Reconstruction and recovery needs following the catastrophic flooding in eastern Libya last September are estimated at $1.8 billion, according to this new report by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union.

Economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to grow by 5.2% in 2022, the fastest rate since 2016, on the back of oil-price windfalls benefitting the region’s oil exporters. But heightened uncertainty surrounds this forecast due to the war in Ukraine and ongoing threats from COVID-19 variants.

Attacks on water and sanitation facilities in conflict zones around the world are putting the lives of millions of children around the world in danger, and are a much greater threat than violence itself, warns the UN Children’s agency, UNICEF, in a report.

This report is based on a survey of 1,400 people affected by conflict and displacement in eight countries, and more detailed surveys and needs assessment in a total of 14 countries. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) research found that these communities have suffered widespread loss of income since the pandemic started.

At a time when governments around the world are asking people to stay at home and limit their travel to contain the spread of Covid-19, armed conflict and violence are forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. Between 23 March and 15 May 2020, armed conflict in 19 countries has displaced at least 661,000 people.

Today, nearly 55 million people in the Arab States, 13.2 percent of the population, are hungry and the situation is particularly worrying in countries affected by conflicts and violence: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen.

In conflict and disaster, children suffer first and suffer most. Today, one in four of the world’s children lives in a conflict or disaster zone — a fact that should shake each of us to our core. All of these children face an uncertain future. Around the world, more than 30 million children have been displaced by conflict.