Children dying in South Sudan after US aid cuts: NGO
Children dying in South Sudan after US aid cuts: NGO/node/2606537/middle-east
Children dying in South Sudan after US aid cuts: NGO
The impact of US aid cuts has already taken a toll in South Sudan and children are dying, Action Against Hunger said on Tuesday. (AP/File)
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Updated 24 sec ago
AFP
Children dying in South Sudan after US aid cuts: NGO
The British Lancet journal projected that the cuts to USAID could lead to more than 14 million deaths by 2030
Rwot estimated they had lost 30 percent of their funding due to the USAID cuts
Updated 24 sec ago
AFP
NAIROBI: The impact of US aid cuts has already taken a toll in South Sudan and children are dying, Action Against Hunger told AFP on Tuesday.
The east African nation has remained deeply poor and unstable since independence in 2011 and is massively dependent on international aid despite its oil wealth.
It is among the countries facing shortfalls following US President Donald Trump’s decision to slash funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which had provided over 40 percent of global humanitarian aid.
On Tuesday, the British Lancet journal projected that the cuts to USAID could lead to more than 14 million deaths by 2030, including over 4.5 million children under the age of five.
“I think it’s not just a fear. It’s already a reality. We’re already having some mortality rates coming in,” said Denish Ogen Rwot, Action Against Hunger’s communication and advocacy lead in South Sudan.
“Already we are having children die,” he added.
The international NGO works across South Sudan, including in the increasingly violent Jonglei state, providing food and supplies.
Rwot estimated they had lost 30 percent of their funding due to the USAID cuts.
“That means now we’ll have facilities without food... and how do we work without these supplies?,” he asked.
Rwot recently visited northern Warrap state, near the border with Sudan — itself enduring a civil war — describing how the warehouses there were “very empty.”
“They’re still registering people, but there is no food for them,” he said.
It comes a day after the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that acute malnutrition rates among refugee children in South Sudan — fleeing the war in Sudan — had “already breached emergency thresholds.”
Action Against Hunger has been forced to reduce its staffing in the country from 300 to 86, further impacting its ability to respond during a crisis.
Food supplies to some Sudan refugees could dry up within 2 months, WFP says
“Unless new funding is secured, all refugees will face assistance cuts in the coming months,” Hughes told a Geneva press briefing
Many of those fleeing are escaping from hunger hot spots in Sudan
Updated 5 min 27 sec ago
Reuters
GENEVA: Food aid to help Sudanese refugees in four neighboring countries could end within the next couple of months without an urgent injection of new funding, a World Food Programme official said on Tuesday, warning of rising malnutrition levels.
Over 4 million refugees have fled Sudan’s more than two-year civil war to seven neighboring countries where shelter conditions are widely viewed as inadequate due to chronic funding shortages.
“Unless new funding is secured, all refugees will face assistance cuts in the coming months,” Shaun Hughes, the WFP’s emergency coordinator for the Sudan regional crisis, told a Geneva press briefing, calling for $200 million over six months.
“In the case of four countries — that’s the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya — WFP’s operations are now so severely underfunded, that all support could cease in the coming months as resources run dry,” he said, clarifying later that this could happen within two months.
Many of those fleeing are escaping from hunger hot spots in Sudan. A joint UN report said last month the country was at immediate risk of famine.
Hughes said that any reduction or end to rations would leave child refugees at a greater risk of malnutrition.
Asked why the funding had fallen, he cited reductions from donors across the board and rising humanitarian needs.
He added that the United States, which has reduced its foreign aid spending dramatically under President Donald Trump, remained its top donor for Sudan.
UAE foreign minister reaffirms Abu Dhabi’s support for UN’s nuclear watchdog
Emirati minister discussed the regional situation with the IAEA chief and exchanged views on current developments in the Middle East
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said UAE values its partnership with the IAEA, which has been essential in advancing Abu Dhabi’s peaceful nuclear program
Updated 28 min 23 sec ago
Arab News
LONDON: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, minister of foreign affairs, discussed cooperation between the UAE and the International Atomic Energy Agency during a call on Tuesday with IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi.
The Emirati minister discussed the regional situation with the IAEA chief and exchanged views on current developments in the Middle East, according to the Emirates News Agency.
Sheikh Abdullah highlighted the UAE’s support for the IAEA’s role in promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy for sustainable development, in line with international safety and non-proliferation standards.
The UAE values its partnership with the IAEA, he said, which has been essential in advancing Abu Dhabi’s peaceful nuclear program to provide clean electricity while upholding international standards for safety, security and non-proliferation.
