The New Humanitarian
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Journalism from the heart of crises
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Academic and writer Julie M. Norman has been visiting the West Bank for two decades. Here, she writes about the dramatic deterioration of conditions that has taken place in the shadow of Gaza over the past two years: ⬇️
“It’s like another Nakba”: Notes from the West Bank
Reflections from a British university professor on how the situation in the West Bank has dramatically changed for the worse since 7 October 2023.
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November 5, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Academic and writer Julie M. Norman has been visiting the West Bank for two decades. Here, she writes about the dramatic deterioration of conditions that has taken place in the shadow of Gaza over the past two years: ⬇️
The flood of RSF videos from El Fasher have offered a glimpse of the horror unfolding there but not its full scale. Survivors say countless killings went unrecorded, and that abductions and ransom demands have soared as the RSF monetises its brutality.
Pay up or be executed: El Fasher survivors speak of kidnappings and mass killings
Testimonies from the few who escaped expose a systematic campaign of execution and extortion.
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November 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
The flood of RSF videos from El Fasher have offered a glimpse of the horror unfolding there but not its full scale. Survivors say countless killings went unrecorded, and that abductions and ransom demands have soared as the RSF monetises its brutality.
Gaza is the most flagrant example of trends that have been developing in the international system for over 20 years, argues Khaled Mansour, a former UN spokesperson who watched these developments from a front-row seat.
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November 1, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Gaza is the most flagrant example of trends that have been developing in the international system for over 20 years, argues Khaled Mansour, a former UN spokesperson who watched these developments from a front-row seat.
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While there’s a lot of concern about individual wars, such as Ukraine or Gaza, the rise of war itself seems to be flying completely under the radar, warns David Harland, Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue: ⬇️
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October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
While there’s a lot of concern about individual wars, such as Ukraine or Gaza, the rise of war itself seems to be flying completely under the radar, warns David Harland, Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue: ⬇️
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Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces have filmed themselves committing mass killings in Darfur’s El Fasher – even as their leaders sat in US-sponsored peace talks.
The city’s fall marks a new horror in Sudan’s war, reports journalist and human rights defender Ahmed Gouja. ⬇️
The city’s fall marks a new horror in Sudan’s war, reports journalist and human rights defender Ahmed Gouja. ⬇️
An atrocity foretold: How the RSF siege of El Fasher turned into genocidal slaughter
Communication networks are down but a deluge of shocking videos point to mass killings on a devastating scale.
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October 31, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces have filmed themselves committing mass killings in Darfur’s El Fasher – even as their leaders sat in US-sponsored peace talks.
The city’s fall marks a new horror in Sudan’s war, reports journalist and human rights defender Ahmed Gouja. ⬇️
The city’s fall marks a new horror in Sudan’s war, reports journalist and human rights defender Ahmed Gouja. ⬇️
“Humanitarian responses should not last forever.” Global funding cuts – and the international humanitarian system's response to them – are a pivotal moment for emergency aid. How it’s unfolding in Cameroon: ⬇️
Aid cuts and elections: How the humanitarian rollback has caused “chaos” in Cameroon
With 800,000 fewer people already targeted for assistance, aid workers warn the longer-term impact could be the worsening of the separatist conflict.
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October 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
“Humanitarian responses should not last forever.” Global funding cuts – and the international humanitarian system's response to them – are a pivotal moment for emergency aid. How it’s unfolding in Cameroon: ⬇️
Economic hardship and youth unemployment have long been persistent challenges in Iran, and have sometimes become drivers of major protests – such as “the Bloody Aban” demonstrations in 2019.
But the current downturn has been unusually sudden and deep.
But the current downturn has been unusually sudden and deep.
“It’s like a nightmare”: War and sanctions push Iranian workers to the brink
Iran has faced economic crises before, but this one has been unusually sudden and deep, forcing many businesses to close or downsize.
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October 30, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Economic hardship and youth unemployment have long been persistent challenges in Iran, and have sometimes become drivers of major protests – such as “the Bloody Aban” demonstrations in 2019.
But the current downturn has been unusually sudden and deep.
But the current downturn has been unusually sudden and deep.
🗣️ “Why don’t you meet in Bangkok? The food is fabulous.” In the latest Inklings newsletter: Notes on reform, Gaza fundraising, Sudan blockades, and humanitarian cuisine choices.
