Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
The International Atomic Energy Agency will launch its Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) initiative at a two-day event hosted by the Government of the United States of America in Washington, D.C., on 26-27 August, supporting growing interest in the use of nuclear power to help fuel civilian ships and provide offshore energy as the maritime industry seeks to strengthen long-term energy security.
The International High-level Forum on the ATLAS Launch will convene Ministers from IAEA Member States and senior leaders from nuclear and maritime regulators and industries around the world, as well as representatives from international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to formally kick-off the initiative and identify next steps for the safe, secure, and peaceful deployment of civil nuclear-powered ships and floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs).
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will address the opening session on 26 August, at 9:00 EDT (15:00 CEST) together with Chris Wright, United States Secretary of Energy. Director General Grossi and Secretary Wright are also expected to hold a press conference later that day.
The IAEA is launching the ATLAS initiative to support the safe, secure and peaceful deployment of nuclear applications in the maritime domain. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are increasingly being considered as a viable solution for providing high speed maritime transport without frequent refueling, and for electricity generation in coastal and remote locations.
The ATLAS Launch Event will formally introduce the ATLAS vision, structure and initial work plan. On day one, following the opening remarks, statements will be heard from Ministers and other high-level delegates of the participating IAEA Member States. In the afternoon, a series of panel discussions will cover issues related to the demand and deployment of nuclear technologies at sea, and the role of the ATLAS initiative.
On day two, a high-level tour of the NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered merchant ship, will take place at the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. At the same time, event participants will continue discussions on the proposed activities of ATLAS Project Groups over the next years.
For the full programme of the ATLAS Launch Event, please see here.
Media are invited to attend all sessions on Wednesday, 26 August (Day 1) of the ATLAS Launch Event. See Accreditation Section below to indicate your interest to attend in person.
All sessions on Wednesday, 26 August (Day 1) will be livestreamed on the IAEA website. The IAEA will provide b-roll here and photos will be made available on Flickr.
Venue
The ATLAS Launch Event will take place in the Presidential Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington, D.C.; ballroom entrance on 11th Street.
Press Opportunities
Director General Grossi and Secretary Wright are expected to hold a press conference at 12:30 EDT on Wednesday, 26 August, in the Washington and Roosevelt Rooms of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
A live video stream of the press conference will be available on the IAEA website. The IAEA will provide b-roll of the press conference here and will make photos available on Flickr.
Press Working Area
The Washington and Roosevelt Rooms will be available as a press working area, from 08:00-14:00 on Wednesday, 26 August.
Accreditation
All media representatives wishing to attend the ATLAS Launch Event should contact the U.S. at ATLASMedia@doe.gov. Badges will be provided at press check-in.
Commenting on the government consultation on changing the ZEV mandate published today, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics Ami McCarthy (they/them) said:
“Any watering down of this policy would be a wrong turn for drivers, energy security, our climate and the economy. Electric vehicles are way cheaper to run than petrol and diesel cars, they don’t need foreign oil and the market is booming worldwide. Both the Iran war and this summer’s extreme weather have shown once again why we’re better off cutting our dependence on fossil fuels. This mandate is one of the most powerful policies we have to bring down planet-heating emissions, which is the only way to stop more deadly heatwaves in future. Burnham can’t fulfil his promise of tackling the cost of living crisis and reindustrialising Britain without the green economy. So why put on the brakes now?”
ENDS
Contact: Greenpeace UK press team on 020 7865 8255 and press.uk@greenpeace.org
Reacting to the siege of three Palestinian families’ homes by Israeli settlers in the village of Qusra, southeast of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said:
The horrors unfolding in Qusra are far from an isolated incident. They reflect the relentless escalation and expansion of an accelerating and well-documented pattern of coordinated and strategic settler terror, enabled, backed and funded by the State of Israel, with the aim of displacing Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International.
“The horrors unfolding in Qusra are far from an isolated incident. They reflect the relentless escalation and expansion of an accelerating and well-documented pattern of coordinated and strategic settler terror, enabled, backed and funded by the State of Israel, with the aim of displacing Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.
