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Of Syria, the head of the United Nations refugees calls for greater solidarity with displaced people

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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, sounded the alarm on Friday, World Refugee DayIn a message of Syria.

He declared that the abject failure to put an end to conflicts – including in Sudan, Ukraine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gaza – continues to create immense suffering.

Difficulty looking for a shelter

“However, the innocent people running for their lives while the bullets fly and the missiles are unjustly stigmatized, which makes it more difficult to escape danger and find a place to recover and rebuild,” he said.

Their situation is still aggravated by brutal cuts with humanitarian aid, affecting millions that desperately need help.

“” At this critical stage, it is essential that we reaffirm our solidarity with refugees – not only with words but with urgent action“He said.

He added that inspiring examples already exist, countries that continue to welcome and welcome refugees, to local communities which “open their houses, their workplaces and their heart”, as well as “the countless individual acts of kindness and compassion that reveal our common humanity”.

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Grandi said that the international community can and must support these countries and communities by sharing the responsibility of protecting refugees, calling in particular the action of richer states, development banks, businesses and others.

The High Commissioner spent the day in Syria, where some 600,000 people returned from neighboring countries after 14 years of war. Overall, more than two million Syrians have returned home and their communities since the fall of the Assad regime last December.

“In a region that has suffered so much violence – and even suffers from it now – we are nevertheless presented on the occasion of helping Syrians reach stability and prosperity. We must not let him pass“He said.

Mr. Grandi met Syrian families who have spent more than a decade as refugees, whose deep joy to be among the faces and the familiar environment recall the desire for refugees for the house.

“Now more than ever, we must support ourselves with refugees to keep their hope for a better future alive,” he said.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

WHO warns of a health financing emergency

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WHO warns of a health financing emergency

Speaking at the regular Friday press briefing in Geneva for humanitarian agencies, she warned that as wealthier nations make deep spending cuts, both international aid and national health systems are facing serious disruption.

Dr. Chalkidou highlighted recent decisions by the United States, several European governments, and EU bodies to freeze or scale down health aid.

WHO forecasts indicate that global health investment is likely to drop by up to 40 per cent this year, down $10 billion from just over $25 billion in 2023. The estimated $15 billion spent on health aid would bring the figure down to the lowest level in a decade.

Impacts in developing countries

This funding shortage is creating a health finance emergency in many developing countries – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – which depend on external aid to finance their health systems.

In numerous countries, US-financed healthcare programmes were the primary source of external aid, accounting for as much as 30 per cent of current health spending in countries like Malawi, and around 25 per cent in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Since 2006, external aid per capita in low-income countries has consistently exceeded domestic health spending.

Many sub-Saharan nations face soaring debt burdens – some spending twice as much on debt servicing as on health – making reallocation of resources difficult.

The consequences are severe: Dr. Chalkidou referred to a survey by WHO showing that countries today are reporting health service disruptions “not seen since the peak of COVID-19”.

Solutions

To address this crisis, WHO is urging countries to reduce aid dependency, boost revenue through improved taxation—including health taxes on products like tobacco and alcohol—and work with multilateral banks to secure low-interest loans for cost-effective health investments.

WHO also plans to attend the upcoming International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, where global leaders are expected to address the health financing crisis and hopefully make new commitments.

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Gaza horrors continue as the weakest succumb to injuries and disease

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Gaza horrors continue as the weakest succumb to injuries and disease

“I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza – I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”

A recent online video featuring a dying 13-year-old Abed al-Rahman who Mr. Elder met while on mission in Gaza has been seen thousands of times since it was published on 6 June. In the clip, Abed explains that he has been asking for pain relief for his shrapnel wounds, but none is available.

Speaking to journalists from Amman, Mr. Elder explained that partly destroyed hospitals including Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis continue to treat wounded children, despite a shortage of medicine and medical supplies.

“Humanitarian aid is so much more than food in a box; it’s oxygen kits, it’s ventilators, it’s hygiene packs; it’s medicines, it’s incubators,” he explained. “It’s all those things the United Nations was doing just a couple of months ago.”

Mr. Elder added that parents whose children need oxygen have been leaving hospital “because of the fear that Nasser may come under attack again. As the doctors told me, if you have a child who needs oxygen and they leave without the oxygen, they will, over a matter of time, die in a tent.”

Desperation, starvation

The dire shortage of the most basic life-sustaining aid linked to Israeli restrictions continues to create desperation and starvation across Gaza.

“I spoke to a grandmother in tears saying, how am I possibly to get to these sites?” Mr. Elder explained. “I’ve met young men who’ve been seven times and never returned with anything. So, there’s a complete lack of equity. There’s a complete lack of sites. You cannot distribute aid in a militarised zone, in a combat zone, by one party to the conflict.”

Those most susceptible to the lack of fresh drinking water, food and fuel are the weakest Gazans: the young, pregnant women, the elderly and amputees, Mr. Elder said. 

It would be impossible for them to walk the long distances required to fetch scant supplies from controversial non-UN aid hubs.

Lethal choice

“You have half a million people facing starvation with a lethal choice of being forced into very small pockets where most people can’t access into what are officially known as combat sites,” the UNICEF spokesperson explained. “We know children [who have been] killed at these sites.”

Meanwhile, malnutrition and the impact of it on people’s weakened immune systems continues to take its toll, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned.

“The latest reports say 610 patients have been admitted due to severe malnutrition complications,” said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. “But what does that mean? That means these are the lucky ones who made it so far to get to a place. 

“This does not count the many who were too weak to reach any point, who are too weak, who cannot be transported because the roads are blocked, because there are no ambulances, or because the hospitals, some of the health emergency centres have been shelled and bombed and are being constantly shelled and bombed.”

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New EU labels to help consumers choose more repairable electronics

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New EU labels to help consumers choose more repairable electronics

Do you know what the reparability score labels mean? Repairability scores range from A (most repairable) to E (least repairable). How are they measured? They are based on 6 factors:  Disassembly depth Fasteners Tools Spare part availability Software updates Repair information   Source link

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New EU labels to help consumers choose more repairable electronics

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New EU labels to help consumers choose more repairable electronics

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Europe’s bathing waters safe for summer swimming

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Europe’s bathing waters safe for summer swimming