Good morning, this is Kasmira. As Karim Khan seeks arrest warrants against leaders of both Israel and Hamas, international lawyers weigh in on the decision that has divided world leaders.

And Russia’s new ground offensive into the Kharkiv region has UN agencies warning of a looming humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile at the World Economic Forum, major management changes are afoot.

Kasmira Jefford

22.05.2024

On our radar

Photo article

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, pictured at the International Criminal Court, 16 June 2021. (ICC)

ICC prosecutor ‘did the right thing’ in seeking arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders, says Alain Werner. By requesting arrest warrants on Monday against leaders of Israel and Hamas, Karim Khan has angered Israel but proven that he is “capable of withstanding pressure,”, according to Civitas Maxima’s founder.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Straight from the Palais

💥HUMANITARIAN RIPPLE EFFECTS IN KHARKIV. As Ukraine struggles to hold off Russia’s new ground offensive into the Kharkiv region, United Nations agencies fear the escalation in hostilities along the new war front is triggering a humanitarian crisis.

In numbers. Some 14,000 people have already fled villages around the region since mid-April towards the central and western part of Ukraine, the World Health Organization’s representative in Ukraine, Jarno Habicht, told Geneva reporters from Kyiv. Russian aerial attacks had killed civilians, and damaged homes and civilian infrastructure, leading to outages, he added.

The UN Refugee Agency, which has been working with local authorities to receive those displaced, also raised concerns about Kharkiv’s ability to cope with another layer of hardship. The city, Ukraine’s second-largest, is already hosting 200,000 displaced people.

Zoom out. Since Russia launched its full-blown invasion, one-third of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes, including 3.7 million people who are displaced within the country and another 6.4 million refugees abroad, according to UNHCR figures.

Waning support. Despite the need for assistance persisting and scores of people falling under the poverty line since the beginning of the war, humanitarian funding has started to dry up as attention from donors drifts to other crises and their own domestic problems. The UN’s humanitarian response plan for 2024 is funded only at 24 per cent so far – a significant gap from last year’s show of support which made Ukraine the best-funded humanitarian crisis of the year at 69 per cent.

📖Read our past coverage: UN ‘begs’ for humanitarian aid for Ukraine as war nears two-year mark.

- Michelle Langrand

Here's what else is happening

👔World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab will leave executive post. The WEF executive chairman informed staff of his plans in an email to step down into another role, but still needs the greenlight from the Swiss government.
Semafor (EN)
🏔️Davos vs. Davos: Local council cracks down on World Economic Forum hangers-on. Locals are set to vote next month on a proposal to restrict who can have a spot on the central promenade during the annual January meeting in an attempt to rein in attendance from outsiders.
Politico (EN)
😷African anti-rights groups and anti-vaxxers unite in global campaign against WHO. A conference in Uganda served a mixed bag of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, vaccine conspiracy theorists and misinformation about the pandemic treaty negotiations.
Health Policy Watch (EN)
🌍Are pandemic treaty negotiations dividing the Africa group? Some African states have been siding with the European Union on some of the disputed conditions around a pathogen-benefit sharing system, threatening the bloc’s ability to display a united front.
Devex (EN)
🇺🇳One rule for them, one rule for us. The latest on UN shakeup at the highest level in New York and elsewhere, starting with who’s in line to replace outgoing aid chief Martin Griffiths.
PassBlue (EN)

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