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With heatwaves now recognised as disasters, personal testimonies are key to a new project that looks to protect those living in the most cramped districts of India’s capital Every summer evening, Gulshan follows the same routine. She washes the floor of her one-room home several times so it cools a little for her four children to sleep on. Last summer, the family saved enough to buy a desert…
The stark figures show that since the hardliners seized power in 2021, women have been erased from public life, poverty is forcing hopeless families to marry off their daughters and healthcare is on the brink of failure ‘I married off my daughter so that none of us would die of hunger.” Malika hesitated before saying the words aloud. The 46-year-old lives with her husband and four youngest…
The deaths of a Bulawayo mother and her daughters spark calls for an urgent action on gender-based violence The three white coffins were draped in white lace and topped with small sprays of flowers. The mourners who filled a Bulawayo church last week to pay their respects to Zandile Tshuma and her daughters, Natalie, 15, and Nala, five, had not engaged in the usual tradition of first viewing the…
More than 2,600 villages have been flooded in Assam this year, in a climate disaster made worse by uncontrolled deforestation and mining in the region It was a normal July morning in the Indian state of Assam. After finishing her chores and eating breakfast, Gitali Phukon, a resident of the town of Gaurisagar, left her home to buy groceries. After two days of rainfall that had made the unpaved…
Two years after southern Brazil’s worst climate disaster ravaged the city, and with poor areas still recovering, many fear official neglect has left them exposed once again In the backstreets of Porto Alegre, a state capital in southern Brazil , you can still see signs of the devastating flood that swept through the city two years ago: scattered debris, waterlogged homes and destroyed businesses.…
South African scientist’s breakthrough research shows soil fungus could be used in fight against devastating crop pest Hearing about fields full of dead caterpillars enveloped in a mysterious white substance intrigued the South African scientist Letodi Luki Mathulwe. Something was killing off the African armyworm – one of the most devastating pests for farmers in east and southern Africa. The…
Struggling on her meagre pay, Faten Ben Omar El Azizi dreamed of reaching Europe. Then she joined thousands trying to reach a better life in Spain Football was the life Faten Ben Omar El Azizi had wanted. She had long played in Morocco’s regional league for Moghreb Atlético Tetuán, whose striking kit replicates the colours of the famous Spanish club Atlético Madrid. And in the cruellest of…
Shameema and Tanzeela trek for miles in summer heat to vaccinate children in Kashmir’s highlands as part of a vast national programme Before sunrise, Shameema slips on her worn rubber sandals and checks the insulated box – the ice packs inside must maintain the crucial cold chain at between 2C and 8C (35.6-46.4F). She hoists the container on one shoulder and steps out into the dark. Tanzeela…
In the five years since the Taliban’s return to power, the walls have been closing in on the women and girls of Afghanistan. As the regime has tightened its grip, it has banned girls from education after the age of 12, ejected many women from the workplace and created legal frameworks for child marriage and husbands beating their wives. Taliban rule has ushered in a new era of women being whipped…
Erika Castellanos has beaten the life expectancy of 35 for a transgender woman in the region, but warns aid cuts and a rollback in human rights risk reversing efforts to end Aids Erika Castellanos has outlived what she describes as one of the cruellest statistics in Latin America. The life expectancy of a transgender woman in the region is estimated to be 35 years. “I am 50 years old. A lot of…
The number of student suicides in the country has risen steeply in the past 10 years and many families blame education system mismanagement as a contributing factor When the Indian government announced the resignation of its education minister in late July after weeks of protest, there were widespread celebrations. Students from across the country had joined the mass demonstrations led by the…
An investigation into 231 femicide cases highlights the dire situation in Afghanistan, where men are empowered to murder and face no punishment while their crimes are covered up by the state In a voice message recorded weeks before she died, Liza Shams, 33, asks a relative to pray for her. “There’s no end to my days of misfortune,” she says. “Pray that God shames Hasib [her husband, Hasibullah…
Cases have passed 4,000 and health watchdog plans to go door to door to find patients in major response escalation The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000. Africa’s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect…
With less than a third of cycling journeys taken by women, Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, is installing bike lanes, teaching cycling and making sure ‘stereotypes are left behind’ Eliana González has a busy morning ahead of her, dropping off her son at school and picking up groceries. Her trusted vehicle to get around in Bogotá is a colourful cargo bike, adapted to carry her two children and…
