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Results for "refugees" over the past days
UN expanding mine action work in Mali

22 May – The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) today announced plans to expand its humanitarian activities in Mali, bolster preparations for full deployment of an African-led support mission and help displaced persons return safely to their homes following months of strife in the West African country.

UN emergency fund provides $9.8 million to assist Syrian refugees in Jordan

22 May – The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has provided $9.8 million to support the establishment of a new camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan and to help meet the growing needs of those fleeing the ongoing conflict.

UN agency steps up efforts to help Niger respond to cholera epidemic

21 May – The United Nations refugee agency said today it is working to help contain a cholera epidemic in Niger that has already claimed seven lives, including those of two Malian refugees, in a little over a week.

Number of Syrians in need of humanitarian aid rises to over 8 million – UN

21 May – A senior United Nations humanitarian official reported today that the total number of people in need of assistance as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria is now 8.3 million, representing about 38 per cent of the country’s population.

Greater efforts, resources needed to improve health of Palestinian refugees – UN report

21 May – Health programmes carried out by the United Nations agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees has helped to improve their lives, but greater efforts and more resources are needed to effectively tackle health challenges, particularly during times of conflict, says a new report.

UN envoy proposes set of principles to guide peace efforts in DR Congo

21 May – The United Nations Envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes Region today proposed a set of principles to guide immediate peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while voicing concerns over renewed fighting in the eastern part of the country.

UN agency prepositions for Darfur refugees in Chad ahead of rainy season

17 May – With tens of thousands of Darfur refugees in eastern Chad, the United Nations refugee agency today said it is “in a race against time” to deliver aid before heavy rains cut off access to the group escaping violence linked to tribal conflicts.

Number of Syrian refugees tops 1.5 million mark, says UN agency

17 May – The United Nations refugee agency announced today that the number of Syrian civilians who have fled their country to escape conflict has passed the 1.5 million mark, while warning that the widening gap between the needs and resources available is becoming a huge challenge.

Syria conference should be held ‘as soon as possible,’ Ban says during visit to Russia

17 May – Stressing that a political solution is the only way to end the Syria crisis, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that an international conference proposed by Russia and the United States should be held as soon as possible so as not to lose momentum.

Iraq: UN envoy welcomes relocation of first group of Iranian exiles to Albania

16 May – The top United Nations official in Iraq today called the relocation of 14 Iranians to Albania from an exile camp near Baghdad, an “encouraging first step.”

Consensus forming on ‘golden thread of development,’ says co-chair of UN panel on post-2015 agenda

15 May – A United Nations high-level panel on a post-2015 global development agenda wrapped up today with consensus emerging on how to make a more equitable world, said British Prime Minister David Cameron in his role as co-chair of the body.

UN agencies helping Bangladesh, Myanmar prepare for Tropical Cyclone Mahasen

15 May – United Nations aid agencies are working with the Governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar to prepare for Tropical Cyclone Mahasen, which is expected to make landfall within the next 24 to 36 hours, possibly threatening millions of people across the region.

‘Outraged’ by rising death toll in Syria, General Assembly demands halt to all violence

15 May – Expressing grave concern at the continuing escalation of violence in Syria, the United Nations General Assembly today adopted a resolution reiterating its call for rapid progress on a political transition, “which represents the best opportunity to resolve the situation […] peacefully.”

Independent UN expert stresses need to improve human rights situation in Eritrea

14 May – The international community must keep Eritrea under “close scrutiny”, an independent United Nations expert said today, stressing the need to fundamentally transform the East African nation’s “current culture of rights denial.”

UN event highlights integrated, ‘human security’ approach to meeting threats

8 May – Recognizing that today’s interlinked, complex challenges to well-being – from civil conflicts to climate change, financial crises and health pandemics – must be met in tandem, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other leaders met today to consider practical ways to advance an integrated ‘human security’ framework for that purpose.

Increasing number of displaced Syrians concentrated near Aleppo, Damascus – UN reports

7 May – Syrians forced by the ongoing violence to leave their homes are often displaced more than once and are concentrated around Aleppo and rural Damascus, the United Nations emergency relief arm today said, as aid agencies faced bureaucratic hurdles and insecurity trying to reach hard-to-access areas.

Palestinian refugees displaced in ever greater numbers by Syrian violence, says UN agency

30 April – Increasing numbers of Palestinian refugees in Syria are being killed, injured or displaced amid the intensifying violence in the Middle Eastern country, a United Nations agency warned today as it appealed to all sides to resolve the conflict through dialogue and political negotiations.

UN steps up vaccination campaigns amid measles outbreaks among uprooted Syrians

30 April – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners have stepped up vaccination campaigns in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey amid measles outbreaks in a region already struggling to provide humanitarian assistance to millions of people affected by ongoing conflict in Syria.

Central African Republic: amid worsening violence, UN refugee agency warns against forcible returns

30 April – The United Nations refugee agency today urged countries to refrain from repatriating refugees to the Central African Republic (CAR), amid worsening violence and human rights abuses there.