“The three families under siege have been threatened, harassed and attacked by Israeli settlers from nearby outposts for several months. They have been confined to their homes since Sunday 9 August, are running out of food, and lack access to basic necessities, including running water. The homes targeted in these attacks are located in Area B of the West Bank, supposedly under Palestinian administrative control and Israeli military control, according to the classification of the Oslo Accords. Yet Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances trying to deliver food and water to the homes were also attacked by settlers. Despite these violent attacks, Israeli forces allowed the settlers to remain close proximity to the Palestinian families’ homes.
“For far too long, the world has ignored the immense, unfathomable suffering of Palestinians being uprooted and erased from land they have inhabited for generations. The international community must stop treating such incidents as ‘isolated’ and instead hold Israel accountable.”
Sources in Qusra told Amnesty International that the Israeli military forced two of the besieged families, in addition to six neighbouring families, to evacuate their homes for several hours on Thursday and used them as military outposts. As one resident put it, “instead of removing the attackers, the Israeli forces removed the attacked families, while allowing the settlers to stay all this time”.
“Israel, as the occupying power, has a legal obligation to protect the Palestinian population under its control and not to stand by or worse, stand with settlers – while they lay siege to Palestinian homes and cut off families’ access to healthcare, electricity and water for days on end,”
“States must end any form of direct and indirect support for Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its brutal system of apartheid, including its illegal settlement enterprise. This includes banning trade and investment that contribute to the maintenance of Israeli settlements, as well as ending any cooperation and assistance to entities and individuals involved in the settlement enterprise. States should also show no further hesitation in imposing targeted sanctions on senior Israeli officials allegedly responsible for international crimes, including the crimes against humanity of apartheid, and forcible transfer of Palestinians in the unlawfully occupied West Bank. It is imperative that States demonstrate unequivocal resolve by increasing protective measures for Palestinian communities at risk of displacement and using all their diplomatic and political leverage to secure the return of forcibly displaced Palestinians to their homes. Failure to act would further embolden Israel and state-backed Israeli settlers to continue their unlawful and violent actions against Palestinians, who are left unprotected and without any recourse to justice.”
While the response to the Ebola disease outbreak is mobilising significant resources in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns of the need to maintain care and funding for other health crises in the east of the country to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian situation. Cholera, measles, malaria and violence linked to the ongoing conflict continue to threaten thousands of people in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Since the Ebola disease outbreak was declared in May, media attention and resources have focused largely on the response to this emergency. While this mobilisation is essential to contain the outbreak, it must not come at the expense of other health and humanitarian needs that persist in North Kivu and South Kivu.
This outbreak is occurring in a context already marked by multiple health and humanitarian crises. Communities are already living under the pressure of armed conflict. Repeated clashes cause displacement, interrupt vaccination campaigns, limit access to safe drinking water, and make healthcare harder to access.
Added to this already fragile situation is the fear now associated with Ebola disease. In general, fear of exposure to the Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus can deter some patients from attending health facilities in provinces already affected by the outbreak. This fear could lead to delays in care or deaths, including from common diseases, thereby worsening situations that are otherwise preventable, and further weakening access to general healthcare.
“The Ebola disease outbreak is a major emergency, but it is not the only one,” explains Joshua Eckley, MSF head of programmes in South Kivu. “Every day, we receive patients suffering from various diseases, people injured in fighting, and survivors of sexual violence.”
“For these communities, all these emergencies coexist and require a simultaneous response,” says Eckley. “When basic healthcare is interrupted, more people risk dying from preventable diseases. It is essential to preserve continuity of care and access to general healthcare in order to treat all other conditions.”
In the shadow of Ebola disease, measles and cholera are spreading in the east of the country
While the Ebola disease outbreak is the focus of attention, other outbreaks are spreading in eastern DRC. According to official data, more than 108,643 suspected measles cases, with 1,394 deaths, were reported across the country from January to 19 July 2026. Nearly half of these cases — more than 50,827 — are concentrated in North and South Kivu. At the same time, the country has already recorded more than 35,464 suspected cholera cases and more than 1,051 deaths. Of these notifications, 14,819 are concentrated in the two provinces.
MSF has mobilised in the fight against measles in North Kivu and South Kivu. Teams have carried out six responses to measles outbreaks. The most recent are still ongoing, taking place in Shabunda, South Kivu province, and Walikale, North Kivu province. Together, these responses have already made it possible to treat more than 12,050 patients and vaccinate more than 283,150 children.
