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U.N. plans aid for 154,000 besieged Syrians in next five days

The United Nations and partner aid organizations plan to deliver life-saving aid to 154,000 Syrians in besieged areas in the next five days, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Damascus Yacoub El Hillo said in a statement on Sunday. Pending approval from parties to the conflict, the U.N. is ready to deliver aid to about 1.7 million people in hard-to-reach areas in the first quarter of 2016, he said. The U.N. estimates there are almost 500,000 people living under siege, out of a total 4.6 million who are hard to reach with aid, but it hopes that a cessation of hostilities that began on Friday night will bring an end to the 15 sieges.

Syria to South Sudan: aid groups list their top humanitarian concerns for 2016

By Tom Esslemont LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – There's one prediction for 2016 that most aid workers can make with confidence – that the new year will usher in rising humanitarian needs. The United Nations projects that at least 87 million people in dozens of countries will require humanitarian aid next year, and is seeking a record $20.1 billion to meet their needs. In a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of 15 of the world's leading aid agencies, we asked them to name their top three humanitarian priorities for 2016.

New UN development goals will drive nations ‘nuts:’ Indian economist

An Indian economist and member of a key government panel which formulates policy on social issues slammed the United Nations’ new development goals on Tuesday, saying that having so many goals and targets would drive governments “nuts”. World leaders are due to adopt a set of new development objectives in September, to replace eight expiring U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be finalised only in September, U.N. officials say member states have identified 17 goals and 169 targets.

Houthi shells kill 18 in Yemen, dengue fever spreading rapidly

Shells fired by Yemen’s dominant Houthi group killed 18 people near the southern port city of Aden early on Wednesday, local officials and witnesses said, while the United Nations warned a dengue fever outbreak in Aden was rapidly gaining pace. Yemen, which has long struggled with poverty and hunger, has descended into a fullblown humanitarian crisis since a war erupted between the Houthis and allies of the exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, drawing in neighboring Saudi Arabia. The United Nations said in a report on Tuesday that an average of 150 new cases of dengue fever and around 11 deaths were being reported daily.

UN urges new Nigerian president to prosecute Boko Haram crimes

GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations' top human rights official called on Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate and prosecute “horrifying” allegations of executions, rape and amputations of children by Islamist insurgents Boko Haram. Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein also said reports of violations committed by Nigerian armed forces should be investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. “Civilians in northeast Nigeria have been living through horrifying acts of cruelty and violence by Boko Haram. …

Free from Ebola, survivors complain of new syndrome

By Emma Farge and James Harding Giahyue DAKAR/MONROVIA (Reuters) – Romeo Doe, a 29-year-old tailor who survived Ebola in Liberia, is struggling to cope with the impact of a disease that killed seven members of his family and now threatens his livelihood. There are a growing number of survivors of the disease in the region, between 5,000 and 10,000 according to the United Nations, and some complain of side effects months after their recovery – a condition some doctors are calling “post-Ebola Syndrome” (PES). About 60 percent of Ebola patients have died in the current outbreak, typically from shock or organ failure. Margaret Nanyonga, a doctor who treated Ebola patients in the town of Kenema in Sierra Leone, said she had seen survivors go blind.

Ebola waning, but WHO must respond better next time, Chan says

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Ebola is declining but there is no room for complacency and the World Health Organization (WHO) must respond faster to future emergencies, its director-general told member states held talks on Sunday on the WHO's delay in facing the deadly epidemic. The special session in Geneva was called by member states seeking reforms amid strong criticism of the United Nations agency's response to the outbreak that began a year ago in West Africa. Dr. Margaret Chan also said that vaccines and drugs must be brought to the market more speedily so that the world is not caught “empty-handed” when a severe disease causes an epidemic. Some $4 billion has been spent to try to halt its spread and WHO requires a further $1 billion this year, U.N. special envoy David Nabarro said.