Israeli army kills two in West Bank, including one teen
Palestinian health ministry says 15-year-old Amjad Nassar Abu Awad was killed by Israeli military gunfire in Ramallah
Updated 32 min 29 sec ago
AFP
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian health ministry said Tuesday that the Israeli army killed two people including a 15-year-old boy in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank.
“At dawn today, Tuesday, 15-year-old child Amjad Nassar Abu Awad was martyred by Israeli gunfire in the city of Ramallah,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Also at dawn today, 24-year-old young man Samer Bassam Zagharneh was martyred by Israeli gunfire near the town of Dhahiriya” in the southern West Bank, the ministry added.
The Israeli military told AFP it was “looking into” the two reported incidents.
Around 20 people, mostly young boys and teenagers, had gathered at a Ramallah hospital to mourn Abu Awad, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.
In tears, the boys touched Abu Awad’s face in the white light of the hospital morgue.
Two Palestinian teenagers, aged 13 and 15, were killed last week in the West Bank towns of Al-Yamoun and Kafr Malik respectively.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Violence has soared in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that triggered the Gaza war.
Since then, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 946 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the health ministry.
Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.
Charities demand closure of Gaza aid agency backed by US, Israel
Over 500 Palestinians killed, more than 4,000 injured at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers
Gazans face ‘impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families’
Updated 01 July 2025
Arab News
LONDON: A group of more than 130 charities and NGOs has called for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to be closed.
The GHF, backed by the US and Israel, has been operating since May to distribute aid but has been fiercely criticized by observers, with over 500 Palestinians killed and more than 4,000 injured at its distribution centers.
Organizations including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International on Tuesday said Palestinians are being forced into “militarized” zones in order to receive essential supplies.
“Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the groups said in a statement.
“Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites.”
The GHF was established after Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza following the breakdown of a US-backed ceasefire with Hamas in March.
Four aid distribution centers were set up, replacing around 400 that were run by international bodies during the ceasefire.
The group of aid agencies and charities said the GHF system “is not a humanitarian response” to the problems facing Gazans, who have lived in a constant state of displacement and supply shortages since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.
“Amidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations,” the group added.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned the GHF’s distribution system as being “inherently unsafe.”
It came after a report in Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot directly at Palestinian civilians to disperse them from overcrowded GHF aid distribution centers.
Veolia scales up hazardous waste management in global GreenUp push
French transnational to increase hazardous waste treatment capacity by 50 percent by 2030
New Drop technology destroys targeted PFAS up to 99.9999%, a major step forward in fight against ‘forever chemicals’
Updated 30 sec ago
Zeina Zbibo
COURRIERES: As hazardous waste becomes an emerging bottleneck in global industry, environmental services giant Veolia is taking center stage with a bold new road map. At its “Deep Dive Waste to Value” conference held in Courrieres, northern France, the company unveiled a sweeping strategy to expand hazardous waste treatment capacity by 50 percent by 2030 — a key pillar of its broader GreenUp plan to accelerate sustainable infrastructure worldwide.
The event marked a strategic repositioning, beyond the scope of a corporate update. In an age of tightening regulations, industrial transformation and health concerns tied to chemical pollutants, hazardous waste is no longer a passive liability — it is a value stream to be captured, a risk to be neutralized and a global challenge requiring scalable, science-backed solutions.
The Courrieres hazardous waste facility, one of Veolia’s flagship sites, processes about 140,000 tonnes of waste per year. (Supplied)
Veolia executives from across Europe, North America, the Middle East and the Australia–New Zealand region convened at the event, offering insights into how the company is reshaping its global hazardous waste portfolio to meet mounting environmental and regulatory demands.
From PFAS destruction technologies to global acquisitions, Veolia’s leadership outlined how the company plans to lead the next chapter in environmental security — focusing on innovation, infrastructure investment and tailored regional solutions aligned with industry needs.
From buckets of paint to PFAS: the scope of hazardous waste
Hazardous waste comes in various forms — from industrial effluents to household products like leftover paint, expired garden chemicals or solvents. The path to circularity starts not just with large-scale technology, but also with individual action. Next time you have a bucket of unused paint or expired garden products, think again before dumping it into nature — a reminder that sustainable change hinges on both systemic infrastructure and everyday choices.
At scale, Veolia aims to increase its hazardous waste treatment capacity by 530,000 tonnes, eliminate over 9 million tonnes of pollutants annually and increase revenues from this segment by 50 percent by 2030.
According to CEO Estelle Brachlianoff: “Hazardous waste treatment is becoming a strategic bottleneck for several industries. It is also an essential topic for human health and environmental security.”