At the same time, teams are facing a worrying resurgence of cholera. In Bukavu and Shabunda, South Kivu, MSF continues to care for patients following a surge in cases recorded last year in the province. In Goma, teams were also mobilised to tackle a cholera outbreak between May and early August 2026. In total, more than 2,410 people with cholera have been treated in MSF-supported facilities.
Medical staff take care of a patient at the Buhimba cholera treatment centre in Goma, North Kivu province. Democratic Republic of Congo, July 2026.MSF
“For the families we care for, there is no hierarchy between crises,” says Dr Yvan Mbangi, MSF Deputy Medical Coordinator in Goma. “Whether a child dies of measles or malaria, whether a person succumbs to cholera or Ebola disease, every life matters.”
Beyond our response to Ebola disease, and measles and cholera outbreaks, MSF continues to provide essential healthcare in Masisi, Mweso, Walikale, Bambo, Kibirizi, Kirotshe, Goma, and Rutshuru in North Kivu province, and in Minova, Bunyakiri, and Uvira, in South Kivu province. But given the scale of the needs, this mobilisation remains largely inadequate. These crises require much greater commitment from health authorities and humanitarian organisations to guarantee access to care for communities.
Community health workers reinforce cholera prevention measures at the Ibanda health centre in South Kivu province. Democratic Republic of Congo, July 2026.MSF
Yet malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity in DRC, including in North Kivu. Displacement caused by fighting forces many families to seek refuge in forests or isolated areas, where exposure to mosquitoes is greater and access to healthcare is particularly limited.
“We risk seeing a reduction in the resources dedicated to the disease that nevertheless kills the most people in this region,” says Dr Mbangi. “It would be a tragic paradox: mobilising considerable resources against one outbreak while weakening the response to a disease that continues to cause a far higher number of deaths every day.”
Years of conflict, massive displacement, and chronic insecurity, as well as a drastic reduction in humanitarian aid funding, have weakened the health system in North Kivu and South Kivu. Many health centres and hospitals operate with reduced capacity due to a lack of staff, medicines, and equipment, while others have had to suspend their activities because of violence. In several areas, hundreds of thousands of people remain without regular access to healthcare.
“While medical-humanitarian needs continue to grow in eastern DRC, we call on the authorities, donors and all humanitarian organisations to maintain and strengthen their investments in all responses to the many and diverse needs of people,” says Eckley. “It is vital that all emergencies be addressed simultaneously.”
WASHINGTON, DC (August 13, 2026) – At a time when the world’s attention is captured by a fast and dirty data center buildout, an even more sinister climate threat continues under the nose of regulators, governing bodies, and the public. New research shows the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to make the fossil fuel industry more productive are an even bigger climate threat than data centers.
In response to the Enabled Emissions Campaign’s new publication in a Nature journal which provides a methodology for how to estimate the net climate impact of AI from tech companies, Greenpeace USA Senior Research Specialist, Johanna Fornberg, PhD said:
“Big Tech continues to promise that new technologies and AI are for the benefit of humanity, and insists that they are climate solutions. What is hidden from that story is the aggressive support tech companies provide to fossil fuel companies to continue producing oil and gas that harms communities and the climate. Advanced technology can never be a climate solution when it services fossil fuels.
“The report shows that the productivity gains from specialized technology alone ‘generate emissions 3.3 to 13.3 times larger than today’s datacenter emissions, and up to eight times larger than projected 2035 datacenter emissions’. Even when tech companies provide specialized technology that benefits renewables, the net effects of fossil fuel discovery, extraction, and production disproportionately accelerates fossil fuel emissions and supply.
“The Enabled Emissions Campaign shows that the reality of AI use is skewed towards finding and drilling more dirty fossil fuels, and ensuring their continued hegemony in energy systems. Big Tech will continue to be negligent in fueling a massive climate bomb through enabled emissions until the day they drop all contracts for fossil fuel companies.
“AI and advanced technology are expected to transform global economies, and there must be accountability for the direction of that transformation. Without serious federal policy and global governance interventions, AI’s impact will further derail a just energy transition that communities and the planet desperately need.”
