EMERGENCY NGO

Shagan was just over one week old when she arrived at our Khartoum Paediatric Centre – weak, with a high fever, and unable to take her mother’s milk.
"Her twin brother died five days after delivery," her mother told us.

Further tests revealed signs of infection due to neonatal sepsis.

"This is a condition that we encounter often and which is usually caused by the poor hygienic conditions that home births take place in, managed without any obstetrical assistance," says our nurse Caterina.

In an environment devastated by more than a year of war, giving birth at home is almost always the only option.

"We also see many pregnant women in a state of severe malnutrition, another consequence of the conflict on maternal and child health."

In , 14 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance: the health, social and economic disaster wrought by the war has a direct impact on the likelihood of survival after birth and during a child’s early years.

August 1945: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki claim more than 200,000 civilian lives.

It is a point of no return: humanity discovers that it is capable of annihilating itself.

Today, almost 80 years later, the continued threat of nuclear conflict remains.

There is only one option: abolish war.

Join us from 6-8 September at the for a programme including talks led by Lotfullah Najafizada on and Sami M. H. Alajrami on , a new film on Afghanistan from Lynzy Billing, and a screening of Hilla Medalia's Emmy-nominated film "Mourning in Lod".
More info at https://en.emergency.it/festival-2024/

Early this morning, rescued 41 people in the .

During the rescue operation, an unidentified boat without lights approached the area of intervention, but did not interfere. Two people on board the boat in distress refused to be rescued and, after the operation was completed, left together with the unidentified boat.

It will take another two and a half days of navigation to reach Naples, the assigned port of disembarkation.

Recently, our colleague Fatmata passed away after a brief illness.

Fatmata was a nurse at our Goderich Surgical Centre, and had recently decided to continue her education at university - part of her constant effort toward personal improvement for herself and her patients.

Her colleagues remember her for her hard work and organisation, but most of all for her joy: "If she was in a room with other people, they would all be laughing."

We extend our condolences to Fatmata's family, friends and the team in Goderich. We will miss you.

After more than a year of war in , over 25 million people are in the midst of a hunger crisis, suffering from extreme food insecurity and malnourishment, and in need of to survive.

At our Paediatric Centre in , more than a third of admissions are malnourished children. At our Clinic in Khartoum - opened to strengthen the response to paediatric needs in the country - the number of critical cases is increasing.

The conflict has induced a so-called 'war economy': prices of primary goods are skyrocketing, and families cannot afford food. The crop yield is no longer reliable: with the ongoing bombing, cultivating the land to feed oneself is impossible.

"The war does not allow anything to be produced anymore. Millions of people have no access to food, but nobody is dealing with this crisis,” reports our colleague Daniela in . “We can't understand how something like this can happen: it's a war that has led and will continue to lead to one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world.”

“Millions of Sudanese are at risk of famine in the coming months.”

Five separate complaints about the 'Piantedosi Decree' and the practice of assigning distant ports for the disembarkation of people rescued at sea have still not been examined by the European Commission.

A year since submitting our complaints, ports of disembarkation continue to be assigned far from where rescues take place: a practice that is not included in any Italian legislation, but which continues to place people's lives at even greater risk, while obstructing our humanitarian activities in the .

It is a violation of international law that exacerbates the suffering of rescued people by delaying their access to essential services, diverts financial resources away from rescue operations, and diverts vessels away from the areas where they are most needed.

Together with Associazione Studi Giuridici Immigrazione, Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF, Oxfam and SOS-Humanity, we continue to denounce the irresponsibility of this conduct and call on the Commission to take immediate action to prevent the obstruction of lifesaving activities, as the death toll rises in the Mediterranean every day.

Read more: https://shorturl.at/WFWXm

Join us in London to meet the creators of “Till the Last Bird Sings”, and hear from other artists telling stories from the frontlines of conflict and humanitarian settings.

