When 13-year-old Yasser from Syria enrolled in the International Rescue Committee’s psychosocial support programme, he rediscovered his love for art and for playing the buzuq, a string instrument similar to a lute.

The Battle for Raqqa, expected to be one of the fiercest since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, is intensifying. The assault to take the city from ISIS has displaced more than 100,000 people since April. Some 200,000 are thought to remain trapped in ISIS-controlled areas of the city, which once boasted a population of more than half a million. In all, up to 370,000 people could be displaced by fighting.

Breastfeeding is restoring hope and humanity in Michika, an area torn apart by conflict in northeast Nigeria.