FEATURE: Aided by UN, star coach builds football team of Syrian refugees and young Lebanese

26 April – In Halba, in the district of Akkar, in northern Lebanon, a football team called “Al-Nour” – “the light” in Arabic – is drawing increasing attention from the inhabitants of the region. The team was set up by Tareq Al Awaychi, a former star of the Syrian team Al Karami, who had to flee the violence in his country that has killed over 70,000 people since the beginning of the uprising against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad in March 2011.

Over 30,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Yemen so far this year – UN agency

26 April – The United Nations refugee agency said today it has recorded the arrival of over 30,000 refugees and migrants to Yemen this year, the majority of them Ethiopians, with the rest coming from Somalia and a small number of other African countries.

Syrian refugees straining health services in region, UN warns in new report

26 April – The refugee crisis sparked by the conflict in Syria is increasingly straining health services in surrounding countries, while refugees are finding it harder to access the quality treatment they need, the United Nations refugee agency warns in report released today.

Security Council unanimously approves new UN peacekeeping mission in Mali

25 April – The Security Council today approved a 12,600-strong United Nations peacekeeping operation to take over from the African-led mission in Mali on 1 July and authorized the blue helmets “to use all necessary means” to carry out security-related stabilization tasks, protect civilians, UN staff and cultural artefacts, and create the conditions for the provision of humanitarian aid.

UN senior officials urge political focus in Mali efforts, while aid agencies flag budget gaps

19 April – The top United Nations political official today reiterated the importance of the political process in Mali at a high-level meeting with senior UN and Government officials, while UN aid agencies urged more funding to assist the hundreds of thousands of Malians driven from their homes.

Syria: with aid efforts dramatically hobbled, UN officials call on Council to act

18 April – Humanitarian organizations are facing enormous and dramatically growing constraints in aiding millions of Syrians overwhelmed by the “human catastrophe” that the war-torn country has become, top United Nations officials warned today, calling on the Security Council to at last do something to end the horror.

UN reinforces security in compounds following Boston terror bombings

17 April – The United Nations is beefing up security at its Headquarters in New York and at other compounds following Monday’s terror bombings at the Boston Marathon which killed three people and wounded 170 more.

Briefing media on world crisis flashpoints, Ban says political solution is only answer

17 April – Both in Syria where conditions are daily worsening, and in Mali where security has much improved, a political solution is the only answer for long-term stability, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in a news briefing that touched on crisis flashpoints around the world.

Uganda: UN launches first of its kind mobile court initiative in refugee settlement

16 April – The United Nations refugee agency and the Government of Uganda have launched a pilot mobile court scheme to improve access to justice and legal assistance for victims of crime in Nakivale, the country’s oldest and largest refugee settlement.

Urgent aid needed to help thousands of migrant victims of abuse in Yemen, UN says

16 April – Thousands of destitute migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia are stranded in northern Yemen in deplorable conditions, victims of gross physical abuse and severe economic and sexual exploitation, a United Nations humanitarian official warned today, calling for urgent action to address their plight.

UN senior officials issue urgent call to end bloodshed in Syria

15 April – In a joint appeal for an urgent political solution to the prolonged crisis in Syria which has killed some 70,000 people, the heads of five United Nations agencies today called on political leaders to meet their responsibility to the people of Syria and to the future of the region.

Turkish law on protection of foreigners wins UN praise

12 April – The United Nations refugee agency today welcomed a new Turkish law on foreigners as an important advancement for international protection and pledged continued backing to the authorities as they implement it.

Fresh tribal clashes in Darfur trigger largest influx of refugees into Chad in years, UN says

12 April – Some 50,000 refugees from south-western Darfur have arrived in Chad following fresh tribal clashes, the United Nations refugee agency said today, urging more shelter, clean drinking water, food and medicine in what is called the largest influx of refugees from Sudan into Chad since 2005.

UN says $81 million urgently needed for food relief to 3.5 million Syrians

12 April – The United Nations food relief agency today said it urgently needs $81 million to assist 2.5 hungry people inside Syria and one million refugees in neighbouring countries until June, and warned that without funding it would have to stop many of its current aid programmes.

Over 2,000 children recruited by forces in Central African Republic, UN reports

12 April – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today said more than 2,000 boys and girls have been recruited by armed forces in the Central African Republic since the latest wave of violence in the country began in December.

In Oval Office meeting Ban and Obama discuss crises from Syria to climate change

11 April – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon conferred with President Barack Obama in Washington today on a host of issues ranging from the conflict in Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to tensions on the Korean peninsula and climate change.

New G8 initiative a beacon of hope for victims of sexual violence – UN envoy

11 April – An initiative announced today in London by the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries to ramp up the fight against rape and other sexual violence in conflict represents “a beacon of light and hope” for the countless survivors around the world, a United Nations envoy said today.

New UN agreement expands higher education opportunities for displaced persons

11 April – An agreement between the United Nations refugee agency and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) announced today will allow forcibly displaced persons in various African countries to pursue higher education through online and on-site courses.

Delays in carrying out peace agreement harm Darfur, says UN and other partners

10 April – The United Nations and other partners in an international group working to support the peace efforts in Sudan’s Darfur region have condemned recent attacks in the troubled region and cautioned that any serious delays to carrying out the 2011 peace agreement could further destabilize the entire region.