Twenty years on, no one has been held accountable for the brutal killings of young Tamils working for a French NGO in Sri Lanka By the time their colleagues were able to reach them, their bodies had been lying in the dirt for around two days and were starting to decompose in the heat. On 6 August 2006, 17 Sri Lankan workers for the international NGO Action Against Hunger were found dead in the…
Cardinal Pedro Barreto received death threats and harassment during his almost 20-year campaign against a US mining company’s operations in the Andes A Peruvian cardinal who received a barrage of death threats when he challenged the firm behind a toxic smelter has called a $150m (£111m) out-of-court settlement to more than 1,000 people who were allegedly poisoned by the plant as children “a…
After another massacre of smallholders – who are subjected to violence from palm oil firms and drug traffickers – the country’s new Trump-backed government has criminalised community leaders Sitting on the back of the motorcycle, 15-year-old Orlean* heard gunshots. A moment later, the bike crashed. His uncle and two cousins fell to the ground dead. Orlean fled into the dense green forest of the…
Losing funds should force leaders to confront their own challenges, they said, while many voiced concerns over increasing foreign influence A quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts by the US could have a positive impact, saying that losing foreign money will force leaders to confront and solve their own challenges, according to a new survey. In Ghana and Nigeria, almost half (41% and 40%…
Raja is normally a celebration of the start of the monsoon, but in the eastern state of Odisha, the rains came so late the seeds were sown under clear skies Kasturi Gamango and Pramila Sabar cannot contain their giggles as they explain one of the big attractions of the Raja festival, which they attended a few days earlier along with 20 other farmer families in Laxmipur, in Odisha’s Ganjam…
‘Racist bias’ overestimating ages in Home Office’s facial-recognition software will lead to solo children being housed with adults, says Human Rights Network Flawed and racialised models that underpin the AI-powered age-detection systems to be introduced by the British government will endanger children, rights groups and children’s charities have warned. Urging ministers to reverse plans to…
As fighting intensifies in Port-au-Prince, only a fraction of its maternity services remain, and they are under constant threat Eight months pregnant, Françoise, 45, arrives early in the morning at a deserted school in Bel Air. The hillside neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince has been controlled by gangs since a violent takeover in 2019. Schools have closed, electricity has been cut off and food is…
There were 470 women killed in such circumstances across the country last year, with rights groups saying the true toll will be even higher, reflecting a system that still protects the accused Mohammad Ramzan was on the night shift at the cement factory outside Karachi when he answered a phone call from home. His 20-year-old daughter, Khalida Chandio, had been shot dead in their village in…
Siraz Ullah is one of hundreds of Rohingya refugees to take perilous sea journey to Malaysia to escape violence and persecution The fear was audible as he spoke, recording a message to his family, asking for their prayers. After pressing send, 24-year-old Siraz Ullah boarded a boat he hoped could deliver him from the violence and persecution surrounding him at home in Myanmar. Instead, Siraz is…
Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise freed after five months in prison over allegations of engaging in same-sex activity For five months, Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise shared a small prison cell knowing that there was a possibility they might spend the rest of their lives there. Accused of engaging in same-sex activity, an offence under Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws, the two young women faced a…
The FCDO’s annual report was quietly released just as Starmer was leaving office – it continues a long-term shift from supporting countries most in need to seeking something in return Somewhere on the new British prime minister’s desk sits a document. It was quietly published last week, in the dying hours of his predecessor’s government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s annual…
As fear and fighting ease in Mogadishu, coffee shops have become catalysts for change, bringing jobs for women and creating much-needed social spaces Every morning at six, Saabiriin Hassan slips on her apron as she takes her place behind the counter at Cplus Cafe in the heart of Mogadishu. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air, but it is Hassan’s ever-present smile that draws the…
In Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, 13 million have been displaced and 19 million are facing acute starvation. Using satellite imagery, leaked documents and reports and on-the-ground footage, we trace how weapons are moving into Sudan through a covert supply chain linked to the UAE and how the UK is accused of being complicit in the atrocities, choosing its relationship…
Although trekking is unusual for young women in my area, I find strength and enjoy independence when I’m out in nature with my friends Before sunrise, my two closest friends and I pack water bottles, food and biscuits into our backpacks. We put on whatever shoes we have, pull our hijabs tightly against the cold wind, and leave for the mountains above our village in Kargil. The things we usually…
