On August 14th, southwestern Haiti experienced a magnitude 7.2 earthquake. Damage from the earthquake itself was devastating and left the country in dire straits, but the difficulty of the recovery has been exacerbated by subsequent environmental crises, combined with political turmoil. Just over ten years after its catastrophic earthquake in
On July 23, UNICEF announced that Lebanon’s water system is on the verge of collapse. They estimate that water pumping will gradually decrease and potentially even cease over the next four to six weeks. According to UNICEF, 71% of Lebanon’s population is at risk of losing safe drinking water, which
Among the negative consequences of Recep Erdoğan’s Presidency, his leadership has been harmful to the rights and safety of Turkey’s LGBTQ+ community. For example, in June 2021, Istanbul’s Pride parade was broken up by riot police. Tear gas and rubber bullets were used to forcibly disperse the crowd and prevent
Climate change is a threat facing humankind and all life on earth as we know it. Although the most catastrophic effects will occur in the future unless we drastically act now, human deaths caused by global warming are already a reality. Thanks to developments in attribution science and other modern
Among the many consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, beyond the devastating impacts of the virus itself, is the effect it has had on global food security. Although high-income countries have also been affected, middle- and particularly low-income countries have seen dramatic increases in food insecurity. The Global Network Against Food
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a global decline in maternal healthcare. An international review published in the Lancet Global Health journal found that the rate of maternal deaths and stillbirths has risen by approximately a third during the pandemic. In addition to infecting mothers with the virus itself, COVID-19
On May 3, the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day. The 2021 theme, “Information as a Public Good,” focused on the importance of a well-informed public and called for transparency and strengthened protection for journalism. The United Nations (UN) recognizes the urgent relevance of this theme and the important impact
On May 8, an explosion occurred near a girls’ school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The attack took place in front of Sayed Al-Shuhada girls’ school when a car bomb went off, followed by two subsequent IED explosions. The death toll has surpassed 80 and more than 140 people
As the conflict continues in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, the provision of humanitarian aid is a continuous challenge. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed since November 2020 and over a million people are internally displaced. The necessity of humanitarian assistance is grave, but the ongoing conflict has
American President Joseph Biden convened a Leaders Summit on Climate Change from April 22nd-23rd. Many were particularly anxious and wary to hear from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is frequently criticized for his poor environmental policies. President Bolsonaro leads one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. According to the United
President Biden’s recent announcement of American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan may suggest that peace is in sight at the end of a long war. But activists have raised concerns over its potential effects on women’s rights and quality of life. Biden announced all American troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan
Russia has been increasingly accumulating its military might in the Arctic over the past five years, with a particular increase in the last few months. Satellite images have shown a build-up of Russian military bases and hardware along its Arctic coastline, including underground storage facilities believed to be intended to
Civilians in Niger have been the victims of multiple attacks since the start of 2021. On 21 March, 137 civilians were killed in coordinated raids on villages in Niger’s southwest. The week before, on 15 March, another 58 were killed on their way home from the local market and an
A massive fire ravaged the Balukhali Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh on Monday, March 22. It was the worst fire in the cramped settlement since 2017 and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates 15 people were killed and 550 injured, with another 400 missing. At least 10,000 shelters were destroyed,
Sunday, March 14, was the deadliest day in the Myanmar protests since the military coup on February 1. According to CNN, at least 38 people were killed in confrontations between protestors and the military and the death toll has surpassed 120 since the protests began. To date, more than 2150
In the early morning of February 26, 317 girls were kidnapped in the Zamfara state of northwestern Nigeria. The girls were taken by their captors from the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Jangebe and marched into the forest at gunpoint. The kidnappers had entered Jangebe with an
