News in Brief 17 April 2024 |

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

$2.8 billion appeal launches for three million people in Gaza, West Bank

UN and partner agencies insisted on Wednesday that “critical changes” are needed to improve aid access into Gaza, as they launched a $2.8 billion appeal to help millions of people in the devastated enclave, but also in the West Bank, where Palestinians have been targeted by increasing settler violence.

The development came amid reports of ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip including Gaza City in the north and Rafah in southern Gaza.

In central Gaza, more than a dozen people were also believed to have died in an apparent missile attack on a Maghazi refugee camp on Tuesday.

Video images reportedly from Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah showed injured and dead victims including children after the strike.

Wednesday’s appeal covers assistance to 3.1 million people between now and the end of the year, including 2.3 million people in Gaza, where food insecurity experts warn that imminent famine looms in the north after more than six months of intense Israeli bombardment, launched in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel.

Leading the appeal, UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that markets were bare. It highlighted with concern a rise in the reselling of humanitarian aid, particularly by child street vendors.

Progress in reproductive health stalled in key areas, new report reveals 

African women are 130 times more likely to die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth than women in Europe and Northern America.

That’s just one of the sobering statistics revealed on Wednesday by the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.

New data showed that over half of preventable maternal deaths occur in countries in crisis, with racism, sexism and discrimination serving as additional barriers to progress in sexual and reproductive health.

Despite progress in the past three decades in boosting women’s health generally, progress has slowed or stalled recently in key areas. Shockingly, 800 women still die every day during childbirth, a figure unchanged since 2016. Nearly 500 of these daily deaths occur in countries facing humanitarian crises and conflicts.

Here’s Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director:

“The world made zero progress in saving women from preventable deaths in pregnancy and childbirth. One woman in four cannot make her own health care decisions. One woman in four cannot say no to sex. And nearly one in 10 are unable to make their own choices about whether or not to use contraception.”

UNFPA suggested that investing an additional $79 billion in low and middle-income countries by 2030 could prevent 400 million unplanned pregnancies, saving one million lives. It would also generate $660 billion in economic benefits.

Lives depend on success of Cameroon emergency appeal: OCHA

To Cameroon, where the UN and partners have launched a $371 million appeal to help 3.4 million people impacted by conflict, disease outbreaks and climate shocks.

The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan also seeks to address urgent needs stemming from a refugee influx from the Central African Republic. 

Nearly one million people are displaced in the country which is also home to half a million refugees and asylum-seekers. And despite positive trends in some regions, UN aid teams have warned that around 2.5 million people face going hungry in 2024.

Other critical needs covered in the humanitarian appeal include education, health, protection and shelter, along with boosted water and sanitation facilities. 

In 2023, despite funding shortages and reduced aid capacity, the UN and aid partners assisted 1.2 million of Cameroon’s most vulnerable people.

Shanaé Harte, UN News.