Shownotes Transcript
This is UN News Today with me, Daniel Johnson. The headlines...
The Israeli aid blockade on Gaza has caused stillbirths, severe malnutrition, rising miscarriages and more, say aid teams. Meanwhile, in South Sudan, the bombing of a critical hospital has left seven dead. And in Myanmar, early monsoon rains are a recipe for misery and disease. After the earthquake disaster five weeks ago, we hear the latest.
The ongoing near-total aid blockade on Gaza by Israel has created numerous dangers for pregnant women, including stillbirths, a rise in miscarriages and premature babies, the UN population fund, UNFPA, has warned. The alert comes as the UN humanitarian team and other NGOs in the occupied Palestinian territory condemned Israeli efforts to replace the aid delivery system with one where supplies would be funneled through military hubs.
This proposal would leave large parts of Gaza less mobile and the most vulnerable without life-saving supplies, a chief's insisted. In a related development, Israel's security cabinet reportedly voted to expand military operations in Gaza shortly after tens of thousands of reservists received call-up papers amid expanded military operations in the enclave.
Aid teams working in South Sudan have condemned an apparent airstrike on a hospital there over the weekend that killed seven civilians and injured another 20. The UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office, OCHA and partners said that a bomb hit the medical facility early on Saturday. The hospital serves more than 100,000 people in Ulfangak in eastern Jonglo state.
"People in these areas are already battling flooding, food shortages and disease," said the UN's top aid official in South Sudan, Marielle Enverney. "The destruction of critical health infrastructure and continued fighting puts innocent South Sudanese lives at risk," she added.
Rising political and ethnic tensions, combined with the recent mobilization of the army and opposing armed groups in some regions, have raised fears of a return to civil war in South Sudan. The attack comes amid escalating violence that has impacted civilians across the country since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Health facilities in Upper Nile state have been targeted at least eight times between January and April this year, according to the UN.
Humanitarian NGO Médecins Sans Frontières also condemned the bombing. It said that its pharmacy in Old Fangac had been burned to the ground and all medical supplies had been lost. It added that helicopter gunships fired at the town and a drone later bombed the local market. The UN has been airlifting essential medical supplies to replenish stocks.
Five weeks after Myanmar's devastating earthquake, families who have been forcibly pushed out of their collapsed homes still live in tents and makeshift shelters. UN aid workers have warned that they face additional hardships and danger from waterborne diseases caused by this year's monsoon rains, which have come early.
"People are in urgent need of safe alternative accommodation and shelter materials," said Ocha. It noted that classes begin in June, but displaced people are still using schools as shelters. Health teams are concerned that the heavy rains will create pools of stagnant water amid uncleared rubble, which are the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes that transmit malaria and dengue.
According to OCHA, limited access to water and sanitation has already led to an increase in skin diseases. The UN aid office says that more than 6.3 million people still need assistance and that a significant scale-up in response is needed. Priorities include delivering water, food and health supplies, but safety checks of buildings are also needed, along with technical advice for safe rebuilding and counselling. Daniel Johnson, UN News.