Centrafrique: Humanitarian Priorities Must Be Based on Need, Not Geopolitics

Posted on October 30, 2025November 6, 2025

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) remains one of the world’s most underreported and neglected emergencies. In 2022, CAR recorded one of the highest national crude mortality rates globally (55 deaths per 1,000 people), exceeding that of Ukraine, yet the crisis continues to receive minimal international attention. United Nations (UN) data suggest that there is no health emergency in CAR. This silence and lack of reliable information reflects a troubling pattern: the Global North’s selective visibility…

Illicit financial flows cost Africa $88 billion annually

Corruption Global Theft Tax Evasion decolonization equity fair taxation Geopolitical global north globalhealthjustice health disparities Health Inequities International Responsibility political determinants of health resource mobilization social determinants of health Social Justice Structural violence

Posted on September 11, 2025September 22, 2025

The African Union, in an August 2025 report, estimates that illicit financial flows (IFFs) cost countries in Africa $88 billion per year. IFFs are illicit or illegal funds derived from criminal activities and/or illegal tax practices that are moved or transferred across countries, including international trade manipulations (the most common), tax evasion, smuggling, government corruption, and money laundering. Nearly half of these losses come from the ‘extractive sector,’ mostly mining. IFFs are fundamental drivers of economic injustice, and enormously undermine…

War in Sudan: Unprecedented hunger and displacement

War/Militarism Africa Human Rights Violations international aid International Responsibility Stop The Bloodshed SudanCrisis SudanWar War

Posted on April 12, 2025April 30, 2025

The United Nations (UN) released a 10 April report stating that the 2-year war in Sudan is one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century, with tens of thousands dead, over 12 million people displaced, and 25 million – half the population – facing extreme levels of hunger. The report states that both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces [RSF] and Sudanese Armed Forces [SAF] have obstructed access to critically needed humanitarian assistance. “Tens of thousands more will die…

Re-imagining foreign aid

Reimagining Aid Africa decolonization decolonizehealth equity fair taxation Geopolitical global health international aid International Responsibility resource mobilization social determinants of health

Posted on March 21, 2025April 1, 2025

Farah Stockman in her NY Times editorial decries the chaos and devastation from cuts in US foreign aid, but also calls for re-imagining a foreign aid that addresses serious flaws inherent in the current forms of aid. We know that local groups (especially under-funded government health systems) are far more cost-effective and attuned to what communities need – and stay long after foreign workers depart. Cutting out the middlemen is essential, and more cost-effective – as leaders in the global…

An Abyss of Suffering: The Daily Account of a Goma Resident Amid the M23 Invasion

War/Militarism drc Geopolitical Goma Human Rights Violations International Responsibility political determinants of health social determinants of health War

Posted on February 7, 2025February 21, 2025

This article is written in French and English. For the English version, please see below. La version française Le 25 janvier au matin, le Mouvement du 23 mars (M23), milice soutenue par le Rwanda, a envahi Goma, la plus grande ville de l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Le Bureau de la coordination des affaires humanitaires des Nations unies estime qu’au moins 3 000 personnes ont été tuées depuis que les rebelles du M23 se sont emparés…

From Conflict Minerals to Global Responsibility: Why Congo’s Crisis Matters to Us All

War/Militarism drc Human Rights Violations International Responsibility Militarism Stop The Bloodshed War

Posted on January 28, 2025January 31, 2025

The long-standing humanitarian crisis and conflict in eastern Congo is a personal one for me. As a refugee from Goma, eastern Congo, I lost family members to this conflict. I am writing this piece to shed light on the worsening situation in the region, both as a Global Health Master of Public Health student and as someone who dreams of peace and a healthy community in my homeland. I ask you to keep learning, sharing, writing to your representatives about…

Malawi and Mali Demand Unpaid Taxes and Royalties from Multinationals

Global Theft Tax Evasion Africa equity exploitation Extraction fair taxation global health Global Health Justice global south International Responsibility resource mobilization

Posted on December 21, 2024December 27, 2024

BBC news recently reported that the governments of Malawi and Mali are demanding hundreds of billions of dollars from U.S.- and Australia-based multinationals to compensate for unpaid taxes and royalties over the past 10 years. Charles Gitonga and Andre Lombard report that the Malawi government has accused Colombia Gem House, U.S.-based gemstone company, of not paying fairly for rubies exported over the last 10 years. The government is also demanding $4 billion from French gas giant TotalEnergies in unpaid revenue…

Sudan’s Forgotten War

War/Militarism Africa Geopolitical Global Health Justice Human Rights Violations International Responsibility Militarism Social Justice Stop The Bloodshed the lancet War

Posted on October 19, 2024November 1, 2024

Ezzeldin Saleh and colleagues, in the October 2024 Lancet, draw attention to the horrific and unprecedented conflict in Sudan that has caused immense suffering for the Sudanese people since April 2023. Nearly 11 million people have been internally displaced, and 2.3 million have sought refugee status in neighboring countries. The economy has collapsed, and famine is rampant throughout the country, with approximately 53% of the countries 25.6 million people experiencing high levels of food insecurities – and 14 areas experiencing…

Gazan Death Toll Four Times Greater Than Official Estimates, According to Multiple Experts

War/Militarism Gaza Global Health Justice Human Rights Violations International Responsibility Militarism Palestine Stop The Bloodshed War World Health Organization

Posted on July 23, 2024November 28, 2025

In mid-June, the Gazan Ministry of Health reported a cumulative death toll of nearly 39,000 people attributed to the Israeli assault on Gaza, including 15,000 children. However, other credible researchers estimate that the true death toll is likely over four times higher than reported. Susan Abulhawa, a Gazan refugee, scientist, author and human rights activist argues that the currently reported numbers “don’t give an accurate picture at all”. Abulhawa states that the reported numbers only account for individuals going through…

Chiquita guilty of funding terrorists in Colombia

Social Determinants of Health Structural Violence Colombia corporate crime corporate greed Corporate predators decolonizehealth Geopolitical Human Rights Violations inequality International Responsibility political determinants of health social determinants of health Social Justice

Posted on June 11, 2024July 15, 2024

A South Florida jury just found Chiquita Brands liable for killings by right-wing paramilitary death squads that the the company financed in their banana plantations. Chiquita, formerly the United Fruit Company (UFC), has a long history of deadly repression against workers. The New Orleans-based multinational has long monopolized land and markets and controlled governments throughout Latin America. UFC was implicated in massacres in Colombia, the overthrow of democratically elected President Jacobo Arbens of Guatemala, and propped up many so-called “banana…