Latest news

Since the launch of the Mosul offensive in Iraq, more than 55,000 people have been displaced. Handicap International’s teams will start providing assistance to vulnerable people in displacement areas, from next week. 

The threat of anti-personnel mines still hangs over the people of Casamance despite an end to the conflict in this region of Senegal. Handicap International has been running its current demining project since December 2015. After completing an initial operation in the village of Diagnon, the organization is now clearing 20,000 square meters in Boutoute, on the outskirts of Ziguinchor, to free villagers from the danger of mines.

More than 15,000 people have been displaced since military operations to retake the city of Mosul in Iraq began on 17th October 2016. Handicap International is preparing to supply them with aid and fears mass displacements are likely to occur within weeks.

There are fears that the military offensive on the Iraqi city of Mosul could result in a humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale. More than one million people may be forced to flee to escape the fighting, in a country where at least 3.3 million people have already been uprooted. Handicap International is concerned that the people fleeing Mosul will not all be able to access humanitarian aid. Thomas Hugonnier, head of emergency response operations in Iraq, explains the situation.

Handicap International has been running operations in Libya since 2011. The organization is now focused on helping children in Tripoli. Every day our mobile team reaches out to children with rehabilitation needs. And an awareness-raising campaign about psychosocial risks and the inclusion of children with disabilities will benefit more than 3,000 people.

Handicap International strongly condemns the air strike on a funeral hall which killed 140 people and injured 500 in Sanaa, on Saturday 8th October 2016. The ongoing bombing of civilians and civil infrastructure must be stopped immediately.

On 4 October 1996, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) presented the Nansen Medal Award to Handicap International “for its work on behalf of refugees and its contribution to the campaign against anti-personnel mines.” On the 20th anniversary of receiving the award, Handicap International’s co-founder, Jean-Baptiste Richardier, reflects on an important chapter in the organization’s history.

Thomas Hugonnier, Head of Handicap International’s Mine Action program, oversees the organization’s clearance activities in Iraq, which aim to protect civilians from explosive remnants of war in the country.

Handicap International is taking part in the Meeting of the First Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations (disarmament and international security) in October 2016. Anne Héry, head of advocacy at Handicap International, explains why this meeting is important and the actions taken by the organization to end the bombing of civilians.

Since June 2016, Handicap International and its local partner, AFRILAM, have cleared 92,000 square meters of land of mines and explosive remnants of war. The land, near Kisangani in northeast DR Congo, is equivalent to 15 football pitches. More than 4,000 people will benefit directly from the operation, which has already neutralized six anti-personnel landmines.

Eleven people were killed and a dozen injured on Monday 15th August in an airstrike on a hospital supported by Médecins sans Frontières in the city of Abs, in Hajja province, northern Yemen. The attack came two days after an airstrike on a school in the province of Sadaa, which claimed the lives of ten children. Handicap International and five other humanitarian organizations are demanding an independent investigation into the attacks. Handicap International has strongly condemned these airstrikes and is calling on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law.

The U.S. dropped more than two million tons of bombs on Laos during the Vietnam War. Humanity & Inclusion’s demining teams have been clearing deadly unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the country since 2006. HI deminer Lumngen, also a mother of two, explains what her job involves and what motivates her to do this challenging work.

The U.S. dropped more than two million tons of bombs on Laos during the Vietnam War. Humanity & Inclusion’s demining teams have been clearing deadly unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the country since 2006. HI deminer Lumngen, also a mother of two, explains what her job involves and what motivates her to do this challenging work.

Cluster bombs have been used in at least 47 airstrikes in Syria since 27 May 2016, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch[1]. Dozens of civilians were killed in these offensives. Before the release of these new figures, Human Rights Watch had already published two reports, in February 2016 and December 2015, condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria.

1st August 2016 is the 6th anniversary of the entry into force of the Oslo Convention which bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions. Despite the undeniable success of the Convention, which has now been signed by 119 States, the use of cluster munitions has reached record levels since 2010.