Five neglected stories that might be a bigger deal than Ukraine
A quick look at the top ten stories on Google News this morning maintains the stand-off in Ukraine high on the list, of course, along with the missing Malaysian airplane and, well something about...
View ArticleCalls grow louder for urgent action to protect Syria’s children
The present situation for Syria’s children is bad. Three years have passed and a generation is caught in the middle. It’s not hyperbole when considering that there is no end in sight to the civil war....
View ArticleCan sex sell poverty? Save the Children gives it a try
The video is pure Upworthy click bait, and you’ve never heard the word ‘diarrhea’ sound so sexy. “Models are told to make poverty sound sexy; you will never believe what happens next,” might read the...
View ArticleAs South Sudan falters, aid industry called out for its failures
The marking of three years of independence in South Sudan will be cause for little celebration. A political crisis that devolved into fighting last December has displaced 1.4 million people and left an...
View ArticleWorld looks away from Syrian civil war’s 191,000 deaths
When the Syrian government crossed the proverbial red line by attacking civilians with chemical weapons in August 2013, Americans took note. Debates over whether to attack Syria took place in...
View ArticleNew world disorder and the humanitarian (R2P) case for killing bad guys
Today is September 11, the 13th anniversary of that day in 2001 the U.S. suffered a catastrophe that other smaller countries suffer every day, if you just want to count bodies. That’s not really the...
View ArticleA whole lot of bad news for Syrian children
Things are not well for Syrian children. Wednesday saw reports that a botched vaccine delivery left 15 dead in the rebel-held north. The news got worse on Thursday. An estimated 3 million Syrian...
View ArticleVisualizing how Syria’s war undermines health
Ongoing conflict in Syria dominates the headlines as the Islamic State (ISIL) advances. The hysteria over this newest terror threat is obscuring the continued suffering of innocent civilians. The war...
View ArticleU.N. comes up short, must cut food aid for Afghanistan and Syria
The United Nations needs nearly twice as much money as it has on hand to feed people in Afghanistan and Syria. The U.N. will have to cut rations, affecting about 7.9 million people, the World Food...
View ArticleThe case for cash transfers in emergency relief
Once seen as a sure-fire way to build dependence on charitable assistance, cash transfers that give people money with or without conditions are making a comeback. So as the United States struggles to...
View ArticleNot enough money to keep up with displaced Syrians and Iraqis, says UN
Winter is coming to Iraq and Syria – it killed 11 young children last year who froze to death – and there is not enough aid to help all of the refugees. “The most vulnerable population that I am really...
View ArticleJordan forcibly deporting Syrian refugees
Jordan is forcing some refugees – including children and injured adults – to return to war-torn Syria, according to Human Rights Watch. The New York-based organization sharply criticized the the...
View ArticleLack of money forces U.N. to stop Syrian refugee food aid
The United Nations announced it has been forced to stop providing food aid to Syrian refugees. Three weeks after the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reduced refugee assistance due funds shortages, the...
View ArticleOverwhelming international support saves Syrian food aid
The World Food Programme is back to regular business for Syrians. A week after a $64 million shortfall forced the U.N. agency to stop providing food aid, some 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan,...
View ArticleFighting and Islamic State force 670,000 Syrian children from schools
The simple act of going to school is getting harder and more dangerous for children in Syria. At least 68 attacks were leveled against schools in 2014 and some 670,000 children have recently...
View ArticleThe ‘historic betrayal’ suffered by Syria’s refugees
Syrian refugees struggle to survive the winter with no heat, little access to clean water and not enough food, as humanitarian organizations struggle to help amid a $40 million shortfall, continued...
View ArticleIslamic State slaps branding on U.N. food aid
The Islamic State is taking a page right out of the humanitarian relief handbook. Or to be more precise, writing on top of it. The World Food Programme says images show the Islamist militants are...
View ArticleThe massive toll of Syria’s four-year civil war
More than 220,000 people killed. An estimated 4 million refugees. And another 7.6 million displaced from their homes. More than 80 percent of lights are no longer on. The four-year old civil war in...
View ArticleThis heart-wrenching photograph is not a fake
You may have already seen the above photo. A young girl extends her arms up in the air as she looks fearfully into the lens. The accompanying story is that she, a Syrian refugee, mistook the camera...
View ArticleVisualizing Europe’s pathetic support for displaced Syrians
Some 12 million Syrians are no longer living in their homes due to the ongoing civil war. The majority of displaced people are still in Syria, but 4 million have managed to find refuge in other...
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