Nearly half of women in 57 developing countries are denied the right to decide whether to have sex with their partners, use contraception or seek health care, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s 2021 flagship “State of World Population” report, released today.
The United Nations Children’s Fund warned today that Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is facing a large and likely long-lasting humanitarian situation. The agency said it is concerned about the rising rate of malnutrition, and about cholera, which is not yet under control and is spreading to other provinces.
A report released today by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan says that community-based militias in the country were responsible for 78 per cent of the 2,421 civilians killed in 2020, more than double than in 2019, as well as for abductions, which tripled in 2020, and conflict-related sexual violence.
Six months into Afghanistan’s latest round of peace talks, progress remains slow and demands strong support from the global community, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, while also sounding alarm about soaring rates of violence that continue to hamper humanitarian efforts and erode public confidence more broadly.
Acute hunger could soar in more than 20 countries over the coming months without urgent, scaled-up assistance, a report issued today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme warns. Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria top the list, according to the “Hunger Hotspots” report.
The global economy is set to grow by 4.7 per cent in 2021, faster than the 4.3 per cent predicted in September, says a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report released today. It sees a misguided return to austerity, after a destructive recession, as the main risk to the global outlook.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Jean Arnault of France as his Personal Envoy on Afghanistan and Regional Issues. The Secretary-General has asked Mr. Arnault to assist in the achievement of a political solution to the conflict, working closely with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and regional partners.
In Myanmar, at least 138 peaceful protestors, including 56 over the weekend, among them women and children, have been killed in violence since 1 February, the United Nations Human Rights Office reports. The Secretary-General and his Special Envoy on the country, Christine Schraner Burgener, strongly condemn the violence.
Cabo Verde has received 24,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the global COVAX facility – the first of 100,000 doses expected by May – according to United Nations staff in the country, who called the shipment a source of hope and a testimony to global solidarity.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Linda Thomas-Greenfield (United States):
The United Nations and the Government of Iraq today released the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan which seeks $607.2 million in humanitarian aid to assist 1.5 million of the most vulnerable internally displaced people in Iraq and returnees. According to the overview, 4.1 million Iraqis need humanitarian assistance.
Food systems caused more than one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new Food and Agriculture Organization/European Commission study, which says food system emissions are estimated at 34 per cent of the total. Top emitters are China, Indonesia, United States, Brazil, European Union and India.
On International Women’s Day, peacekeeping colleagues report that Bangladesh, for the first time, is deploying four justice government-provided personnel, all women, to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), later this month.
The number of civilians killed and injured in Afghanistan rose following the start of peace negotiations in September, according to report released today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Organization’s human rights office. The country remains among the deadliest for civilians.
The period following the start of Afghanistan’s peace negotiations in September 2020 has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of human rights defenders and media professionals killed in the country, a new report issued today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has asked for $1.5 billion to fund its education, health, social services, infrastructure and other essential services, as well as emergency appeals and priority projects for 2021.
A report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan finds increasing reports of torture in that country’s detention facilities. Almost a third of those detained for security or terrorism-related offences reported torture or other ill-treatment.
In Afghanistan, the United Nations and humanitarian partners report that they will seek $1.3 billion this year to assist almost 16 million people with life-saving aid, up from 2.3 million people in 2017, as ongoing conflict, natural disasters, chronic poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic continue to devastate the population.
Deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Uganda ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 January, the United Nations Human Rights Office calls on authorities there to protect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and take steps to prevent electoral violence.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Mette Knudsen of Denmark as his new Deputy Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
