The Friday Humanitarian Scan #28

Ongoing restrictions and closures of border crossings continue to hamper delivery of critical supplies into the Gaza Strip, amid mounting concern for children there and in the West Bank, the United Nations said on Monday. 

What are we getting right, what are we getting wrong, and how could we do better? A recent Decolonise How? live webinar, with host Patrick Gathara, digs into the framing of the genocide and wars in the Middle East with the goal of drawing lessons that could be applicable to a wide range of crises.

It's now been 1,000 days since Israel's genocidal war in Gaza began, and nearly nine months since last October's ceasefire. Today, life in Gaza still feels frozen at the very moment that deal was signed. Nothing has truly returned to normal. Even the sound of bombardment has not fully stopped.

The ceasefire deal between Beirut and Tel Aviv has led to a marked reduction in hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, sparked by the wider Iran-Israel-US war, but the situation remains uncertain for communities returning home only to find widespread destruction, UN peacekeepers said on Wednesday.

Representatives from 12 countries carried out a "virtual diplomatic field visit" to a displacement site in the Gaza Strip and heard from some of the residents about their pressing needs, the United Nations said on Thursday. 

Civilians in Burkina Faso have accused the national army of preventing them from leaving government-held towns blockaded by jihadist rebels, forcing them to remain in life-threatening conditions where there is a lack of food and other basic essentials.

Eleven charts illustrate the extraordinary level of support the United States has provided Ukraine in recent years—though there has been no significant U.S. aid legislation since 2024, and combined European aid tops U.S. contributions.

Children across Sudan continue to bear the brunt of a war that is becoming increasingly deadly, with at least 330 children reported killed or injured during the first six months of 2026, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday.

Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv killed at least 14 civilians and injured more than 80 others overnight on Monday, according to local authorities.

The UN and its partners are ramping up assistance for people affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela, working alongside the Government's response effort, as a new UN estimate puts direct physical damage at $37 billion.

Afghanistan faces one of the world's biggest displacement crises amid poverty, drought and earthquakes, UN agencies warned on Monday.

In this International Year of the Woman Farmer, EU-supported projects in Markounda and Batangafo focus on seed distribution to water access and emergency response. EU Humanitarian aid is helping women, who hold families and communities together, rebuild livelihoods and put food on the table.

Europe had its warmest summer on record, the period from June to August 2025 was the warmest ever on a global scale, with temperatures of 0.7°C above the 1991-2020 average.

The international humanitarian system has built a sophisticated architecture for the protection of civilians, namely political resolutions, cluster coordination mechanisms, reporting frameworks, and accountability tools. Yet when conflict-affected people are asked directly whether they feel protected, or whether they trust the actors claiming to protect them, the answer is frequently at odds with the system's… The post "A number that learned how not to scream": the case for community-led metri

'Shaping Global Order' exhibition at the 2026 London Conference News release jon.wallace 7 July 2026 An exhibition at this year's conference showcases the extraordinary diversity of speakers in Chatham House's history, as captured by specialist portrait photographer Ander McIntyre. Chatham House is holding an exhibition of the work of specialist portrait photographer Ander McIntyre on 9 July during its annual London Conference. Shaping Global Order documents the extraordinary rang

“The remedy to the cause of poverty is reduced to a single calculus of saving lives”. This is one of the many lines from The Humanitarian Fable. Saviorism, Race, and Aid, a new book by David Jefferess, which charts the dehumanising communication methods that humanitarian aid has employed over the decades. The book challenges the specific type of communication messages and methods that have been created around poverty and humanitarianism by the Global North, through the stereotypical framework, “the poor are – or have problems and it is the responsibility of Northern humanitarians to solve those problems”.

“What is needed is structural change: defining red lines… and being willing to escalate when those lines are crossed, publicly and collectively.”

The court of Catania has dismissed their case against MSF search and rescue staff who were onboard the vessel Aquarius.

The widespread solidarity shown to Venezuela must now be transformed into real, practical support for recovery from the deadly double earthquakes last month, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said on Wednesday.

MSF is running mobile clinics in areas affected by the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June.

Journalists aren’t the only ones getting the silent treatment from the World Food Programme. Inklings explores how aid works in the wilds of humanitarian hubs, on the front lines of emergency response, or in the dark corners of aid punditry.

The last major Ebola outbreak was marred by widespread sexual abuse and exploitation by many aid workers against the people they were purportedly there to help. Is the humanitarian sector doing enough to ensure it doesn't happen again?

For the latest episode of our podcast series, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with senior reporters Jenny Lei Ravelo and Sara Jerving to discuss the top global development stories of the week.

Israeli checkpoints and military and settler violence are restricting the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, blocking their access to medical care.

Plus, the race to be the next chief of WFP hits a milestone; the World Bank sheds light on its updated climate action plan; and digging into the U.S. health financing agreement with South Sudan.

The world must move faster to contain the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said on Thursday.

WHO promises that this response will be different from the last time when there were widespread allegations of sexual exploitation by the responders. Plus, the problem with South Sudan's U.S. health compact.

European NATO has four years to re-establish 'escalation dominance' over Russia, conference hears News release jon.wallace 9 July 2026 Following this week's Ankara NATO summit, General Sir Richard Barrons told the Chatham House London Conference that European countries must act to re-establish deterrence in the light of US drawdown in Europe. Leading voices from policymaking, business and academia gathered at Chatham House's 2026 London Conference on 9 July under the theme of 'a route to order i

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: The funding crisis has pushed U.K. INGOs into difficult choices. It has also created an opportunity to rethink power, shift decision-making, and build partnerships that are less dependent on donor capitals and more accountable to the communities they serve.

Slavery

The latest evaluation from the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions (WGB) finds that the Slovak Republic must urgently address serious deficiencies in its framework for …

The Bank of Thailand kept its policy rate unchanged. Financial market conditions improved, but the external position weakened as the higher oil import bill widened the current account deficit and …

This Public Finance Review examines the Central African Republic's efforts to strengthen public financial management and fiscal sustainability at a critical stage in its development. Following …

This report argues that broad reforms to current fiscal federalism arrangements are critical to addressing development challenges, both through and beyond any new NFC Award. Current fiscal federalism …

The report presents technical guidance on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in Lao PDR, focusing on forest extent over the period 2000-2022. It applies the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting …

The first, and the prerequisite for the others, strengthens the institutional foundation through enacting the Construction Industry Development Bill (CIDB) (formally called Uganda Construction …

Political satire – The Cockroach Janta Party started as a joke on social media. Calling themselves cockroaches, thousands of young Indians are mocking the political establishment. It has since become a symbol of youth anger over jobs, education and the rising living costs.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

E-mobility

The International Labour Organization and the European Commission reaffirmed their strategic partnership and agreed to deepen their cooperation on social justice, decent work and quality jobs at their 17th High-level meeting.

Power and wealth

The U.K. charity may have been pulled back from the financial cliff edge, but what kind of institution is emerging?

Opinion: Executive-led anti-corruption commitments have a built-in conflict of interest. Auditors, election commissions, regulators, and citizens often do more to sustain reform than the politicians who announce it.

Can West Africa's commodity exporters capture the upside of higher prices? Plus, an effort to standardize – and scale – blended finance.

Opinion: The AU's new agricultural strategy promises to transform food systems across the continent. Governments must give young people influence and accountability to avoid repeating the failures of previous agricultural plans.

Opinion: Businesses rarely invest in testing ways to improve workers' lives because the benefits often extend beyond any one company. Philanthropy can fill that gap by funding the experimentation and evidence that entire industries can build on.