The number of casualties from landmines remains high, with the most people killed and wounded in Syria.
Humanitarian agencies are often thrust into the heart of contentious crises without easy or quick solutions.
The Houthis accused the WFP of giving out expired food assistance. The UN agency delivers monthly rations or money to 10.2 million people of Yemen's 26-million population. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB
When humanitarian agencies are obliged to stop operations by political decision or because of huge physical insecurity, the poorest and most vulnerable succumb first through starvation and disease.
Ethiopian refugees, who fled fighting in Tigray, receive snacks at a Sudanese border reception centre in November 2020.
Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images
If a country refuses, or blocks, humanitarian aid this act violates international law.
Demonstration in Montecitorio Square, Rome, Italy, on November 12, 2020 calling for the end of the government’s military actions in the northern region of Tigray.
Photo by Andrea Ronchini/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Providers of humanitarian aid haven’t been able to reach civilians in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. There are also reports that hundreds of civilians have been killed.
The Great Mosque of Aleppo, Syria, was destroyed in December 2016.
Fathi Nezam /Tasnim News Agency
The destruction of a country’s historical and cultural heritage sites is a distressing byproduct of conflict, but there are now strategies in place to prevent it happening.
It was defoliants, seen here during Operation Ranch Hand in the Vietnam War, that prompted action to protect the environment during conflicts.
National Museum of the US Air Force
A group of scientists want a new Geneva Convention to safeguard the environment during wars and conflicts. We already have such rules, but they’re inadequate, inconsistent and unclear.
The US, Afghanistan and Taliban are engaged in peace talks to end the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan.
Sayed Mustafa/EPA
A ceasefire and peace agreement in Afghanistan may mean that the Taliban would have to lose their “terrorist” classification and turn from despised outlaws to legitimate powerbrokers.
Unfortunately potential solutions to Trump’s ban are few. Refugee agencies cannot force the US to take refugees and so they will need to find sanctuary elsewhere.
You know, that doesn’t quite say what I meant it to.
EPA/Ron Sachs
The humanitarian crisis in Syria is no longer news. It is simple fact: tragedy writ large, as cities burn and lives are ruined. Our eyes may widen at the sheer scale of this destruction: four million people…
Barrier to peace: Israeli settlements occupy 40% of the land area of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Creative Commons
United States secretary of state John Kerry is in the Middle East this week. Among other tasks, he is attempting to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Undoubtedly, Israel’s recent approval…
Recent media reports have called into question Australia’s adherence to the Geneva Convention during the early stages of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. A key allegation is that Australia set up a system…