(Kabul) – The Afghan government should take urgent steps to halt an alarming increase in women and girls imprisoned for “moral crimes,” Human Rights Watch said today. Commitments by senior government officials to end such abuses have had little practical impact.

Harare, 21 May, 2013: The European Union has today announced a €13 million (US$17 million) grant to the second phase of the Education Transition Fund and an additional €500,000 (USD 640,000) from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) to nutrition activities in the country.

In the midst of conflict, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is doing its best to support the continued education of students in Syria.

Students in the country have faced mounting obstacles in pursuing education, with thousands fleeing the violence and others unable to access their schools since the beginning of the three-year-old conflict.

As the end of the year approaches, many of them are worried about the upcoming exams, but are determined to take them and continue with their schooling.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Nutrition situation in South Sudan has remained precarious over the years owing to chronic food insecurity. The populations displaced from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states from 2011 owing to conflict, were installed into camps in the Maban county and high levels of malnutrition among the children was described as a humanitarian crisis. A survey conducted by Médecins sans Frontières -Belgium (MSF-B) in Batil camps subsequently in August 2012, revealed Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate of 39.8%.

UNRWA health programme hard hit in Syria but the UN agency's work is having an impact

Today, during the World Health Organization’s sixty sixth’s Annual World Health Summit, UNRWA released its Health Department 2012 Annual Report. The publication reflects on the operational challenges, the Agency has faced with rolling out an ongoing health reform and managing regular services during times of conflict.

Introduction

In a commendable effort to increase accountability, the international community set itself a target date of 2015 to achieve the key objectives of the historic United Nations Millennium Declaration, on which the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are based.

This widely recognised deadline has inevitably attracted considerable debate. As it approaches, there has been much research on whether the targets as set out in the MDGs will be met, along with a parallel discussion on what might succeed them.

I. Introduction

DAMASCUS/AMMAN/GENEVA, 21 May 2013 – UNICEF is extremely concerned about the safety of civilians in the embattled city of Qusayr in Syria and fears that thousands of children and women could be trapped there by fighting.

Heavy clashes have been reported in Qusayr, a city near the Lebanese border, with a population of some 30,000. Between 12,000 and 20,000 people, many of them children, are thought to still be inside the city.

OVERVIEW

The FSNAU integrated nutrition situation analysis in January 2013 had indicated that the emergency levels of malnutrition (GAM 15-30 percent) seen in Bakool Pastoral, Juba riverine, Southern Gedo and Mataban district since Gu 2012 will be sustained. An improvement in other livelihoods from emergency levels (GAM 15-30 percent) levels to crisis levels (GAM 10-14.9 percent) was expected.