Yemen

The United Nations refugee agency said today it is deeply shocked and saddened at reports of deaths and injuries suffered by internally displaced people in an aerial attack on embattled Mawza District in Yemen’s Taizz Governorate.  Civilian casualties are still being verified, but initial reports indicate at least 20 people killed, including women and children.

In Afghanistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it will be able to provide food assistance to more than 577,000 people in need thanks to a $20 million contribution by the United States.  The money will be spent to buy local wheat flour, salt, yellow peas and cooking oil, among other supplies.

Three planes chartered by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have delivered 36 tons of life-saving medical and water purification supplies to Yemen to combat the outbreak of cholera which has surpassed 200,000 cases.  The supplies include oral rehydration salts to treat 10,000 people, as well as 10.5 million water purification tablets.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today that the announcement of an end to famine conditions in South Sudan this week should not distract from the fact that severe food insecurity continues to put the lives of millions of children at risk in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and north-east Nigeria.

Expressing grave concern about the humanitarian situation in Yemen, the Security Council today adopted a presidential statement calling on all parties to engage constructively and in good faith to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in that country.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up emergency operations to help people urgently in need of help in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine.  In Syria, WFP delivered food this week to seven hard-to-reach areas in Raqqa and Deir, where regular aid service had been suspended for over three years due to conflict.

Only an end to war would reverse the suffering endured by the people of Yemen, a civil society representative from that country told the Security Council this morning, emphasizing the conflict was taking the greatest toll on women.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said today that it is concerned by the recent prosecution, arbitrary arrest, detention and ill-treatment of men perceived to be gay in Indonesia.  In the past two months, more than 150 men were reportedly arrested in Aceh, Surabaya and Jakarta and subjected to public humiliation.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, expressed serious concern today at the mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons that began 38 days ago and has yet to be resolved.  He is especially alarmed by reports of Israel’s punitive measures against the hunger strikers.