In 2020, Greenpeace USA released the Oil in the Cloud report, which revealed some of the fossil fuel contracts that Amazon, Google (Alphabet), and Microsoft provide to the fossil fuel industry. Contracts for exploration, extraction, productivity, and other applications meant billions in profits for both the tech companies that supplied artificial intelligence and other advanced technology and for fossil fuel companies through supply gains.
Contact: Madison Carter, Greenpeace USA National Press Secretary, [email protected], +1 703-554-4842
Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more atwww.greenpeace.org/usa.
Israel continues to restrict the entry of engine oil and spare parts, which are needed to run hospital generators, ambulances, and water pumps, from entering Gaza, Palestine.
These restrictions are part of a broader system meant to limit vital services and supplies.
Israel must immediately lift its blockade and allow the sustained, unhindered entry of supplies needed to respond to people’s immense needs.
Amman/Jerusalem – Thousands of people in Gaza, Palestine, are at heightened risk of death and severe illness, as Israeli authorities continue to restrict the entry of engine oil and spare parts into the enclave, warns Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). These supplies are needed to keep hospital generators, ambulances, water pumps and water trucks running. The impediment of these essential services is emblematic of Israel’s systematic destruction of the necessities for life in Gaza.
In some facilities, MSF barely has enough engine oil to last a month, and some of our equipment has already been affected by shortages. We are forced to try and find stocks at the local market for extortionate prices. The supply of engine oil is so limited that the price has increased 20 times in the last six months. By the end of July, it was more than US$1,300 per litre. Neither the quality nor the availability is guaranteed.
On 5 August, one of the generators at the MSF field hospital in Deir Al Balah broke down. Forced to rely on a smaller backup generator, teams had to drastically ration electricity during this time. We were only able to run the operating theatre for people in the most critical condition; nurses could not sterilise essential equipment; x-ray services stopped; and people with painful burns were left to suffer in extreme heat without air conditioning.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza is not a series of isolated shortages, it is a policy of attrition by design,” says Filipe Ribeiro, MSF head of mission in Palestine. “For more than two years, we have observed Israel’s policies impairing the entry of supplies. These policies do not merely delay aid; they dismantle the very systems people rely on to survive.”
“Today it is engine oil and spare parts. Tomorrow it will be something else,” says Ribeiro. “The items change, but the logic remains the same: reduce people to conditions where life becomes untenable, where dignity is systematically stripped away through the denial of the most ordinary, most essential goods. This is not bureaucracy. It is a deliberate effort to make existence itself impossible.”
In Gaza, most electricity has been cut by Israeli authorities and much of the electrical infrastructure has been destroyed. Hospitals and other essential services now rely almost entirely on generators. Without engine oil and replacement parts, these generators are increasingly breaking down.
If generators stop working, there are no alternative power sources such as solar systems or replacement equipment. New generators or new vehicles have also been blocked by Israeli authorities.
“When generators break down, hospitals are at risk,” says Ola Bardawil, deputy project coordinator. “Newborn babies in incubators, people who rely on oxygen generators, or those in need of lifesaving surgery will suffer.”
Mohammed Shehada, nursing activity manager at Al-Helou hospital in Gaza City, checks on a newborn with low-weight who is lying in an incubator. Palestine, April 2026.Nour Alsaqqa/MSF
The withholding of engine oil and spare parts is not isolated, but part of wider restrictions imposed as part of Israel’s genocide, using structural violence to intentionally limit access to vital services and supplies. The entry of engine oil and spare parts alone will not be enough to improve the lives of people in Gaza. Israel must immediately lift its blockade and allow the sustained, unhindered entry of all medical, humanitarian and commercial supplies needed to respond to people’s immense needs.
The consequences extend far beyond hospitals. Currently, people’s access to drinking water relies on trucks bringing water to the areas where they are sheltering. A survey carried out in July by organisations monitoring water and sanitation found that 90 per cent of households experience moderate to high water insecurity.
An MSF water truck at a distribution point in Gaza, Palestine, February 2026.Craig Kenzie/MSF
Without engine oil, all transport is at risk of stopping, including much needed water trucks at the height of the summer heat. This also means ambulances, buses enabling medical staff to come to work, and trucks collecting humanitarian supplies. Bakeries and flour mills also run off generators, meaning food production could be affected.
