In the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, there are fears of a huge rise in maternal deaths in Haiti. Karen McVeigh speaks to a midwife at St Antoine hospital in Jérémie, Grand’Anse – one of the country’s worst-hit towns – who tells of delivering babies by torchlight as she stood knee-deep in water, while the hurricane ripped through the south-west tip of the country.
The widespread devastation has also triggered fears of a fresh cholera outbreak; this comes at a time when the UN’s human rights special rapporteur has spoken out against the organisation’s actions over the epidemic that followed Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. As Ben Quinn reports, in a scathing evaluation at the UN general assembly, Philip Alston condemned as “a disgrace” the United Nations’ refusal to accept responsibility for the devastating cluster of cases that claimed more than 9,000 lives, after the deadly bacterium was brought into the country by peacekeepers relocated from Nepal.
Elsewhere on the site: news
Air pollution more deadly in Africa than malnutrition or dirty water, study warns
Threats of death and violence common for women in politics, report says
NGOs censure EU countries for spending foreign aid on asylum costs
Priti Patel warns aid organisations must provide value for money or face cuts
Kenya lights the way for beleaguered youth of sub-Saharan Africa
The world’s future hinges on supporting 10-year-old girls, says UN
Judges deem Eritrea unsafe for migrants’ return as Home Office advice rebutted
UK’s failure to rein in tax havens hinders global corruption battle, say MPs
Mozambique debt crisis could be first sign of global financial shockwave
In depth
‘We’re the sons of Afghanistan, but our leaders have forgotten about us’
Guyana’s housing crisis: ‘The situation in the country is desperate’
Girls gain ground in Kandahar culture wars as education prospects improve
Free school meals a recipe for success for young learners in Liberia
Will the closure of India’s sterilisation camps end botched operations?
Air of discontent around Cerrejón mine deepens as Colombians cry foul
Expect Zika virus to reach India and Africa, medical research charity warns
Tunisian coalition party fights for women’s rights with gender violence bill
Central American migrants showing record levels of mental health problems
State of emergency likely to ramp up repression in fractured Ethiopia
Opinion
Dean Peacock and Emily Nagisa Keehn: Justice is long overdue for the widows of South African mineworkers
Michel Forst: Police and hired assassins are killing land rights defenders. Let’s end this violence
Multimedia
‘God comes first, water second’: Liberian clinics toil without taps – in pictures
How Sri Lanka bit back at mosquitoes and wiped out malaria – podcast
Portraits of families with babies disabled by Zika virus – gallery
What you said
On the opinion piece by Dean Peacock and Emily Nagisa Keehn Justice is long overdue for the widows of South African mineworkers, the towncrier said:
To spend your working life in a mine searching for small pieces of metal is one thing. But to die for the ‘privilege’ is something else entirely. Remember who got rich from this business and who actually made it work. Those who end up in the bowels of the earth inhaling dust and noxious gases were not rewarded for the ‘wealth’ they created.
Highlight from the blogosphere
On the Humanosphere website Lisa Nikolau writes about how climate change is melting glaciers in the Bolivian Andes at an alarming rate and threatening the water supply of millions of people.
And finally …
Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global development website. On Twitter, follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @LizFordGuardian, @BenQuinn75 and @karenmcveigh1 – and join Guardian Global development on Facebook.
