating quickly,” said UK Minister for Africa Vicky Ford. “In the coming days we may…
The United States appealed for improved humanitarian aid access and an end to conflict affecting civilians in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, one day after USAID Administrator Samantha Power visited Addis Ababa. “We call on the TPLF, we call on the Amhara regional forces, we call on the Eritrean Defence…
The humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has reached a level of food insecurity not seen since the 2011 famine in Somalia, according to a new United Nations report released Thursday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update warns that more than 350,000 people in the Tigray conflict zone,…
There is nowhere near enough mental health support for people in low- and middle-income countries who are caught in conflict and humanitarian crisis, according to leaders of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). In those countries,…
Nigeria has activated five emergency command centers to better coordinate the response to deadly flooding, which has claimed more than 100 lives along the Niger and Benue rivers in the country’s southeast. The flooding has left some 600,000 people displaced, according to the European Union humanitarian aid office for emergency…
Another attack in the Central African Republic has claimed the lives of six aid workers, including one humanitarian worker with the United Nations Children’s Fund. “All of us at UNICEF are deeply saddened and shocked by the killing of our colleague, along with five other education workers who were attacked…
The United Nations Special Representative for Somalia on Tuesday expressed concern over the dismantling of more than 23 settlements that served internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mogadishu. The camps, as well as some humanitarian resources, were destroyed late last week, leaving more than 4,000 IDP households without shelter – all…
Africa’s island nations in the Indian Ocean are increasingly vulnerable to natural disaster and need to urgently make a priority of their community resilience and preparedness, says the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “The devastating humanitarian and economic impact of natural disasters…
The Australian arm of global NGO Plan International says that when it comes to East Africa’s drought and food shortage, there’s often a wide gap between perception and reality when appealing to donors. The organization says it sampled 100 social media comments posted to stories about the crisis and the…
There are 170 million Facebook users on the African continent, including some 70 percent of people who are online, and most of them are familiar with features like “Safety Check” in times of a natural disaster or emergency. That’s true, for example, in the ongoing Western Cape wildfires where Facebook Safety…
At a time when attacks on humanitarian aid workers and UN experts are painfully top of mind – as illustrated by recent events in Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan – a provocative new report from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) questions how the mission and safety of…
As the humanitarian situation in South Sudan further deteriorates, the United Nations and partner organizations are appealing for help in dealing with the looming risk of famine and the ongoing suffering. Humanitarian groups estimate there are now 7.5 million people across South Sudan needing assistance and protection. The conflict that…
Technology is not often the first thing that comes to mind when we think of international development. Usually we are more focused on overarching ideas like clean drinking water or halting a disease that was eradicated in the developed world decades ago. But in reality, some of the very same…
Andy Prinsen is a writer and multimedia producer based in Denver, Colorado. He has a Masters degree in public affairs and bachelors in journalism. @andyalacarte. Alexis Barnes is a multimedia journalist currently working in development in Zambia. @AlexisKReports.