One of the generators in MSF’s water desalination hub is already damaged due to the lack of engine oil and spare parts to replace what is broken. In June, we had to start reducing its use from 12 to seven hours per day, resulting in a decrease in drinking water production from 600,000 litres to 350,000 litres a day. This means over 40,000 fewer people can receive water each day.
Israel’s restrictions have become increasingly expansive, preventing the entry not only of generators and vehicles but also routine items, from ointments for skin diseases to rubber seals needed for machines to clean medical equipment. The shortages now extend across virtually every aspect of life in Gaza, leaving hospitals and humanitarian organisations without basic supplies.
Content warning: This blog includes examples of suicidal ideation. We are publishing these details to bear witness to this survivor’s experiences.
Around the world, young people are responding to growing inequality, exclusion and attacks on human rights in a myriad of ways. They are organizing, resisting and creating solutions.
Pablo, Dina and Christopher are three young activists who are part of Digital Disruptors, an Amnesty International project supporting young people to seek justice for the issues that matter to them.
To celebrate International Youth Day, we spoke to them about their work, the power of speaking out and mobilizing others to protect the rights of people threatened by discrimination, gun violence and digital doxxing.
“If even one young person finds the support I didn’t have, that’s enough“
I was 15 when I fell in love with another boy for the first time. That was also the year I came out. Instead of support, I was met with rejection and fear. I almost took my own life.
At the time, I felt very alone. The information, opportunities and support networks that could have helped me either didn’t exist or were extremely difficult to find. Even today, many stories about LGBTIQ+ people in Guatemala are still told through heteronormative and adult perspectives, and many representations continue to reinforce stereotypes and misinformation.
That’s why Disruptorxs is so personal to me.
Over the past year, 14 young people from across Guatemala came together to create a digital platform for LGBTIQ+ young people living on the outskirts of towns and cities. We want to build a space where young people can find information about mental health, sexual health, support networks and opportunities, while also seeing stories that reflect the diversity of our lives.
For me, one of the biggest transformations has been finding the confidence to write about my own experiences. I’ve spent years writing about politics, justice and youth rights, but somewhere along the way I internalized the idea that writing about the realities of being part of the LGBTIQ+ community was somehow less important. Through this project, I realized that our experiences are political too.
I’m proud to be part of such a diverse group – sharing knowledge, building solidarity and creating something that is bigger than any one of us.
That sense of collective knowledge is what stays with me most. Information can change someone’s life, but only if it reaches the people who need it. Disruptorxs is our attempt to make sure future generations don’t have to navigate everything on their own.
If even one young person finds through Disruptorxs the hope, support or information that I couldn’t find at 15, then this project has already succeeded.
Kollectiv Sorg – which means Collective Grief in English – began as an open letter to address gun violence and street crime in Sweden, before it grew into an Amnesty youth group, and over the years became something much bigger: a movement.
We were young people asking society, politicians and decision-makers to stop seeing violence as statistics and start seeing the young people behind them. Behind every headline is somebody’s child, sibling, best friend. Somebody whose absence continues to shape an entire community.
For me, the project is deeply connected to my own experiences of loss. I’ve always cared about human rights, equality and social justice, but losing someone close to me through violence changed the way I saw the world. It gave those values a new urgency.
Kollectiv Sorg gave me a language for feelings I couldn’t explain.
Before, my grief felt isolating. It was something heavy that I carried alone. Through this work, I discovered that grief can also be collective. It affects families, friendships and entire communities. It can connect people who might otherwise never have met. It can also become a catalyst for action.
Too often we focus on symptoms while ignoring the deeper causes. That belief led us to create Collective Talks, a peer support group that meets several times a month for relatives of victims and others who have been directly affected by violence. It became a space where people can return, grief can be shared instead of hidden, and where people realize they don’t have to carry it alone.
We’ve held public exhibitions in galleries and churches across Stockholm and organized public talks, using creative expression to start conversations about loss, safety and hope that are otherwise difficult to begin.
Too often we focus on symptoms while ignoring the deeper causes that allow violence to continue. Through Kollectiv Sorg we try to create spaces where people can process grief openly, while also challenging the structural issues that contribute to violence, exclusion and racism.
