(The New Humanitarian) The International Rescue Committee, one of the oldest humanitarian aid organizations in the United States, is cutting thousands of staff, in another sign of the turmoil rippling across the humanitarian sector as the US aid funding freeze continues. “We have had to take immediate and significant cost-cutting measures, including laying off and furloughing […] Continue reading ->
KIGALI, Rwanda – Behind blue scaffolding walls marked “China Aid for shared future”, a massive expansion of Masaka District Hospital is underway. The hospital will expand from 330 to at least 830 beds, and it is destined to become the country’s top teaching hospital, with completion set for July. China has provided a $42 million […] Continue reading ->
As Africa battles a relentless mpox outbreak, a sudden freeze in United States foreign aid is crippling containment efforts, threatening vaccine distribution, and leaving the hardest-hit regions scrambling for solutions, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Thursday. In conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the outbreak, […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed for a second time to the United States to “reconsider” it’s decision to withdraw from the UN global health agency. Speaking Tuesday at the close of a fractious meeting of WHO’s 34-member Executive Board, the WHO DG said, “we regret the announcement by the United States, of […] Continue reading ->
WHO Member States appeared to give strong backing to a proposed new WHO roadmap to reduce air pollution’s health impacts – with the ambitious global goal of cutting mortality attributable to human-produced sources by 50% by 2040.  At the same time, a draft Climate Change and Health Action Plan, also aired at Saturday’s WHO Executive […] Continue reading ->
The disengagement of both USAID and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from the WHO-led global polio eradication initiative, threatens efforts in the world’s poorest countries with about  $233 million more in a year in budget shortfalls, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Hanan Balkhy, said on Friday.  This, in a year […] Continue reading ->
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – African leaders and global financial institutions have launched a landmark $40 billion Africa Energy Fund to fast-track investments in renewable energy and bridge the continent’s persistent financing gap.  Reliance on dirty cooking fuels such as firewood and charcoal causes an estimated 600,000 premature deaths annually across Africa. The World Bank […] Continue reading ->