Ali is thirty years old. A head trauma and fracture to his right tibia left him almost entirely unable to use his legs. Thanks to HI, he is now able to get about independently again.

On 5 and 6 December, HI will organise a regional conference in Santiago, the capital of Chile, on protecting civilians from bombing. Twenty-six governments and some thirty civil society organisations and international NGOs will attend. The organisation hopes to raise awareness of this crucial issue and encourage States to take a stand against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

We arrived at Cox's Bazar, a fishing port located along a 120-km stretch of beaches in southeast Bangladesh that draw the richest Bangladeshis. Paradoxically, this small seaside town is also a hub for expats working in nearby refugee camps. After 20 hours on planes flight, 10 hours of layovers, 4 airports, and a ride in a tum-tum (the Bangladeshi version of a tuk-tuk) I'm relieved to have finally arrived at my hotel and get a bit of rest. Tomorrow will be my first day in a refugee camp. The Ukhiya region is now crowded with 625,000 people, all waiting for a better future.

Esra is a physiotherapist at the Basma hospital rehabilitation centre. In partnership with HI, the hospital has set up a paediatric unit specialised in the care management of neurological disorders.

Raja is 13 years old. She was keeping the sheep in the mountains when she trod on a mine which exploded and threw her into the air.  Her leg was ripped off.

A few kilometres south of Misrata, Tawergha has been a ghost town since it was hit by intense fighting in 2011. The streets are littered with missiles, rockets and other unexploded weapons and remnants of war. As the population gradually returns, HI has launched a clearance operation to reduce the threat to their lives.

HI, in partnership with IFI, is assisting people affected by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Sulawesi province in Indonesia on 28 September.

On 3 December, the non-governmental organisation PAX published its ninth report on investments in the production of cluster munitions, Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions: A Shared Responsability. According to the report, these investments have fallen by two thirds since its last report in May 2017.

HI is attending the Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty from 26-30 November 2018, in Geneva. The organisation is calling on governments to support assistance for victims whose needs have increased dramatically in recent years.

Maud Bellon, director of HI in Yemen, describes the situation in Sana'a, where the organisation is based and provides humanitarian response.

Twelve-year-old Zakarya is the eighth child of a poor family who live in a small village in northern Yemen. His life changed dramatically when he was injured in a rocket attack and doctors had to amputate his left leg.

At the start of the war in Syria, Hussein and his family left their home town to take refuge in Jordan. In the last few years, the head of the household has suffered from a series of medical complications. Thanks to HI's partnership with a local rehabilitation centre, the arthritis he suffers from in his knee is now managed by a team of physiotherapists.

Six months ago, 17-year-old Salim was hit by a bomb as he worked in a grocery store near Hudaydah. He was amputated below the knee in the city’s hospital. The experience left him shocked and anxious. Could he live with just one leg? How would he support his family? Would he be able to go back to school?

One day when he was back in Syria, Ibrahim heard gunfire close to where he was standing. He ran away in the opposite direction; right to the site where the bombs landed. Injured by a shrapnel wound to the leg, Ibrahim was transferred to Jordan where he was amputated. HI then fitted him with a prosthesis.

The conflict in Yemen is about to enter its fifth year. Wave upon wave of casualties continue to arrive in the country’s health facilities. HI runs rehabilitation programmes in six hospitals and two specialised centres in Sana'a. Like all teams working under conflict conditions, they need to take into account the following factors: