Jayathma Wickramanayake, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, and The Body Shop, launched a campaign today that seeks to get young voices into the halls of power. The campaign, “Be Seen, Be Heard”, seeks to create long-term structural changes that will make decision-making more inclusive of young people and ensure their participation in political life.
Senegal’s armed forces were approved today to receive funding from the Elsie Initiative Fund to assess barriers to the participation of women in United Nations peace operations. Senegal is the sixteenth largest troop-contributing country and has 987 personnel deployed as of February 2022, of whom 38, or 3.8 per cent, are women.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom):
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The following Security Council press statement was issued on 22 April by Council President Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom):
The following statement was issued by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Environment Programme expressed grave concern today over the arrest, detention and sentencing of four environmental human rights defenders in Viet Nam on charges of tax evasion and urged Vietnamese authorities to ensure environmental advocates can operate freely.
Over 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by the World Health Organization. The agency estimates that, if widely deployed, the vaccine could save the lives of an additional 40,000 to 80,000 children annually.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom):
The number of hungry people in the Horn of Africa could soar from 14 million to 20 million by the end of 2022 without desperately needed rains and urgent humanitarian funding, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned today. Somalia faces famine, half a million Kenyans are a step away from catastrophic hunger, and Ethiopia is already well above emergency thresholds.
The Houthis movement — also known as Ansar Allah — have signed an action plan with the United Nations to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, the killing and maiming of boys and girls, attacks on schools and hospitals and other grave violations. Virginia Gamba, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, signed the action plan as a witness in New York.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the third meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries, in Tunxi, China, today:
As Ramadan begins, the soaring cost of food staples in import-dependent Middle Eastern and North African countries is creating ever greater challenges for millions of families already struggling to keep hunger at bay, the World Food Programme said, warning that millions will struggle to buy even basic foods.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the high‑level pledging event on Afghanistan, in New York today:
Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide, about 121 million a year, are unintended, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says, warning the Ukraine and other conflicts are expected to drive an increase through disruption of access to contraception and growing sexual violence.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Lana Zaki Nusseibeh (United Arab Emirates):
In Tajikistan, the United Nations is mobilizing $40 million to help authorities address the needs of over 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers, nearly all of them from Afghanistan. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is coordinating the effort, with over 30 humanitarian and development partners.
The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:
On the heels of International Water Day, which was yesterday, humanitarian staff in the Horn of Africa say millions of people face severe water shortages and are going hungry due to the devastating drought in that region, which risks becoming one of the Horn’s worst climate-induced emergencies in the last 40 years.
The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations special political mission in Afghanistan for one year, shifting its priority tasks to better align with the evolving reality on the ground.
