South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in Sudan are on the brink of catastrophe as violence continues to escalate at an alarming rate, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country said on Thursday in a statement.

Read the full story, “Sudan: Top aid official warns against escalating violence in two states”, on globalissues.org →

As the world marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on Thursday, the United Nations is warning that without urgent action, a staggering 27 million more girls could undergo the procedure by 2030.

Read the full story, “‘Step Up the Pace’ and end female genital mutilation, UN says”, on globalissues.org →

More than 12,000 critically ill and injured patients, including at least 5,000 children, urgently need to be evacuated from Gaza, amid the crumbling health system, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s top official in the region said on Thursday.

Read the full story, “Gaza: UN health agency urges rapid scale-up of medevacs as thousands remain in critical condition”, on globalissues.org →

Some 230 million girls in more than 90 countries – predominantly in Africa and Asia – have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) and can suffer lifelong physical, emotional and psychological scars, an issue that the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency has been tackling with the support of the international community including the United States.

Read the full story, “‘She had a syringe, razor blade, and bandages’: Surviving genital mutilation”, on globalissues.org →

Terrorist fighters with ISIL/Da’esh invaded Iraq’s second city of Mosul in 2014, destroying centuries-old landmarks in a bid to erase its history and impose a bleak and repressive future on the nearly two million people who lived there.

Read the full story, “Iraq: How the world helped Mosul rise from the rubble of war”, on globalissues.org →