Drug-resistant bacteria are no longer confined to hospital settings but are spreading into communities in every country Why should a surge in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Europe be a concern across Africa or for people who don’t consider themselves to be at risk? Because it points to a bigger problem: the ease with which drug-resistant infections are now spreading, and not just in…
In this week’s newsletter: drones in Somalia, robots in India and smartphones in Afghanistan In this Global Dispatch, I’d really like to highlight the goodness of strangers, inspired by Guardian readers. It was unexpected this week when readers reacted to our story about the US drone attack on civilians in Somalia by raising money to help one of the surviving victims. Seven-year-old Abdiqadir…
Foreign Office failed to act on warnings of genocide due to ‘pressure’ from emirates, Yale human rights investigator will tell a parliamentary select committee The British government had received intelligence that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan’s civil war as far back as 2024 but did not go public with the news for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates (UAE),…
With aid funding falling by 70%, a change to HIV response is needed. The continent must treat health as a matter of sovereignty rather than charity The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak now being fought across the region shows again what Africa already knows. When an emergency arrives, the continent cannot wait on distant supply chains or other people’s goodwill. It must make and move the things that keep…
With the Bundibugyo strain of the disease spreading across the DRC and Uganda, scientists and researchers are trying to find rapid solutions There is no vaccine or treatment available for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola that is spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, but this week three vaccine developers were awarded $60m (£45m) in emergency funding as the race to halt…
Conflict, mistrust and delayed detection could complicate response to emergency caused by Bundibugyo variant To be around the centre of an Ebola outbreak is to become used to the smell of chlorine. At hospitals and government buildings, surfaces are sprayed with it and hands washed in a 0.05% solution that can kill the virus in 60 seconds. Infrared handheld thermometers take temperatures at…
In this week’s newsletter: can the Melbourne declaration help women affected by injustice?; plus the artist chronicling the DRC’s blood-soaked history in embroidery I first spoke to Shazia Khanum for a report on informal jobs. The 16-year-old’s fingers moved swiftly as she talked, rolling bidis – tendu leaves tied around tobacco. She rolls about 300-500 of the cigarettes daily, earning about £1.…
The RSF leadership, accused of committing genocide, used UAE as a ‘safe haven’ for family members and their wealth, records show A network linked to the leadership of a militia accused of genocide has amassed a vast property portfolio in Dubai as part of a sprawling “paramilitary-industrial complex” across Africa and the Middle East, an investigation has revealed. Family members, individuals under…
Donors exceed funding target at Berlin conference but prospects for ceasefire remain distant More than £1bn (€1.15bn) has been pledged for war-ravaged Sudan at a conference in Berlin, eclipsing the funding target organisers had set to help mitigate the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The financial commitments made on Wednesday will also help offset a chronic humanitarian funding shortfall in…
A top UN official has criticised lack of global urgency as reports confirm the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is worsening Efforts to end Sudan’s catastrophic war have been criticised as “unacceptable” by the country’s top UN official as a series of new reports confirm that the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis is worsening. Speaking to the Guardian on the eve of the third anniversary of…
Experts argue sensor and satellite data reveal targeted attacks on farming communities by the Rapid Support Forces were intended to prevent villages producing food There is strong evidence that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed a war crime by depriving the villagers of north Darfur of the means to produce food, legal experts argue in a new analysis published today calling for the…
As the UK prepared to host a global summit on bringing peace to Sudan, the RSF paramilitary began a ‘genocidal’ massacre in Zamzam refugee camp. But when reports emerged of the killings, London held its silence. For the first time, using intelligence reports and witness testimony, we piece together what occurred during the April atrocity – and why it was not stopped Continue reading...
Hundreds of people have died while seeking food since delivery was taken over by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May. But Palestinians facing extreme hunger have no choice but to take the risk Raed Jamal sends the message shortly after he returns, empty-handed, from an aid distribution point to his tent in the al-Mawasi displacement camp in south-west Gaza . “The tanks came and started firing.…
Conflict that pits army against paramilitary group has killed tens of thousands and caused hunger, disease and displacement Fighting broke out in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, on 15 April 2023 as an escalating power struggle between the two main factions of the military regime finally turned deadly. Continue reading...
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