Senegalese singer and new Oxfam Ambassador Baaba Maal urged the world to respond to the food crisis in West and Central Africa before it is too late, having just returned from visiting communities in Senegal. Eighteen million people are threatened by this year’s food crisis in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa, 850,000 of whom live in Baaba Maal’s home country of Senegal. And in the area of Matam visited by the musician, the effects of drought have hit hard.
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Imminent rains jeopardise response to Sudan’s conflict, aid agencies warn
Seasonal rains due in Sudan and South Sudan will exacerbate already dire conditions in refugee camps, restrict travel and access, and heighten the risk of disease, a group of leading humanitarian agencies warned today. The rains, which in some places have already started, will make many roads impassable, trapping people in unstable areas and deepening the current hunger crisis.
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“Business as usual” won’t do at Rio+20 summit
A group of leading international humanitarian, development, social justice, environmental, and workers’ organisations today warned that next month’s UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) looks set to add almost nothing to global efforts to deliver sustainable development. The group also warns that too many governments are using or allowing the talks undermine established human rights and agreed principles such as equity, precaution, and ‘polluter pays.’
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The Devil is in the Detail: The importance of comprehensive and legally binding criteria for arms tr
The absence of comprehensive, international legal obligations to prevent irresponsible transfers of arms has resulted in at least $2.2bn worth of arms and ammunition being imported by countries under arms embargoes between 2000 and 2010. This briefing paper argues that in order to have real impact, a prospective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) must include legally binding criteria that prevent arms transfers to abusers of human rights or into situations where there is a substantial risk that they will undermine development or exacerbate armed violence.
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Arms Trade Treaty long overdue: New research shows billions spent on illicit weapons by embargoed states
More than US$2.2bn worth of arms and ammunition have been imported since 2000 to countries operating under arms embargoes, according to new figures released today by international humanitarian agency Oxfam.
More than 440,000 people in dire need of emergency humanitarian assistance after being displaced from Khyber Agency in northwest Pakistan
Islamabad (April 26 2012): A recent influx of 63,000 displaced families –bringing the total to almost half a million people – into the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has sparked grave concerns among international and national NGOs in Pakistan.
