UN humanitarian agencies plan worldwide job cuts as US funding reduction bites

UN humanitarian agencies plan worldwide job cuts as US funding reduction bites

UN World Food Programme is expected to cut up to 30 per cent of its staff. The head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said it would downsize its headquarters and regional offices to reduce costs by 30 per cent and cut senior-level positions by 50 per cent.

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Becoming a Maasai warrior: How modernity is reshaping cultural resilience training for world-famous Kenyan, Tanzanian nomadic tribe

Becoming a Maasai warrior: How modernity is reshaping cultural resilience training for world-famous Kenyan, Tanzanian nomadic tribe

Traditionally, transitioning from child to warrior as a Maasai involved taking part in a one-year warrior camp. Maasai youths would be secluded and learn survival skills, bushcraft – and, if the opportunity arises, how to kill a lion. All that has changed. Although “Enkipaata” – the official rite of passage that includes warrior training – s has been declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, it has been modernised.

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Nairobi-based ILRI joins world programme to reduce methane emissions from livestock

Nairobi-based ILRI joins world programme to reduce methane emissions from livestock

Director of the Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, Dr Andy Jarvis, said that reducing methane from cattle is one of the most elegant solutions we have to slow climate change.

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Trump revisits ‘genocidal’ foreign policy, engages Congo and Rwanda to ease US access to critical minerals

Trump revisits ‘genocidal’ foreign policy, engages Congo and Rwanda to ease US access to critical minerals

Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, helped broker the US role in promoting security in east Congo, part of an opening that Boulos has said could involve multibillion-dollar investments.

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‘Refugees are Africans like us’, Kenyans say but fear terrorism as state rolls out non-nationals integration plan

‘Refugees are Africans like us’, Kenyans say but fear terrorism as state rolls out non-nationals integration plan

The Shirika Plan has been lauded as a major step forward in securing durable solutions for Kenya’s 800,000 refugees, the majority of whom are from neighbouring Somalia and South Sudan.

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UNICEF: Donor funding cuts leave 13 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa at risk of severe malnutrition

UNICEF: Donor funding cuts leave 13 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa at risk of severe malnutrition

In South Sudan, malnutrition among children under five as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, remains a critical concern. This year, over two million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition (both moderate and severe acute malnutrition), a 26 per cent increase from 2024.

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WHO recommends social and psychological support for school girls to address adolescent pregnancy

WHO recommends social and psychological support for school girls to address adolescent pregnancy

Reasons for early pregnancy vary, but are interrelated including gender inequities, poverty, lack of opportunity and inability to access sexual and reproductive health services, with also a strong correlation with child marriage; and in low- and middle-income countries.

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Government and rebels agree to cease hostilities but situation in eastern Congo remains volatile

Government and rebels agree to cease hostilities but situation in eastern Congo remains volatile

The statement said the parties had agreed to “work towards concluding a truce” and that they were reaffirming their commitment to “an immediate end to hostilities.” Previous commitments to a ceasefire, announced unilaterally, have not held, and Wednesday’s statement was the first such commitment to be announced jointly.

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After years of grassroots mobilisation, 700 young Maasai girls spurn genital mutilation for alternative rite of passage

After years of grassroots mobilisation, 700 young Maasai girls spurn genital mutilation for alternative rite of passage

During the three-day session, over 700 girls aged between 10-17 years received training on life skills and decision making, sexual and reproductive health, child rights and gender equality, hygiene and personal care and education and career aspirations.

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Great grandchildren of former slave owners and slaves in the Caribbean up the ante for reparations at UN meeting

Great grandchildren of former slave owners and slaves in the Caribbean up the ante for reparations at UN meeting

The Geneva-based Human Rights Council has called for global action for years, including reparations, apologies and educational reforms to make amends for racism against people of African descent. The 15-nation Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM, has a 10-point plan for reparatory justice, starting with demands for European countries where enslaved people were kept and traded to issue formal apologies.

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