Afghanistan is beginning to prepare for a run-off election following widespread accusations of voter fraud in the Aug. 20 presidential elections. If the new election, likely between incumbent Hamid Karzai his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah, is not scheduled before early November, it might have to be postponed until spring.
A UN fact-finding team has released a report saying both the Israel military and Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes during the three-week war in Gaza last winter. Richard Goldstone, who led the investigation, defends the findings after Israel condemns the report as biased.
An ongoing food shortage in Guatemala prompts President Alvaro Colom to declare it "a state of public calamity." The World Food Programme plans to distribute 20 tons of nutritional cookies.
The devastating Kenyan drought, said to be the worst drought in nine years, forces millions to seek food aid. But a shortage in donations may force the World Food Programme to decrease monthly rations. Depleted resources contribute to a spike in cattle rustling, most recently an attack that killed 32, including women and children.
The overuse and contamination of Gaza's underground water system is compromising the safety of drinking water for its 1.5 million people. Only 5 to 10 percent of the water is safe for human consumption, and instance of kidney disease has increased. The International Committee of the Red Cross warns that outbreaks of other diseases could be imminent.
A new UN agency will allow the body to engage in “more robust promotion” of women’s rights worldwide by combining four existing agencies under the same umbrella. The new body is set to be operational in early 2010. For more MADRE reaction, click here.
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