Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and UN chief Antonio Guterres host today a conference to raise $8 billion for South Sudanese refugees. Nearly one million have crossed into Uganda since conflict broke out in 2013. More than 900,000 refugees are sheltering on plots of land often donated by Ugandans. The country’s refugee policy has been called one of the most progressive in the world because refugees are allowed freedom of movement and can operate their own businesses. However, the continuing influx of South Sudanese refugees is starting to test the limits of Uganda’s generosity as it exerts a lot of pressure on the available resources. (DW http://bit.ly/2sZC1rT)
Fewer aid groups are operating in war zones...The changing nature of conflicts, attacks against aid workers and a lack of dedicated funding and risk management capacity have prevented an increase in the number of organizations being physically present in the most dangerous flashpoints in the world, says a new report. It identified several positive trends adopted by humanitarians to reach people where the needs are greatest. A number of relieforganizationss said that they were able to make the shift from leaving when security deteriorates, to staying and delivering amid insecurity.” (NRC http://bit.ly/2sZUBQH)
Stat of the day: More than 1,000 children have been killed in Iraq since 2014, when IS militants swept into the country, claiming territories, including Mosul and other major cities, according to UNICEF. (VOA http://bit.ly/2sZY8OI)
Top Stories
The number of people killed in a landslide in Guatemala has risen to 12 after a 94-year-old man who was rescued on Tuesday died in hospital. (BBC http://bbc.in/2s1fHcd)
A convoy of three trucks from the World Food Program using a newly opened land corridor has arrived in Qamishli in Syria’s northeastern Hasakeh governorate, carrying lifesaving food assistance for hungry families. (WFP http://bit.ly/2sw1BmM)
A severe drought followed by heavy rainfalls in Sri Lanka has hit large swaths of cropping areas, threatening the food security of some 900,000 people, according to a report. (FAO http://bit.ly/2s11c8b)
Nearly 50 people contracted cholera while attending a health conference in Kenya’s capital. (BBC http://bbc.in/2tU6bJt)
The United Nations said that Congo Republic will withdraw its troops from a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic after a review sparked by sexual abuse accusations found “systemic problems in command and control.” (Reuters http://bit.ly/2sZTBM5)
A series of brutal, government-ordered evictions that left more than 30,000 Nigerians homeless were deemed unconstitutional in a landmark decision by the Lagos High Court, activists said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2tzwbdt)
Stigma and rejection from their communities after returning home from armed groups are driving former girl soldiers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo back into the militias, where they are prey to violence and sexual abuse, a charity said this week. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2t0eR4m)
All Kenyan schoolgirls are to get free sanitary pads, the government has said. (BBC http://bbc.in/2tU4jjN)
Disaster risks are arguably rising faster in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else, said Arabella Fraser, a risk and resilience researcher at the London-based Overseas Development Institute. (TRF http://bit.ly/2s15pcb)
Opinion/Blogs
The latest World Population Facts and Figures Were Just Released By the UN (Global Dispatches podcast http://bit.ly/2sZWZ9P)
South Sudan: Soldiers’ rape trial is a publicity stunt and distraction (African Arguments http://bit.ly/2s13sMF)
Populism’s Success, in Plain English (Bloomberg View https://bloom.bg/2s0VhQD)
Neglected but not over: Burundi crisis continues to bite (IRIN http://bit.ly/2sZBt5b)
Poverty-free China by 2020? Beijing says it’s possible – but steepest climb ahead (CSM http://bit.ly/2s0B3qi)
Trump Has Set U.S.-Cuba Relations Back Decades (Foreign Policy http://atfp.co/2s1aW2l)
How self-help groups strengthen resilience: tackling food insecurity in protracted crises in Ethiopia (ODI http://bit.ly/2tzh5ox)
Here’s how Singapore provides high-quality health care at low costs (PRI http://bit.ly/2sZqTuV)
Humanitarian Aid Is ‘Broken,’ Says Former U.N. Official (NPR Goats and Soda http://n.pr/2sZZglg)
Zakat requires Muslims to donate 2.5% of their wealth: could this end poverty? (Guardian http://bit.ly/2sZKMBV)
No Wall for Ethiopia, Rather an Open Door—Even for Its Enemy (IPS http://bit.ly/2tzhp6A)
Why Migrants Keep Risking All on the ‘Deadliest Route’ (NY Times http://nyti.ms/2sZJbfB)