The opportunity to connect with other young activists through Amnesty also reminded me that our experiences are not isolated. During exchanges with young people in London, we realized how many hopes, frustrations and challenges we share, even when our contexts look different.
Perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that young people don’t need to wait for permission to lead. We don’t need to have all the answers before we begin.
Grief doesn’t have to end in silence. It can become action, and compassion can become leadership. Real change begins when people find each other, listen to one another and decide to act together.
“I became a digital rights activist because my own data was shared without my consent”
Five years ago, I found screenshots of my personal details online.
My name, photographs, and even my home address appeared on websites and in media coverage.
I never consented to any of it.
That experience changed how I thought about digital rights. What happens when personal information is shared without consent? What happens when people are exposed to harassment, scams, bullying or intimidation because someone failed to protect their data?
Those questions led me to Linda Data.
In Kiswahili, “Linda Data” means “Protect Data”. The campaign was created by five young activists who had never met before attending a workshop convened through Digital Disruptors. Together, we looked at the state of digital rights in Kenya and asked what issue young people cared about most.
After surveying hundreds of young people, one concern stood out: unauthorized access to personal data.
This matters because Kenya is one of the youngest and most digitally connected countries in the region. Young people use social media platforms for education, communication and activism. Those same platforms also expose them to cyberbullying, misinformation, scams, surveillance and data exploitation.
Through campus visits, community conversations and online advocacy, we started helping young people understand both the risks and their rights. We talked about the importance of informed consent, privacy, digital safety and existing legal protections. We also pushed for greater accountability from tech companies and institutions that collect and use people’s personal information.
The project transformed me personally as much as it transformed our campaign.
I learned about legislation, digital security, communications, logistics and organizing. We all had to step into roles we’d never done before. I ended up leading logistics despite having no previous experience. We grew into the responsibilities because the work needed doing.
I now understand that digital rights are not a niche issue. They’re connected to personal safety, mental health, civic participation and freedom of expression.
For me, the goal has never just been protecting data. It’s about helping young people move from being passive users of technology to becoming informed, empowered individuals who can shape the digital world around them.
An MSF survey has found shocking levels of malnutrition among children in displacement sites in Baidoa, Somalia.
Malnutrition and displacement are most severely affecting women and children across the country, as donors continue to withdraw their support.
MSF calls on the donor community to ensure an adequately funded emergency response in Baidoa and other affected areas.
Baidoa / Nairobi — One in every two children screened in displacement sites in Baidoa, South-West state, Somalia, is acutely malnourished and one in every four is severely malnourished. These shocking statistics are the findings of a malnutrition survey carried out in July by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
“Behind every statistic is a child,” says Allara Ali, MSF’s project coordinator in Somalia. “What we are seeing is shocking and far beyond the threshold of an extremely critical emergency.”
“What is equally shocking is the lack of urgency from donors who continue to downscale and withdraw support from Somalia,” says Ali. “While other organisations are attempting to respond, their capacity is limited by funding constraints.”
The results are consistent with MSF’s regular malnutrition surveillance in Baidoa, where teams have screened more than 21,000 children under five since the beginning of the year and found global acute malnutrition levels of around 50 per cent.
The survey, conducted across 888 households in 14 displacement sites in Baidoa, also found that one-third of families are surviving on just one meal a day, while only two per cent can afford three meals a day.
MSF is urgently calling on the donor community, international organisations, and health authorities to ensure a well-coordinated, adequately funded and effective emergency response without delay in Baidoa and other affected areas of Somalia.
“The world cannot wait for a famine declaration before acting,” says Ali. “Action is needed now to prevent loss of lives.”
Consecutive failed rains and worsening drought have affected hundreds of thousands of people across Somalia, depriving families of food, water, crops and livestock. According to the UN, in the first three months of 2026, more than half a million people were displaced in Somalia, with nine out of 10 displacements driven by drought. Alarmingly, 85 per cent of those displaced are women and children, who are also among the most severely affected by malnutrition.
21,000
21,
children admitted to MSF-supported outpatient malnutrition facilities
2,890
2,89
children admitted for inpatient care
2,500
2,5
measles cases treated by MSF
Since the beginning of the year, more than 21,000 children have been admitted to MSF-supported outpatient malnutrition facilities in Baidoa — more than double the number recorded during the same period last year. Over the same period, 2,890 children have been admitted for inpatient care, an increase of 78 per cent compared with the same period in 2025. Figures in 2025 were already higher than the year before. A similar trend is being seen in Mudug, where admissions to MSF-supported inpatient facilities increased by 70 per cent in June and July.