Macro and micro-scale strategy
Hazardous waste is a global issue requiring both top-down and bottom-up engagement. “We need international cooperation,” Brachlianoff said, “but also change at the household level. Sustainable impact requires both.”
She identified three defining industry drivers: Pollutant removal for health, strategic industrial restructuring and supply chain resilience. “Waste is not waste anymore — it’s an untapped resource,” she added.
Veolia now treats more than 8.7 million tonnes of hazardous waste each year and reported €4.3 billion ($5 billion) in 2024 revenue from its hazardous waste segment. Its portfolio includes advanced capabilities such as strategic metal separation, battery recycling, and thermal treatment across a proprietary lab and incineration network.
Emmanuelle Menning and Estelle Brachlianoff. (Supplied)
Courrieres: Where the science happens
The Courrieres hazardous waste facility, one of Veolia’s flagship sites, processes about 140,000 tonnes of waste per year. Every load undergoes 10–20 tests, then sorting by waste family, followed by incineration or chemical treatment — a full cycle that can take as little as 10 to 45 minutes.
Due to the complexity and infrastructure requirements, treatment investments are closely tied to local waste volumes. When volumes are insufficient, waste may be transported to facilities elsewhere in Europe or beyond.
The PFAS challenge: Veolia’s new Drop Technology
One of the most significant challenges Veolia aims to tackle is PFAS — the persistent, health-risk chemicals often used in industrial and household applications. These “forever chemicals” resist breakdown due to their strong carbon-fluorine bonds and are increasingly under regulatory scrutiny.
In a major announcement, Veolia introduced Drop, its newly patented PFAS destruction technology, developed in-house and now being deployed across its 20 hazardous waste incineration lines in Europe.
Unlike traditional incineration, Drop uses a catalyst-assisted thermal process at more than 900 degrees Celsius, which not only enables destruction and removal efficiency of up to 99.9999 percent for both polymeric and non-polymeric PFAS, but also reduces corrosion and fouling in incineration systems — increasing long-term reliability.
“This is a disruptive innovation capable of eliminating targeted PFAS while preserving industrial infrastructure,” said Catherine Ricou, CEO of Veolia Hazardous Waste Europe. “We’re proud to set a European benchmark in PFAS treatment.”
Global markets and local solutions
Executives across regions presented how Veolia’s strategy is adapted to local contexts:
In Europe, Ricou highlighted four strategic pillars: Network strength, asset diversity, a granular customer base and innovation. With 20 operational sites handling waste from sectors like pharmaceuticals and households, the company is targeting 10 percent compound annual growth rate in hazardous waste EBITDA.
In North America, Bob Cappadona, president and CEO of Veolia Environmental Solutions and Services, highlighted recent acquisitions in Massachusetts and California, and the commissioning of one of the continent’s largest PFAS treatment facilities in Delaware.
From the Middle East, Helder Daravano, Veolia general manager of MAGMA, said the region is growing “twice as fast as Europe” despite being one-quarter its size. New facilities in (Tahweel) and the UAE (MAGMA) are positioning Veolia as a full-service player in the region.
In Australia and New Zealand, Matt Ead, Veolia’s national remediation services manager, detailed a shift from landfilling to pretreatment, supported by M&A activity and market-specific strategies.
Estelle Brachlianoff and Veolia executives at the "Deep Dive Waste to Value" conference in Courrières - France. (Supplied)
Scaling through GreenUp: investments and M&A
To meet rising demand, Veolia’s GreenUp program outlines both organic and acquisitive growth:
Five new treatment facilities are under development across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
An additional 285,000 tonnes of capacity will be added by 2027, with a total of 430,000 tonnes by 2030.
$354 million in acquisitions across the US, Brazil, and Japan will contribute 100,000 tonnes of capacity.
Emmanuelle Menning, deputy CEO finance and purchasing, described the approach as a formula balancing growth, performance and capital allocation, adding that hazardous waste — particularly high-temperature incineration — remains one of Veolia’s most profitable segments.
Environmental security and strategic autonomy
“At Veolia, we are architects of environmental security. Our objective is to protect strategic autonomy,” said Brachlianoff, highlighting the company’s commitment to global agreements like the Basel Convention, ensuring waste does not get exported to less-regulated regions.
At Courrieres, which operates at 94–96 percent capacity, Veolia plans to reconfigure its boilers by 2028 to make the plant energy autonomous. The site today handles 80 percent domestic (Northern France) and 20 percent international waste, including from Italy.
Waste is no longer waste
The overarching takeaway: Hazardous waste is no longer just an environmental liability — it is a strategic resource, a public health priority and a business imperative. As Veolia aligns innovation with policy, technology and investment, it is helping set the global standard for the future of sustainable waste management.