Inklings | Resets, Grand Bargains, and what they say about humanitarian reform
Notes on aid: What’s next for the humanitarian reset and Grand Bargain, who’s fundraising off Gaza, and why bureaucracy is “suffocating” aid in Sudan.
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October 30, 2025 at 8:01 AM
🗣️ “Why don’t you meet in Bangkok? The food is fabulous.” In the latest Inklings newsletter: Notes on reform, Gaza fundraising, Sudan blockades, and humanitarian cuisine choices.
Khaled Mansour was working for the UN in 2001 when he watched the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers from a restaurant in the Gaza Strip. Looking back, he traces a line from the aftermath of that day to the war that has destroyed the enclave.
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October 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Khaled Mansour was working for the UN in 2001 when he watched the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers from a restaurant in the Gaza Strip. Looking back, he traces a line from the aftermath of that day to the war that has destroyed the enclave.
buff.ly/w6fQHDn
buff.ly/w6fQHDn
“For more than two decades I have called the Dzaleka Refugee Camp home. Now funding cuts have triggered a dramatic downsizing of UNHCR, sparking fears that it could even close entirely, leaving its 56,000 refugees stranded.” Ndizeye Innocent, Burundian refugee living in Malawi. ⬇️
“Remember we exist”, refugees in Malawi say as aid is slashed
Drastic cuts to the budget of the UN’s refugee agency mean an uncertain future for 56,000 refugees.
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October 29, 2025 at 12:02 PM
“For more than two decades I have called the Dzaleka Refugee Camp home. Now funding cuts have triggered a dramatic downsizing of UNHCR, sparking fears that it could even close entirely, leaving its 56,000 refugees stranded.” Ndizeye Innocent, Burundian refugee living in Malawi. ⬇️
Kenyan elites do not seek to build institutions to restrain power but rather movements to capture it.
Read:
Read:
Raila Odinga and the politics of power
Kenyan elites do not seek to build institutions to restrain power but rather movements to capture it.
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October 29, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Kenyan elites do not seek to build institutions to restrain power but rather movements to capture it.
Read:
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A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
Read:
Read:
Children under fire as Pakistan drone war escalates
A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
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October 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM
A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
Read:
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While some argue that AI imagery can be a force for democratisation, others worry that it is simply repackaging harmful stereotypes.
Read more:
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AI visuals: A problem, a solution, or more of the same?
While some argue that AI imagery can be a force for democratisation, others worry that it is simply repackaging harmful stereotypes.
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October 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM
While some argue that AI imagery can be a force for democratisation, others worry that it is simply repackaging harmful stereotypes.
Read more:
Read more:
As a UN spokesperson, Khaled Mansour watched as powerful states eroded international law and bent humanitarian aid to serve their interests following 9/11. Gradually, he lost faith in the humanitarian system. Now, he argues, it must be constructed anew.
From 9/11 to Gaza: How I lost faith in the humanitarian system
A former UN spokesperson traces the developments that have enabled Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza back to the beginning of the War on Terror.
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October 28, 2025 at 11:01 AM
As a UN spokesperson, Khaled Mansour watched as powerful states eroded international law and bent humanitarian aid to serve their interests following 9/11. Gradually, he lost faith in the humanitarian system. Now, he argues, it must be constructed anew.
Can the post-World War II rules on war be restored? David Harland, Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, says it’s very unlikely, and that nothing new will replace them until a fresh crisis lets new “winners” reset the rules.
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October 28, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Can the post-World War II rules on war be restored? David Harland, Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, says it’s very unlikely, and that nothing new will replace them until a fresh crisis lets new “winners” reset the rules.
buff.ly/xkM0thQ
buff.ly/xkM0thQ
🚨 New newsletter: Inklings explores all things aid and aid-adjacent. Today: The humanitarian sector’s ageing reform pact will live to fight another day, but in what shape? Also: Who’s fundraising off Gaza, and why bureaucracy is “suffocating” aid in Sudan.