“It is rare that we are able to get two meals a day,” says Nuriyo, mother of a child being treated for severe acute malnutrition in Baidoa. “There is no organisation helping us. An organisation gave us some cash assistance, but that was three years ago.”
Measles and diphtheria are spreading in a context where vaccination campaigns are not reaching everyone effectively. Since the beginning of the year, MSF has treated around 2,500 measles cases in Baidoa, compared with about 1,700 cases during all of 2025. Pregnant and lactating women are also severely affected. In the past two months alone, MSF has admitted more than 2,600 pregnant and breastfeeding women for malnutrition support. When mothers are malnourished, the risks extend to their babies — before birth, during delivery, and in the first months of life.
To respond to the surge in patients, MSF has expanded one medical facility from 50 to 150 beds. MSF teams have also distributed relief items to displaced families and are trucking safe water to displaced communities in Mudug and Baidoa. But medical care and emergency assistance alone cannot meet the scale of this crisis.
“A hospital bed can save a child today. But it cannot protect that child if they return to a shelter with no food, no clean water and no basic services,” says Ali. “Without comprehensive support, including social protection, the cycle of relapse and readmission will continue.”
Aerial view of displacement camps in the Wadajir neighbourhood of Baidoa. Baidoa is home to more than half a million displaced people. Somalia, July 2026.Yahya Mohammed/MSF
Despite the level of suffering, Somalia is being deprioritised by major donors, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Somalia’s humanitarian response plan has been reduced by 40 per cent in 2026 and was still less than one-third funded by July. Funding cuts are weakening already fragile health services and forcing the health system to absorb a crisis far beyond its capacity.
“The malnutrition and health crisis in South-West [state], Somalia, is becoming a clear example of dangerous indifference and a failure of responsibility, as Somalia is pushed further down the global agenda,” says Ali. “The scale of this crisis should be a wake-up call for the international community.”
MSF is calling for an urgent scale-up of inpatient treatment for severe acute malnutrition, particularly for children with medical complications. This must include increased bed capacity and additional medical staff, as well as uninterrupted supplies of therapeutic food, medicines and medical equipment. We also urge vaccination campaigns to reach missed and hard-to-reach communities, with stronger coverage and more effective delivery.
According to the latest IPC analysis, around six million people in Somalia – about one in three people – are estimated to be facing food shortages. Among them, nearly 1.9 million people are in an emergency, meaning they need urgent support.
Nearly 512,000 people were newly displaced within Somalia during the first three months of 2026 alone, with 93 per cent displaced by drought. About 85 per cent of people who are displaced are women and children (UNHCR June 2026).
Somalia’s Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan was reduced to US$852 million in 2026. Humanitarian partners target 2.4 million people, reaching less than half of those in need.
International organisation CARE says funding shortfalls have forced the closure of 50 of its 80 supported health and nutrition centres in Somalia since January, with 15 more at risk by October.
United States, one of Somalia’s leading donors for years, including in 2025, has fully halted its support in 2026, while the United Kingdom has cut its funding by nearly half compared with 2025. (UNOCHA).
Dr Olivier Kasita is a physician working at the Elikya Ebola treatment centre in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo. This centre has been supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) since the beginning of the Ebola disease outbreak. Through his work at the centre, he has been directly involved in the care of patients throughout the response. Dr Kasita answers questions about the new PARTNERS clinical trial.
What do clinical trials involve? How do they work?
The PARTNERS trial is the World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored international clinical research trial conducted through close collaboration between the national health authorities, research institutions, outbreak response partners, and international organisations. It aims to rapidly generate high-quality evidence on the safety and efficacy of two promising treatments, MBP134 et Remdesivir, for patients who tested positive for Bundibugyo virus disease.
Participants who volunteer to join the trial are randomly assigned to one of four study groups: one receives both MBP134 and Remdesivir, one receives MBP134 alone, one receives Remdesivir alone, and one receives the current standard of care without either investigational treatment. This randomised design allows researchers to compare outcomes across groups and determine whether the treatments provide a meaningful benefit.
