Conflicts & Crises

From tents to toilets to bags of food, there’s one thing much of humanitarian aid has in common: logos. But as organizations fight for funding and countries vie for international clout, some are pushing back against the “soft power” move behind branded aid.

The number of people experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity more than doubled last year compared to 2019.

Sami al-Gada and Hassan Tibwa were students at the International University of Africa when the war in Sudan broke out. Neither thought the war would last longer than a few days. They were wrong. 

In Israel and the Palestinian territories – and other parts of the world suffering from conflict – the holy month has often correlated with heightened tensions and violence.

Jordan is home to the world’s second-largest per capita number of refugees and a large Palestinian population.

The Palestinian prime minister announced on Feb. 26 that he and his council of ministers will resign from the Palestinian Authority amid declining support, which has been weakened by accusations of corruption, withdrawn financial aid, and the slow pace of progress toward Palestinian self-determination. 

New polling conducted by Gallup between Feb. 1 and 20 finds that, compared to last year, fewer Americans think the United Nations is doing a good job at solving the problems it has to face.

The U.S. testified at the United Nations’ court on Feb. 21, saying that Israel should not be “legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw” from occupied Palestinian territory and instead the International Court of Justice should work within the “land-for-peace” framework to issue their opinion.

The United Nations General Assembly has asked the organization’s court to give advice on what legal consequences Israel should face for its decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories. 

Aziz Abu Sarah grew up in East Jerusalem. When he was 9 years old, his older brother was arrested on suspicion of throwing rocks and died shortly after his release from internal injuries sustained during his time in prison. “For eight years, my life was focused on revenge,” Aziz told Blue Marble. But when he was 18, he decided to study Hebrew.