Amidst uncertainty, a helpline in Pakistan becomes a lifeline for Afghans

She sits among a multilingual team of 40 colleagues, speakers of Pashto, Dari, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and English, in a room filled with monitors and headsets.   Each colleague is connected to a different life, a new fear, a unique story. Many callers are women, mothers with young children, widows, single women who have built […]

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Uganda: Post Election Assault on Political Opposition

(Nairobi) – Ugandan authorities have intensified attacks on the country’s main opposition party since presidential elections took place on January 15, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities have conducted mass arrests of National Unity Platform supporters and forcibly disappeared two senior leaders, who remain missing. Since January 15, the military has laid siege to the home […]

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Commissioner Lahbib joins national commemoration in Switzerland for victims of Crans Montana fire

Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib is participating in the official national commemoration honouring the victims of the Crans Montana fire and expressing solidarity with the injured, their families and the communities affected. The ceremony, held in Martigny on the national day of mourning, will bring together the Swiss federal and cantonal authorities, international partners […]

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‘We children saw things that no one should ever have to see’ Holocaust survivor tells the UN

Speaking in the General Assembly Hall alongside one of her great grandchildren, Mrs Lazan described her family’s journey from a ‘comfortable’ life in Hoya, northwest Germany, to a detention camp in the Netherlands – and in January 1944, internment in Bergen Belsen concentration camp. Mrs Lazan’s indomitable spirit in the face of the most inhumane […]

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Amid Sudan’s humanitarian crisis, Chad shows ‘act of solidarity’

That’s according to UN human rights chief Volker Türk, who had discussions with over 40 leaders of Sudanese civil society in Northern State’s capital, Dongola, this week.  “But these representatives have also found the solution,” Mr. Türk said in a video on X. “There needs to be an all-out effort, both within Sudan and by the […]

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Greek Immigration Bill Demonizes Civil Society

The Greek government has introduced an immigration bill with measures that explicitly link nongovernmental groups and humanitarian workers with criminal conduct, when in reality they are helping people in distress trying to reach Greece. The bill would amend the migration code to make membership in a nongovernmental group an aggravating factor for several existing offenses, with draconian […]

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Statement by Commissioner Lahbib on the demolition of the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem

I condemn the Israeli decision to forcibly enter and demolish the United Nations Sheikh Jarrah compound held by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) located in East Jerusalem. I urge the Israeli authorities to halt such action, which is in violation of Israel’s obligations resulting from the […]

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A new blow for UNRWA as headquarters in East Jerusalem ‘set on fire’

It comes after Israeli authorities “stormed and demolished” buildings in the compound last week, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said. “Allowing this unprecedented destruction is the latest attack on the UN in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine Refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and erase their history,” Mr. Lazzarini said. In a […]

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Rising hunger and displacement pose growing economic risk, UN tells Davos

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has reported that an estimated 318 million people worldwide now face crisis levels of hunger or worse, with hundreds of thousands already experiencing famine-like conditions. It cautioned that deep funding shortfalls are forcing it to cut rations and scale back assistance at a time of surging needs. Current forecasts […]

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Myanmar: Junta Atrocities Surge 5 Years since Coup

(Tokyo) – Myanmar’s military junta has committed widespread repression and abuse in every facet of life in the country since seizing power on February 1, 2021, Amnesty International, Fortify Rights, and Human Rights Watch said today. The military’s atrocities since the coup, which include war crimes and crimes against humanity, escalated over the past year as […]

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