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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker
@benparker140.bsky.social
4.5K followers 1.1K following 140 posts
Humanitarian policy and practice, news, data and tech. Previous: UN South Sudan, CEO at The New Humanitarian, Chief of Staff at the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Apr 20
Postings are cratering on aid job board ReliefWeb:

⬇️ Q1 2025 has the least new postings since 2014.

📉 In Feb, there were only 29 US-based vacancies.

🌐 Among major locations, only Syria has more jobs in Q1 2025 YOY.

Data: @unocha.org’s ReliefWeb

Me: posting in a personal capacity
The US and several countries show reduced numbers of jobs ads from 2024-Q1 to 2025-Q1. Only Syria jobs are more than last year. A multiple line graph showing Jan to March 2025 the lowest for 12 years in terms of new job ads on aid job board ReliefWeb. Line graph: New US-based humanitarian jobs used to be hundreds per month. That’s cratered to under 30 in Feb 2025.
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · 1d
More gloom (mainly) as budget cuts in the humanitarian sector bite. Postings on aid job board ReliefWeb continue to show steep declines in new hiring.

The change of government and more permissive aid environment probably explains why there were 1000+ new aid jobs posted for Syria.
A graph showing reduced vacancy postings by country on aid job board ReliefWeb. All are down by 25% or more except Syria.
Reposted by Ben Parker
yguichaoua.bsky.social
Yvan Guichaoua @yguichaoua.bsky.social · 3d
INSO endure une situation épouvantable au Burkina depuis juillet, qui empire encore aujourd'hui. Soutien et courage à leurs équipes
Déclaration d’INSO concernant nos activités au Burkina Faso et la détention continue de notre personnel. | International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)
ngosafety.org
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Reposted by Ben Parker
gquaggiotto.bsky.social
gquaggiotto.bsky.social @gquaggiotto.bsky.social · 16d
Great to see more positive deviance job opportunities in #globaldev orgs
www.nrc.no/tender/posit...
Positive Deviance and Anticipatory Action (PD–AA) in Risk Communication Community Engagement Solution Design
www.nrc.no
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · 16d
Update: only one major aid agency is posting more job ads this year compared to 2024.
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Aug 5
Divisions in Tigray relished by others: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/firs...
I don’t want to fight again in another Tigray war
Tigray’s political class is split between support for Ethiopia or Eritrea, and Tigrayans fear they will pay the price.
www.thenewhumanitarian.org
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Reposted by Ben Parker
boydvandijk.bsky.social
Boyd van Dijk @boydvandijk.bsky.social · Jul 4
www.ft.com/content/c0e6...
BCG modelled plan to ‘relocate’ Palestinians from Gaza
Consulting firm had multimillion-dollar role in contentious new aid scheme for shattered enclave
www.ft.com
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jul 4
Off again: www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-j...
Breaking: Judge issues administrative stay stopping South Sudan deportations
An administrative stay on Friday morning blocks the Trump administration's efforts for now. A hearing is ongoing in D.C. this Fourth of July. Read the new claims at Law Dork
www.lawdork.com
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Reposted by Ben Parker
jayrosen.bsky.social
Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · Jul 3
Inside the digital publishing industry, which I try to monitor closely, this is the big news. By Julia Alexander at Puck.
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jul 3
It’s on again: www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme...
Supreme Court clears the way for Trump administration to deport migrants held in Djibouti
The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport a group of migrants with criminal records held at a U.S. naval base in Djibouti.
www.cbsnews.com
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jun 27
WFP’s UNHAS: uk.news.yahoo.com/un-air-slash...
UN air service slashes fleet by nearly a quarter
The UN's air service which flies humanitarian workers and cargo to hard-to-reach corners of the world has been forced to slash its global fleet by almost a quarter due to funding cuts, the World Food ...
uk.news.yahoo.com
Reposted by Ben Parker
rimaanabtawi.bsky.social
Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · Jun 22
Between 27 May and 19 June, the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah received 1,874 “weapon-wounded patients” and recorded 18 “mass casualty incidents”

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
‘A shell fell metres away’: one man’s attempt to reach GHF food hub in Gaza
Abdullah Ahmed was hit by shrapnel while on a desperate mission to feed his family
www.theguardian.com
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jun 19
“Fogbow acknowledges glitches in mastering aid drops, including one last year in Sudan’s South Kordofan region that ended up with too-thinly-wrapped grain sacks split open on the ground.”

