The Friday Humanitarian Scan #21

The conflict in Gaza has severely constrained access to food, health services, and water and sanitation infrastructure and created severe risks for malnutrition, particularly among women and children.

The global economy is entering a more fragile period as geopolitical conflicts, rising energy costs and financial instability threaten global growth and trade. 

Before heading to strike sites in war-torn Lebanon, rescue workers and paramedics often say goodbye to one another – a ritual captured in widely shared videos reflecting the growing dangers faced by aid workers since hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel erupted on 2 March.

In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians continue to be affected by violence and mental trauma.

UK should not invest in new North Sea oil as it is 'a price taker, not a price maker' – Dr Fatih Birol, IEA chief  News release jon.wallace 21 May 2026 Speaking at Chatham House, Dr Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, said Strait of Hormuz closures and rising summer demand could push oil markets into a 'red zone'. Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, visited Chatham House on 21 May to discuss the continuing Strait of Hormuz crisis,

MSF is coordinating with Congolese health authorities and preparing a large-scale response to the Ebola disease outbreak in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, has led to 246 suspected cases and more than 80 deaths.

A busy market in the town of Sange, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's South Kivu province, which has been one of the main …

A day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo an international emergency, top global disease transmission experts stressed that the chances of another global pandemic similar to the 2019 coronavirus emergency are increasing all the time.

And so, I have been learning to catch kindness in the paths I cross and the people I meet, the same way a swimmer lifts her head for air, sustaining the body for what is to come. What follows are …

In early April 2025 there were widespread floods in Somalia, 6-year-old Faiza Abdi was among those affected. Before the floods, Faiza was attending first grade in her local primary school. Thanks to EU funds she is now back in school under a Mango tree.

In South Sudan, escalating violence is increasingly harming people and undermining access to lifesaving care. MSF's latest report details the violence people face in the country, including attacks on healthcare.

MSF's latest report on South Sudan describes escalating violence, attacks on healthcare and civilians, rape, and hunger.

A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. 

The war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year, "is becoming deadlier by the day", a senior UN official warned in a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday. 

New principles, independent financing, a single UN agency, a smaller footprint, and oversight with teeth to enforce.

One of the least discussed challenges in the shift towards refugee self-reliance that's touted by development agencies is the extent of poverty within closed camp economies. This reality is often …

The Intrepid Humanitarian is an occasional series of dispatches that aims to spotlight the forgotten crises of Caucasia. Last week, I described the first leg of my expedition through the forgotten …

Around 30,000 people have had to flee their homes in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas following a new wave of violent attacks and atrocities perpetrated by armed gangs over the past ten days.

The Representative of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, in Ukraine has strongly condemned the deadly and destructive Russian missile and drone strikes in Dnipro on Tuesday night. 

In an interview, John Johnson, MSF's medical lead for epidemic response, explains the Bundibugyo virus and what makes this Ebola disease outbreak different.

In May 2016, I stood in Istanbul as head of the secretariat of the World Humanitarian Summit. It was an ambitious attempt to bring together different corners of the aid world to build a new agenda for …

The brutal effects of war have long prompted efforts to limit suffering and preserve humanity in times of conflict. Across cultures, religions, and legal traditions, people have sought to restrain violence and preserve a measure of humanity in conflict. Yet the emergence of modern humanitarianism in the nineteenth century marked a turning point: compassion became… The post Three lives, one vision: how Dunant, Demidoff and Abdelkader shaped modern humanitarianism appeared first on Humanitarian

Another injection of US cash seems to cement UN pooled funds as a dominant mode of humanitarian funding – and the UN's aid coordination arm, OCHA, as the gatekeeper. A quick recap: Others have a …

Opinion: Gavi and CEPI issue an urgent plan for the response to the latest Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus.

September 18, 2025

The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by substantially reducing global …

This diagnostic study, based on qualitative fieldwork across Kabul, Faryab, and Nangarhar, examines the behavioral, social, and contextual barriers influencing nutrition practices within households.

As the Western Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine (WBMU) advance toward European Union accession, their livestock sectors face both significant opportunities and inevitable transition pressures, …

Environmental protection

We interviewed the Public Institution Center of Excellence in Light Industry (PI CELI), a Moldovan public vocational education and training (VET) institution specialising in strengthening students' digital and technical competences.

AI tools

Fair trade

The Council has adopted new rules to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF). For the first time, workers facing imminent job loss due to company restructuring will be eligible for support.

The Global Battery Alliance aims to ensure that the rapid growth of the battery industry happens responsibly. The potential is huge: the critical minerals in batteries can be recycled to a high degree, making them a cornerstone of a circular economy.

Just Transition

Guyana's health minister says global health institutions must become less bureaucratic and more accountable to smaller nations. He also points to telemedicine, pooled procurement, and health worker training as lessons.

From exploring market-based models and social entrepreneurship to working more closely together to manage stock outs, funding cuts are forcing local organizations to adapt.

Speaking at Devex Impact House @ WHA, John-Arne Røttingen discussed AI governance, donor fragmentation, and why Wellcome believes it can help convene difficult conversations about global health reform.

As African countries negotiate health deals with the U.S., questions over who owns health data – and who profits from it – are moving to the center of global health diplomacy.

BillionScale Health's Martin Edlund says the next era of global health scale will be driven not by top-down donor systems, but by country-led coalitions that build local expertise, manufacturing capacity, and regional momentum.

Community organisations

Professor Lawrence Gostin, a prominent global health expert, and Faith Tonkei, an official in Kenya's Social Health Authority, discuss the pros and cons of the Trump administration's "America First" global health strategy.

Swedfund, Sweden's development finance institution, grew its portfolio to roughly $1.5 billion last year as it expanded in West Africa and increased investments in food systems.

At Devex's WHA event, Bright Simons argued that AI systems ultimately depend on human relationships, judgment, and collaboration – and warned that overly automating healthcare could erode the very intelligence these systems rely on.

"We just got a verdict that we are now free to implement," says Dr. Ouma Oluga, principal secretary for medical services at Kenya's Ministry of Health.