This study gives patients a chance to receive one of the treatments that researchers believe may work better than the current standard. Three out of every four patients (75 per cent) enrolled in the study will receive one of these promising treatments. By taking part, patients may benefit themselves while also helping doctors learn which treatment works best, which could save more lives and help stop the outbreak.
Dr Olivier, a physician working at the Elikya Ebola treatment centre in Bunia. Democratic Republic of Congo, August 2026.Julien Dewarichet/MSF
What is MSF’s role in the PARTNERS clinical trial?
MSF is participating in the PARTNERS trial as a clinical trial site. This means that the study is being implemented within MSF-supported treatment centres, where eligible patients can be informed about the research and offered the opportunity to enrol on a voluntary basis.
While MSF contributes to the trial and the care of participating patients, the study protocol is developed and led by the WHO and its research partners. MSF does not oversee the trial design or make decisions regarding patient allocation or treatment strategies. However, as an operational partner, MSF is involved in operational recommendations and the review of emerging data and findings.
At present, the trial is being conducted in MSF’s Elikya treatment centre in Bunia, Ituri province, where research activities are integrated into the outbreak response and patient care provided by MSF teams.
What outcomes can we hope for? What change is this expected to bring about?
The primary goal of the PARTNERS trial is to determine whether MBP134 and/or Remdesivir are safe and effective treatments. If the trial demonstrates a clear clinical benefit, it could provide the robust evidence needed for these therapies to be recommended by health authorities, licensed by regulatory agencies, and made more widely available to at risk communities during future outbreaks.
In the longer term, successful results could transform the way future outbreaks are managed, adding proven therapies specific to Ebola disease to the general care currently available. This would represent a significant step forward in both outbreak response and patient care in affected communities.
Reacting to reports of the deteriorating health of opposition leader Ali Karimli and media expert Alasgar Mammadli, both detained in Azerbaijan, and the threat of extradition from Ukraine to Azerbaijan of political activist Bahruz Hasanli, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:
“According to family members and lawyers, Ali Karimli and Alasgar Mammadli have suffered a severe deterioration in their health due to inadequate prison conditions and a lack of essential health care. Ali Karimli has been denied access to clean drinking water and ventilation, which may amount to torture or other ill-treatment. Alasgar Mammadli’s lawyers have repeatedly requested that he be transferred to house arrest given his health problems which have seriously worsened in detention.”
“Ali Karimli and Alasgar Mammadli are among hundreds of individuals who have fallen victim to Azerbaijan’s intensifying campaign of political repression, targeting journalists, activists, outspoken government critics and opposition politicians. Another victim of these reprisals is Bahruz Hasanli, a political activist who used to serve as Ali Karimli’s security guard. He is currently at risk of extradition from Ukraine to Azerbaijan where he could face torture and other ill-treatment.
“The Azerbaijani authorities must ensure that Ali Karimli, Alasgar Mammadli and all other prisoners have immediate access to adequate drinking water, ventilation and all necessary medical care. Ukraine must fulfil its human rights obligations and not extradite Bahruz Hasanli to Azerbaijan.”
Background
According to Ali Karimli’s family, he fainted from severe dehydration on 6 August 2026 during a court hearing to consider his appeal for transfer to house arrest. Drinking water to his cell had reportedly been cut off since 5 August as well as electricity, with no power to operate the fans. Ali Karimli, chair of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), was detained on 29 November 2025 over alleged “violent seizure of power” and “violent change of the constitutional order.”
Alasgar Mammadli, media lawyer and co-founder of Toplum TV, was on 27 July sentenced on trumped up charges to 14 years’ imprisonment along with other media workers and civil society activists associated with Toplum TV, some of whom received up to 15-year sentences.
Bahruz Hasanli, who has lived in Ukraine with his family for five years, was detained at his workplace in Kyiv on 27 July following a request from Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office. The request was made in the context of the Ali Karimli case, with charges brought under articles of the Criminal Code related to fraud. Bahruz Hasanli denies these charges, claiming them to be unfounded, fabricated and related solely to his political activity. The Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kharkiv released him on 30 July, but after an appeal he was placed in detention on 6 August pending extradition proceedings.