apnews.com/article/isra...
Firms led by US military veterans deliver aid in Africa and Gaza, alarming humanitarian groups
In Gaza and Africa, U.S. contracting firms led by former American intelligence and military officers are taking on aid delivery in conflict zones.
apnews.com
Reposted by Ben Parker
chief.unops.org
Jorge Moreira da Silva @chief.unops.org · Jun 19
After weeks of daily attempts, @UNOPS.org in #Gaza retrieved 280,000 litres of fuel from storage tanks last night. But this positive step covers only a day's worth of the most critical needs. To keep essential humanitarian work running, we need sustained access to fuel in Gaza and new supplies.
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jun 19
Contractor Fogbow in South Sudan: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigatio...
Fogbow operations in South Sudan and beyond raise red flags for faltering aid system
The for-profit US firm is coordinating airdrops that critics say transgress humanitarian principles.
www.thenewhumanitarian.org
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jun 14
“The South Sudan contract is one of a growing list of business opportunities for Fogbow, an outfit of about a dozen people that first distributed food last year in Gaza and Sudan.“ www.reuters.com/world/middle...
From Gaza to South Sudan, private firms deliver aid and face questions
Fifty-kilo sacks of food hurtled out the open hatch of the cargo plane, scattering in the wind on their 1,000-foot descent to the northeastern flatlands of South Sudan.
www.reuters.com
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · Jun 9
Now @crisisgroup.org ponders the same: “The world, it seems, is witnessing an experiment: an attempt to indefinitely maintain Gaza’s population below the famine threshold while turning food into a weapon of war. “

www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-...
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Reposted by Ben Parker
technicallyowen.bsky.social
TechnicallyOwen @technicallyowen.bsky.social · Apr 28
The scientific journals already have multiple articles talking about vegetative electron microscopy a thing that doesn't exist theconversation.com/a-weird-phra...
A weird phrase is plaguing scientific papers – and we traced it back to a glitch in AI training data
Once errors creep into the AI knowledge base, they can be very hard to get out.
theconversation.com
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Reposted by Ben Parker
tomcartwright.bsky.social
Tom Cartwright @tomcartwright.bsky.social · May 24
Confirmed as the same plane N588AT and so far looks like same route back as over.
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Reposted by Ben Parker
trialinternational.bsky.social
TRIAL International @trialinternational.bsky.social · May 23
🚨 #Gaza: Two legal submissions by TRIAL International request Swiss authorities to monitor the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 👇

trialinternational.org/latest-post/...
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · May 23
South Sudan’s police say they are ready: theradiocommunity.org/non-south-su...
Non-South Sudanese deportees from U.S. will be sent to their countries - Police - The Radio Community
Following reports that U.S. immigration authorities have begun deporting South Asian migrants to South Sudan, South Sudan police service said if the deportees are proven not to be South Sudanese, they...
theradiocommunity.org
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Reposted by Ben Parker
billmccarthy.bsky.social
Bill McCarthy @billmccarthy.bsky.social · May 21
“Look, here's burial sites all over the place. These are all white farmers that are being buried,” Donald Trump said during today’s White House meeting with South Africa’s president.

The image he was holding up, however, is of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

www.barrons.com/news/trump-d...
Trump Displays DRC Visual As Proof Of South African 'Genocide'
US President Donald Trump brandished a stack of printed articles at the White House Wednesday that he claimed documented a genocide taking place against white people in South Africa.
www.barrons.com
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · May 21
Oh, it’s South Sudan that’s “chaotic”?
apnews.com
The Associated Press @apnews.com · May 21
The Trump administration violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to South Sudan, a federal judge says.
Judge says the Trump administration violated a court order on deportations to third countries
A federal judge says the Trump administration violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to South Sudan. Judge Brian E.
bit.ly
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Reposted by Ben Parker
kyledcheney.bsky.social
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · May 20
JUST IN: Attorneys for Burmese and Vietnamese migrants accuse the Trump administration deporting them to South Sudan in violation of a court order.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · May 19
reliefweb.int/report/occup...
Leading Aid and Human Rights Organisations Condemn the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as a Dangerous, Politicised Sham - occupied Palestinian territory
News and Press Release in English on occupied Palestinian territory about Protection and Human Rights; published on 19 May 2025 by Action for Humanity, ActionAid and 3count other organizations
reliefweb.int
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benparker140.bsky.social
Ben Parker @benparker140.bsky.social · May 19
“…Israel blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months. Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. “

www.gov.uk/government/n...
Joint donor statement on humanitarian aid to Gaza
Joint statement on behalf of 25 humanitarian partners on aid to Gaza and the proposal for a new aid delivery model.
www.gov.uk
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