“Till the Last Bird Sings” is a graphic novel about access to care and everyday life in Afghanistan, conceived by EMERGENCY and made by the artists La Tram and Francesca Romana Torre, who visited our projects in the country in July 2023. Together, we hope to shine a light on some of the issues the Afghan people currently face, from the vantage point of our hospitals and healthcare centres.

One year on from their visit, the creators of “Till the Last Bird Sings” join us for two events in London:
> On 31 July, ISHKAR hosts La Tram and Francesca Romana Torre for a discussion of their graphic novel “Till the Last Bird Sings”. 94 Columbia Road, E2 7QB. 6:30-8pm.
> On 1 August, join EMERGENCY at The Frontline Club alongside a panel of artists and journalists telling stories from conflict settings in innovative ways - including the team behind the graphic novel, investigative journalist Lynzy Billing, and reportage illustrator George Butler. 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ. 7-8:30pm.

More details available at: https://en.emergency.it/events-in-london-last-bird-sings/

--
"Till the Last Bird Sings" is a project conceived by EMERGENCY and produced thanks to EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid, which supports our activities in Afghanistan.

178 people are safe on board after the three rescue operations our team carried out between five a.m. and midnight yesterday.

"Some people were dehydrated after time in the sun, while others suffered from sunburns, or from chemical burns due to contact with fuel and sea water," say our staff on board.

We are now on our way to Civitavecchia, the designated port: more days of sailing that put a strain on the rescued people, who must continue to wait before disembarking in a safe port.

In the meantime, we continue to monitor the health of those on board and provide the necessary care.

"A very kind person."

A few days ago, Dr Tamim, one of our surgical residents in Afghanistan, passed away from a sudden illness.

"We will never forget his patience, or his dedication to his work and patients," remember the team at the Lashkar-Gah Surgical Centre, where he worked.

Our thoughts are with his friends, family and colleagues. Goodbye, Tamim.

On 9 July 1955, Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein issued a manifesto warning of the consequences of nuclear weapons, their catastrophic risks and the need to prevent their proliferation.

Nearly 70 years later, the 'Russell-Einstein Manifesto' continues to be a universal appeal to abolish war. It asks one essential question, addressed to the entire world: "Will we put an end to the human race, or will mankind renounce war?"

The question remains unanswered: our response will determine our collective security and our collective future.

Malak is 18 months old but weighs just 7.3 kg (16lbs).

She arrived at our Paediatric Clinic in Khartoum, Sudan, accompanied by her older sister. "Malak has been refusing to eat for three days," she told us.

"She was already severely malnourished and anaemic. In addition, gastroenteritis had made her completely lose her appetite," says Caterina, our nurse. "We placed the little girl in one of our beds for observation and so that we could administer antibiotics and the rehydrating solution for patients at such an acute stage of malnutrition."

We arranged an ambulance for Malak so she could transfer from our Clinic to one of the few hospitals still functioning for continued treatment.

In areas of the country where the conflict is particularly active, like Khartoum, food insecurity further strains daily life for Sudanese families, who are experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. The energy crisis - the scarcity of fuel and the frequent electrical blackouts - incessant fighting, and widespread destruction of the city have forced people to flee. 36% of all internally displaced persons in the country come from the capital. Those who have remained, on the other hand, have nothing left.

“Our parents are in Port Sudan," Malak’s sister told us, the only person left who can now take care of the child. Over 800 kilometres separate them from eachother, amid a horrific situation in Sudan: 449 days of war, continuous hunger, violence, and disregarded human rights.

This morning, 47 people rescued by disembarked at the port of Livorno, completing mission 20.

"We couldn't go out, we couldn't even see the sunlight," a young Bangladeshi man told us about his time in Libya.

"Deciding to go to Libya was the worst decision of my life. I couldn't stay in a place like that," said a woman from Nigeria.

After months and sometimes years of fleeing poverty, wars and discrimination, they have now reached a place of safety with the chance at a better life.

Meanwhile, we are preparing for our next mission, to protect and save lives at sea.

On board , a 22-year-old man from South Sudan told us how he fled his country in 2011, and has since travelled through Kenya, Uganda and Sudan to protect himself and his family.

