The Friday Humanitarian Scan #32

Israeli forces reportedly killed more than two dozen Palestinians in Gaza and violated Lebanese airspace more than 100 times over the weekend despite ongoing ceasefire agreements, UN agencies and peacekeepers said on Monday.

Longer than the world hopes, according to our Hormuz dependency dashboard

Concluding his first official visit to Cambodia, UN independent human rights expert Tom Andrews said he was encouraged by the government's cooperation but remained concerned about key human rights issues such as the lack of freedom of expression. 

At least 300 children in Gaza have been reportedly killed in as many days since a ceasefire agreement supposedly came into effect last October to suspend military operations between Hamas fighters and the Israel Defense Forces, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.

Despite Trump's declarations, Gazans remain hostages to Israeli politics

July 21, 2026

After four years of providing healthcare services to adolescents in Mombasa, Kenya, MSF is handing over our Youth Friendly Services project to the the Mombasa County Department of Health.

Amid a deepening hunger crisis in Somalia, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to deliver aid to the people who need it most.

In a small apartment in Masaken Othman, 24-year-old Bakhita lives with her 5 young children. The space is bare: 1 bed, 2 mattresses on the floor, and a small single-burner stove used for cooking.

Afghanistan's dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people including babies fed on little more than weak tea and bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.

MSF urges for the response to the Ebola disease outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo to be built with local organisations.

MSF's project in Manila, Philippines, has been handed over to local partners, leaving a legacy of community-led tuberculosis response.

MSF collaborated with Khartoon Magazine to share stories of the war in Sudan through cartoons.

Nearly 50 million more people in highly vulnerable communities globally are set to be pushed into acute hunger because of the strengthening El Niño weather phenomenon, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.

Russian forces hammered Ukraine with ballistic missiles and long-range drones overnight on Tuesday, killing at least 17 civilians – mainly around Kyiv – and injuring another 44, the UN human rights office in Ukraine reported.

After a three-week suspension due to violent clashes between armed groups, MSF has resumed activities at the the Isaïe Jeanty Maternity hospital in Cité Soleil, Haiti.

In Afghanistan's drought-stricken province of Herat, families like Afsana's live far from any hospital, with little money, no option of farming their own food, and no reliable way to reach care.

MSF has launched a project in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, which aims to strengthen the early detection of dengue cases, ensure treatment, and establish epidemiological surveillance systems.

Nearly eight million people in South Sudan – more than half the population – face crisis-level hunger, with famine risk now flagged in four counties, as the Security Council met this morning in New York. A cholera outbreak has killed more than 1,700 people, and some aid workers are being killed and abducted even as they try to reach those most at risk. Follow live coverage below.

Tech pioneers favour models suited to specific tasks that use little compute

With temperatures rising and forests growing dryer in recent years, wildfires have become the great seasonal challenge for European civil protection. So, what does it take to be truly prepared for a wildfire season in Europe? As with all disaster response operations, time is of the essence.

Opinion: Malaria is masking the extent of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.S. Congress has made funds available and the Administration should put them to use for mass drug administration.

This brief examines how power system resilience should be assessed and strengthened at the distribution network level, where electricity service reaches end users. The note argues that as countries …

The World Development Report 2026 assesses what artificial intelligence (AI), as a general-purpose technology, means for 5.6 billion people living in low- and middle-income countries and how it could …

Phone surveys emerged as a critical data collection tool in low- and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and have since become a permanent feature of the data landscape in many …

Mining

Health

A new World Bank report says AI could accelerate development across low- and middle-income countries, but gaps in infrastructure, data, digital skills and governance risk leaving many behind.

In an email seen by Devex, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that Dr. Adham Ismail, regional director of program management, will serve as officer-in-charge of the Eastern Mediterranean region instead.

Ethiopia

As shock after shock hurts global food systems, multilateral banks and smallholder farmers seek solutions, from funds to biofertilizers.

The U.S. may not prioritize NCDs but we've identified a few philanthropic and corporate foundations that are providing support in preventing and tackling these chronic conditions.

Opinion: Current lung cancer screening policy leaves gaps around air pollution, exposure, and genetics. Two new trials in India are creating the localized evidence needed to build a screening policy tailored to a true at-risk profile.

Opinion: Governments seeking diaspora capital should meet the standards of the investment market – here are five ways to do that.

Opinion: If the U.K. wants to rebuild credibility with Commonwealth countries, debt reform is where it has the greatest power to act.

Medicine shortage

The latest Ebola outbreak is putting the world's response playbook to the test – with mixed results.

Executive Vice-President Mînzatu issued the following statement on a proposal for a European Day in Remembrance of Victims of Accidents at Work ahead of the 70 year commemoration of the Marcinelle tragedy.

Public infrastructure

Delegates from more than 100 countries are negotiating the draft U.N. tax convention in a pivotal round that could reshape how multinational companies and the ultra-wealthy are taxed – and who gets the revenue.