The IDF air raid drills over Beirut this morning are so low that the windows rattle each time the jets pass overhead. Windows that just a few months ago turned into weapons, killing and maiming thousands of us. The daily retraumatisation is a real struggle for so many here.

While patients can't find COVID-19 hospital beds and respirators, politicians in #Lebanon made sure that donated field hospitals lie unused for two months thenationalnews.com/world/mena/leb… via The National Sunniva Rose

Rampant corruption in #Lebanon led to donors bypassing the state when sending aid in the wake of the #BeirutExplosion, but has this had unforeseen consequences? Alexi Touma & Youmna Cham for the blog blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2021/02/19…

Great new strategy from Development Initiatives (DI) Committing to: - More high quality data - Evidence driven analysis - Bringing data to life - Training people to use it An essential 🇬🇧 service for the humanitarian sector 👍 @annietrev @JulianWTO_UN Simon Manley Harpinder Collacott

"The aid sector in Lebanon remains in the hands of western-funded, white institutions, somewhat reminiscent of the French mandate" ow.ly/qB4530rzGgo

Despite an increase in MENA women’s educational attainment, the female labour force participation remains the world’s lowest. Women entrepreneurs are concentrated in informal/low-productivity sectors, & economies are losing out. Diala Mahfouz & Youmna Cham blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2022/03/26…

“Female entrepreneurship remains an untapped source of inclusive growth, employment generation, and innovation in a region that still suffers from the largest gender gap in the world when it comes to women in business” by Diala Mahfouz and Youmna Cham blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2022/03/26…

Thread on detail of uk aid cuts. Grim reading. Less global Britain, more Little England

Just “for the future prosperity of the country”?! Come on @UNHCR - there is a comprehensive persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan. Women’s rights should be respected because theyare human beings, not because they contribute to the economy. Filippo Grandi Volker Türk

"The kids were burning in the car and I stood there helpless. I couldn't do anything to save them." Samir Ayoubi, the uncle of Rimas, Taline and Leane, the three girls who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their mother's car in South Lebanon.

Between shadow ban and self-censorship: Are Palestinian voices being stifled in the Arab MENA region? Eliana Powers Youmna Cham wp.me/p3MVmW-38r

About #FreedomofSpeech #double_standards and continuous #oppression , an interesting piece by Youmna Cham and Eliana Powers #gaza #Palestine

Are Palestinian voices being stifled? by Eliana Powers and ⁦Youmna Cham⁩ “Karim Bitar says “The situation is much more open than 30 years ago. If there are attempts to silence voices, it is because they gained recognition and influence public discourse” blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationald…

Mustafa Barghouti is an immensely distinguished and thoughtful voice. The arrogance, bigotry and ignorance of the interviewer illustrates the depths to which so much western journalism has sunk.