They were difficult years, "without stability or security," he told us.

"In 2020, I decided to go to Libya to try to reach Europe. The journey to Libya was difficult and dangerous, especially in the desert: many people travelling with me lost their lives. I did not know how much racial discrimination there was in that country towards sub-Saharan people, but I realised it very soon. And while in prison, I also fell ill: I couldn't stand up for weeks, I was never so weak and I thought I was going to die."

He was a child when he first fled in search of a better existence, which forced him to cross the sea. He was rescued along with 46 other people by Life Support.

On the voyage to the port of Livorno, he told us that he hoped that upon his arrival in Europe, he would "be treated with respect and have the chance to create a new life for myself far from conflict and injustice."

It is same the hope we would all have, after such a long journey, for ourselves and our families.

rescued 47 people this afternoon.

They were travelling in an unsafe, overcrowded dinghy. For hours they were forced to remain motionless in a hunched position.

Having departed from Libya, they managed to survive in the open sea despite the poor weather conditions.

After the rescue, some of the survivors told our medical staff about burns or other injuries they had suffered from exposure to the engine fuel and sea water, and the prolonged period crammed inside the boat.

People rescued at sea must reach a safe place as soon as possible. The authorities have assigned Livorno as the port of disembarkation, three and a half days away.

This week, the UNSG's Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, and WHO Representative in Sierra Leone, Dr Innocent Nuwagira, visited EMERGENCY's Goderich Surgical Centre in , where road traffic accidents make up more than 40% of admissions.

Worldwide, are the leading cause of death for people aged 5-29.

The visit was an opportunity for the EMERGENCY team to share our experience providing trauma medicine in a country where, at 14 per 100,000, the road traffic mortality rate is double that seen in Europe. Since 2001, the Surgical Centre – Sierra Leone's most prominent reference hospital for traumatology – has treated over 450,000 outpatients and conducted more than 71,000 surgical interventions.

“Trauma caused by road traffic accidents affects every community around the world, making timely and affordable access to trauma medicine essential. In Sierra Leone, road incidents are a leading cause of death and disability,” says Giuseppe Meucci, EMERGENCY’s Interim Medical Coordinator in Goderich. “For three decades, EMERGENCY has worked to provide free, high-quality trauma care around the world to people who would otherwise be left with little access to lifesaving treatment.”

We value the Special Envoy’s commitment to increasing road safety awareness to reduce accidents and save lives, and we remain dedicated to providing Goderich, Sierra Leone and the wider region with essential traumatology and hospital services – always completely free of charge.

"I read somewhere that the decision to emigrate comes from a need to breathe.
And the hope of a better life is stronger than any other feeling."
- Fabio Geda

"It was heartbreaking. The first thing they asked us for was a phone, to notify relatives back home in Iran. We lent them ours. One father lost his wife and four-month-old baby on the voyage: he had to explain to his family the horror that had happened at sea. He was talking and crying, it was impossible to calm him down, we asked for doctors to intervene".

Yesterday, our cultural mediator Ousmane met three survivors of Monday's shipwreck off the coast of Italy: a man who was travelling alone, one who lost his cousin, a father who saw his daughter drown with his wife.
They were looking for a better life.

A European mission is urgently needed. Legal and safe channels of entry into Europe must be created. To rescue and protect people's lives.

More dead, more missing. Children caught in waves and entire families swallowed up by water. The toll of the two latest tragedies at sea - off the Italian shores of Calabria and Lampedusa - has reached over 70 dead and missing, including at least 26 children.

Three of the survivors, who disembarked yesterday in southern Italy and came from Iranian Kurdistan, are now being treated in Polistena hospital. The local health authorities have asked EMERGENCY staff from our Outpatient Clinic for support with cultural mediation.

The three survivors are physically stable, but have suffered severe psychological trauma: one was travelling alone, one lost his wife and 4-month-old daughter, one lost his cousin.

We have managed to put them in touch with their relatives.

