While Ethiopia’s Tigray region is now peaceful, survivors of the rebellion worry extreme hunger will wipe out their children
The poor harvest prompted Tigray’s authorities to warn of an “unfolding famine” that could match the famine of 1984-5, which killed hundreds of thousands of people across northern Ethiopia, unless the aid response was scaled up. Food deliveries to Tigray in the second half of last year, but only a small fraction of needy people in Tigray are receiving food aid, humanitarian workers say.
US military starts airlifting embassy staff from Port au Prince, bolstering security as Haiti sinks further into anarchy
Haiti entered a state of emergency last Sunday after fighting escalated while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Nairobi seeking a deal for the long-delayed UN-backed mission. Kenya announced last year it would lead the force but months of domestic legal wrangling have effectively placed the mission on hold.
US Foreign Secretary talks to Kenyan president about urgency of the Haitian political crisis
Kenya announced last year it would lead the force but months of domestic legal wrangling have effectively placed the mission on hold.
FGM: United Nations boss Antonio Guterres launches plan to tackle ‘baked-in bias’ in Kenya
The UN chief also launched a plan to boost empowerment of women and girls around the world on Friday, unveiling details at a meeting commemorating International Women’s Day on the theme of investing in women and girls.
How Kenyan activists embarked on mission to end gender-based violence as attacks on women spike
Kenya’s Demographic and Health Survey of 2023 found that more than 11 million women – or 20 per cent of the population – have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner during their lives, with 2.8 million of those women having experienced this type of violence in the last 12 months.
Port-au-Prince residents report heavy gunfire as Haiti opposition scrambles to form coalition against gangs
Haiti remained largely paralysed on Wednesday, with schools and businesses still closed amid heavy gunfire blamed on the gangs that control an estimated 80 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The country’s two biggest prisons were raided, resulting in the release of more than 4,000 inmates over the weekend.
UN says Haiti’s deteriorating security has compromised healthcare as government extends state of emergency
Authorities first announced a state of emergency on Sunday after fighting escalated, inmates were broken out of prison by armed gangs, and an estimated tens of thousands were displaced while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya, seeking its leadership of an international force intended to fight the gangs.
Eastern Africa coast of Indian Ocean draws in more foreign militaries as Iran considers buidling naval base at Port Sudan
Iran has meanwhile stationed a warship in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden region, ostensibly to protect its own shipping interests. The Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Alborz has been deployed since early January to the Red Sea where having a neutral base in the region would have provided assistance with logistical and intelligence requirements.
UN peacekeepers in Kivu, eastern DR Congo, hand base to government as M23 rebels ramp up attacks
Kamanyola was staffed mainly by Pakistani military personnel in its 19 operational years with Keita thanking them for their dedication and excellent service. Pakistan is the second largest MONUSCO TCC behind India. Speaking at the Kamanyola handover, Keita noted the MONUSCO withdrawal from South Kivu was “not synonymous with the UN leaving the DRC”. She termed it “a reconfiguration” of the UN presence.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels kill 10, run Congolese army out of Nyanzale town in eastern DRC
M23 controls about half of the North Kivu province, according to Richard Moncrieff, the Crisis Group’s Great Lakes Region director. The violence in the province has worsened in recent weeks as security forces battle the rebels. Residents have said the group’s fighter mostly launch attacks with bombs out of hills overlooking remote towns.
