News in Brief 9 January 2024 |

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Aid relief is arriving in Gaza but ‘too little, too late’: WHO

With no let-up in fighting in Gaza, the UN health agency pleaded on Tuesday for better aid access, as relief is arriving “too little…too late” to help civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 23,084 people have been killed in the enclave by Israeli shelling in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel three months ago that left some 1,200 dead and over 100 still being held hostage. 

The World Health Organization -WHO – insisted that the UN and partners remain “completely ready” to deliver assistance to Gazans.

All forms of humanitarian assistance – and particularly food – are desperately needed across Gaza, especially in northern areas. 

Here’s WHO Emergency Medical Teams Coordinator Sean Casey, speaking from the southern city of Rafah:

“The food situation in the north is absolutely horrific, there’s almost no food available and everybody we talk to begs for food and comes up and asks, ‘Where’s the food?’ People help us get our medical supplies through. But they are constantly telling us that we need to come back with food.”

One indication of the “shrinking space” for lifesaving humanitarian work in the enclave is the fact that the UN health agency has not reached northern Gaza for two weeks. 

It noted that a total of six planned WHO humanitarian missions have had to be cancelled since 26 December because safe passage guarantees were not provided.

Dozens killed in Ukraine hostilities as humanitarians cite urgent needs 

It’s been almost two years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine where hostilities continue to kill and injure civilians every day, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Aid coordination office OCHA reported that dozens of non-combatants including children had been killed in attacks on Monday in Donetsk, Dnipro and Kherson regions.

Schools and homes were also damaged in the southern and eastern zones along with critical infrastructure. 

In an update, OCHA said that more than 14.6 million people – or 40 per cent of the population – will need humanitarian assistance this year. 

UN refugee agency UNHCR meanwhile reported that war has also forced some 6.3 million Ukrainians to flee abroad. 

Elections in 2024 must be free and fair, says UN rights chief

Democracy is in the spotlight this year with more than 60 countries due to hold elections which governments must ensure are free and fair, the UN’s top human rights official said on Tuesday.

Polls are happening in the next 12 months from Azerbaijan to the United States which provide the opportunity “to rise above divisive politics and demand respect of human rights”, Volker Türk said, in a message posted online on X, formerly Twitter.

2024 will be a “critical year” for voters everywhere, the High Commissioner for Human Rights predicted, as he encouraged the promotion of “inclusion and civic freedoms, climate action and peace”.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.