World News in Brief: Lebanon latest, Ukraine war update, anti-LGBT law change in Bulgaria

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, said on Friday that ongoing hostilities and daily exchanges of fire across Lebanon’s southern border were continuing to impact civilians on both sides of the Blue Line frontier with Israel.

Around 110,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon since October, 35 percent of them children, the agency has reported. It is estimated that almost 150,000 people remain within the 10-kilometre Blue Line.

Since the Hamas-led terror attacks of 7 October there have been 16 recorded attacks on healthcare, with 21 paramedics killed during hostilities, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nearly a quarter of south Lebanese food insecure

There has been severe damage to water, electricity, telecoms infrastructure and roads in southern Lebanon leaving 23 per cent of the population food insecure – up from 19 per cent in March this year.

“We, along with our partners, continue to scale up relief efforts, in support of the Government-led response. But additional funding is urgently needed. Humanitarian partners need $110 million for ongoing response for conflict-affected people until the end of the year”, said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, briefing journalists in New York.

The 2024 Lebanon Response Plan is only 25 per cent funded, with just $670 million received of the total $2.72 billion required.

“We urge all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, and stress that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times”, Mr. Haq underlined.

Attacks continue inside Ukraine and Russia

As Ukrainian troops reportedly continue their major incursion inside Russia, there have been ongoing attacks in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy regions causing deaths and injuries to civilians, OCHA said on Friday.

The strikes damaged homes, schools, and energy infrastructure and impacted a Government-led aid distribution point.

On Thursday, Secretary-General António Guterres said via his Spokesperson that he “remains greatly concerned” for civilians in eastern Ukraine and along the contested border areas “including in the Kursk and Belgorod regions of the Russian Federation.”

Civilian protection paramount

Mr. Guterres called on all combatants to act responsibly “and ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

The newly-appointed Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Matthias Schmale expressed his condolences via X to the families of aid workers killed in Kherson, emphasising the importance of protection for humanitarians on the frontline too. 

Updating journalists in New York on Friday, Farhan Haq said civilians were continuing to leave frontline areas inside Ukraine.

“Complementing the efforts of local authorities and first responders, aid organizations provided emergency humanitarian assistance in frontline communities and to those displaced in the Donetsk and Sumy regions and elsewhere.”

The UN and partners have registered 1,800 evacuees for multi-purpose cash assistance in Sumy alone during the past nine days.

In July, more than $3 million in multi-purpose cash assistance was disbursed to over 10,000 people in the regions of Donetsk and Sumy.    

OHCHR ‘deeply concerned’ over anti-LGBT legal changes in Bulgaria

A senior UN human rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson said on Friday she was “deeply concerned” over amendments to legislation in Bulgaria which ban the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Liz Throssell called for the revised law to be “reconsidered” by lawmakers in line with the country’s international human rights obligations.

“Addressing stigma and disinformation is critical to promoting acceptance and tolerance, and to building inclusive societies that respect and uphold the human rights of all”, said Ms. Throssell.

The new amendment has passed at a time when 82 per cent of LGBT individuals in Bulgaria report having been bullied at school, she noted.

Green light to more violations

This “will only serve to deepen human rights violations against LGBT people and bullying and harassment in schools”, she continued, adding that it also “flies in the face of Bulgaria’s constitutional guarantees and international human rights treaty commitments to ensure equality, non-discrimination and freedom of expression.”

She said it was crucial for the Bulgarian Government and parliamentarians to take urgent steps to prevent any violence, discrimination and bullying – particularly against LGBT youth and within the education system as a whole.