Once again, the externalisation of borders proves to be a cruel and unsuccessful strategy that has enriched traffickers and caused the deaths of 23,500 people on the central route alone since 2014.

This is why - for the rescue and protection of people's lives - we call for a European SAR mission and the creation of legal and safe channels of entry to Europe.

Meanwhile, with our ship , we will continue to rescue those in need. Because it is the right thing to do.

"Every single donation makes a difference.”

Due to the ongoing war in Sudan, millions of people have had to flee Khartoum in search of safety. Among them were thousands of blood donors who made it possible for us to ensure supplies for our blood bank at the Salam Centre, our hospital complex in the capital.

A year of conflict and bombing has destroyed Khartoum, whose streets are deserted and dangerous. It is increasingly difficult to find blood donors, especially for the rarer blood types.

"Today, every single donation makes a difference, in a context already hampered by continuous logistical and supply constraints," says Elisabetta from the Salam Centre. It is thanks to the generosity of patients' relatives and residents of the nearby Soba neighbourhood, who still spontaneously arrive to donate blood, that we are able to continue our activities.

This act of generosity is essential to ensure timely transfusions and adequate supplies of blood for our hospital.

“I had to flee Niger because, after my father died, my neighbours threatened me saying that if I didn’t leave they would kill me. They wanted the land I had inherited. One day they beat me until I lost consciousness; I was 13 years old and I realised that I had to run away if I wanted to live.”

Seven years later, the now 20-year-old man was rescued from an overcrowded, deflating boat in the Sea. On board our ship , he told us his story:

“I spent a few years in Niger and Chad. In 2021, I arrived in Libya where I worked as a mechanic for three years. During all this time, I was exploited. Sometimes I was forced to work on the cars of Libyan militias, the same people who kidnapped and tortured my sub-Saharan brothers every day, probably using those same cars.

“My boss paid me a pittance and got rich thanks to me. One day I told him that I would always be the one working and he the one enjoying my work: he started beating me, put his hands in my mouth and wanted to tear my cheeks. If I had responded with force, I would have lost my life.

“This is how it works in Libya: if you have dark skin, you have no rights and it takes little to be killed. After three years in these conditions, I decided I had to leave. No one decides to leave their country and their family and risk their life if they are not forced to do so by wars, poverty or political repression.”

His attempt to cross the Mediterranean was his last effort to escape Libya, where he had only experienced exploitation, violence and discrimination.

We rescued him and brought him to a place of safety, so that he may finally live with his respected.

In the new Paediatric Outpatient Clinic in , our colleague Albino is in charge of community health promotion, a crucial activity in our paediatric facilities across .

During special sessions in the triage area, Albino and the health promotion team share important tips with parents to protect the health of their children, from methods for preventing food contamination to good practices for avoiding infections.

"Many families are suffering. There is a lack of electricity, water, food," Albino explains. "Our completely free health education and promotion work is an additional support for the Sudanese people during this extreme crisis."

Albino has been working with EMERGENCY since 2015 at the Paediatric Centre in Mayo, a densely populated area on the outskirts of Khartoum. When the war broke out in April 2023, we had to suspend activities in Mayo due to security conditions – but Albino moved to our facility in Khartoum to continue supporting Sudanese families and children, who have been dealing with the consequences of a country-wide health catastrophe for more than a year.

From healthcare projects to surgical missions to peace campaigns, retrace 30 years of EMERGENCY's commitment to providing free, high-quality care to the victims of wars, landmines, and poverty.

Always with the same values: Medicine. Human Rights. Equality.

It was presented as a military operation to strike the enemy, then - when the devastating toll became undeniable - it was referred to as a 'tragic accident'.
The result is there for all to see: a massacre of civilians.

The Israeli offensive has turned Rafah from being the last remaining refuge for millions of Palestinians fleeing the war into a deathtrap.

This is war: it normalises violence, it dehumanises people, it compromises the future.
The fighting has already killed more than 37,000 people.

Stop. Ceasefire now.