Inklings | Resets, Grand Bargains, and what they say about humanitarian reform
Notes on aid: What’s next for the humanitarian reset and Grand Bargain, who’s fundraising off Gaza, and why bureaucracy is “suffocating” aid in Sudan.
buff.ly
October 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
🚨 New newsletter: Inklings explores all things aid and aid-adjacent. Today: The humanitarian sector’s ageing reform pact will live to fight another day, but in what shape? Also: Who’s fundraising off Gaza, and why bureaucracy is “suffocating” aid in Sudan.
This year, drone strikes have surged dramatically across Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Islamabad claims the intensified operations are a much-needed response to the growing number of security incidents, but many of the victims are civilians?
Children under fire as Pakistan drone war escalates
A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
buff.ly
October 27, 2025 at 10:15 AM
This year, drone strikes have surged dramatically across Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Islamabad claims the intensified operations are a much-needed response to the growing number of security incidents, but many of the victims are civilians?
“Why war in general gets so little attention is not well understood. It may be because there are now so many wars that war itself has become normalised, or it may be that war is no longer the only existential threat to life on Earth.” ⬇️
Why our world needs new ways to manage the risk of war
The collapse of the so-called post-World War II “rules-based order” has left a vacuum that urgently needs filling.
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October 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM
“Why war in general gets so little attention is not well understood. It may be because there are now so many wars that war itself has become normalised, or it may be that war is no longer the only existential threat to life on Earth.” ⬇️
A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
Read:
Read:
Children under fire as Pakistan drone war escalates
A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
buff.ly
October 24, 2025 at 7:00 AM
A surge in drone attacks and airstrikes across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has left families traumatised, schools emptied, and thousands displaced.
Read:
Read:
The post-World War II “rules-based order” designed “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” has collapsed. What are the alternatives? ⬇️
Why our world needs new ways to manage the risk of war
The collapse of the so-called post-World War II “rules-based order” has left a vacuum that urgently needs filling.
buff.ly
October 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The post-World War II “rules-based order” designed “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” has collapsed. What are the alternatives? ⬇️
In DRC’s south Lubero, near the Ugandan border, residents live under the abuse and control of M23 rebels – their stories largely untold as media attention centres on major eastern cities like Goma. 🧵
The M23 takeover, part 2: Congolese describe domination and defiance in south Lubero
M23 rebels detain a man suspected of affiliation to pro-government militias in this illustration by an artist whose name has been withheld for security reasons.
www.thenewhumanitarian.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
In DRC’s south Lubero, near the Ugandan border, residents live under the abuse and control of M23 rebels – their stories largely untold as media attention centres on major eastern cities like Goma. 🧵
Given the recent hostile stance the Trump administration has taken on trans rights, and massive funding cuts, what can the humanitarian sector do better for LGBTQI+ people and staff? Our latest episode of #RethinkingHumanitarianism.
Rethinking Humanitarianism | The aid sector’s LGBTQI+ blindspot
Global funding cuts are worsening emergency aid’s weaknesses when it comes to the LGBTQI+ community. But there are steps humanitarians can take today.
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October 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Given the recent hostile stance the Trump administration has taken on trans rights, and massive funding cuts, what can the humanitarian sector do better for LGBTQI+ people and staff? Our latest episode of #RethinkingHumanitarianism.
“Most people's views aren't as black and white. They're more nuanced, and they're more complicated, and they're more informed by personal stories and their own experiences of gender than we may suspect.”@saskiabr.bsky.social
buff.ly/Cak95PY
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October 18, 2025 at 2:02 PM
“Most people's views aren't as black and white. They're more nuanced, and they're more complicated, and they're more informed by personal stories and their own experiences of gender than we may suspect.”@saskiabr.bsky.social
buff.ly/Cak95PY
buff.ly/Cak95PY
"Life doesn’t return through political decrees and signatures on paper. It might return when we dare to look in the mirror without fearing what we survived."
Palestinian journalist Rita Baroud on the ceasefire in Gaza: buff.ly/sC5P5mz
Palestinian journalist Rita Baroud on the ceasefire in Gaza: buff.ly/sC5P5mz
October 18, 2025 at 12:02 PM
"Life doesn’t return through political decrees and signatures on paper. It might return when we dare to look in the mirror without fearing what we survived."
Palestinian journalist Rita Baroud on the ceasefire in Gaza: buff.ly/sC5P5mz
Palestinian journalist Rita Baroud on the ceasefire in Gaza: buff.ly/sC5P5mz