Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on Africa Industrialization Day, observed today:
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on Africa Industrialization Day, observed today:
The text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the eighth International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, held today, is not available in English.
The United Nations will assess, in early 2021, the support provided by its peacekeeping mission in Mali to the joint counter-terrorism force for Africa’s Sahel region, the head of the Organization’s peace operations told the Security Council during a 16 November videoconference meeting.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
A series of tropical cyclones have devastated areas in the Philippines, Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic since early October, United Nations humanitarian officials report, noting that the Organization and partners are seeking $95 million to help nearly 675,000 displaced people.
The Acting Special Representative for Libya reported a breakthrough in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum taking place in Tunisia, with participants reaching a preliminary agreement on a road map for ending the transitional period and organizing free, inclusive and credible parliamentary and presidential elections.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Food Coalition, a multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral alliance that aims to ensure global food access and increase the resilience of agri-food systems. The pandemic could add 132 million more people to the world's undernourished in 2020, FAO says, on top of the 690 million hungry people in 2019.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today said that the roll-out of newly approved antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 in Africa will significantly boost testing capacity and may become a game‑changer in the continent’s fight against the pandemic.
The fourth round of the Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission talks began at the Palais des Nations in Geneva this morning, with the participation of Stephanie Williams, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya. The deliberations in this round will continue until 24 October.
The United Nations migration agency and the African Union launched their first‑ever report on African migration, showing that present-day African migration takes place mainly by land, not by sea, and that migrants’ destinations are overwhelmingly each other’s countries and not Europe or North America.
Amid concern about unceasing hurdles to the exercise of political freedoms and human rights in the Great Lakes region, the United Nations is launching a new strategy focused on preventive diplomacy, security cooperation and development, the Secretary‑General’s senior political official for the strife‑torn area told the Security Council today, noting that the plan would guide the Organization’s action for the next 10 years.
Marking International Day of the Girl, Zimbabwe Resident Coordinator Maria Ribeiro called for the protection of girls who are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 compared to boys. Girls in Zimbabwe also face myriad challenges, including fewer opportunities in education and, for females under 24, a third of maternal deaths.
In a joint statement, the senior United Nations disarmament official and a top African Union official have declared small arms enablers of armed violence, as well as a serious threat to peace, security, and stability.
The World Meteorological Organization launched today FOCUS-Africa, an $8.2 million initiative funded by the European Commission to increase resilience and adaptation in Southern Africa over the next four years. It will deliver tailored services in agriculture and food security, water, energy and infrastructure.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the high-level launch of the Global Centre for Adaptation Africa, in New York today:
A record 13.4 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger need humanitarian assistance and protection, as fast-growing crises spread across the Central Sahel region. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the number of internally displaced people has grown 20-fold to 1.4 million in less than two years.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s opening remarks at the Great Green Wall ministerial meeting, in New York today:
September marks another opportunity for African countries to silence the guns. During a month‑long amnesty campaign, everyone on the continent in possession of an illegal weapon can hand it in to authorities without fear of prosecution or harm.
Africa Amnesty Month begins today. Linked to the Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2020 initiative, the disarmament effort is designed to reduce the flows of illicit small arms and light weapons, allowing anyone to hand in illegal weapons throughout the month of September.
Millions of refugees across Eastern Africa who rely on the World Food Programme (WFP) to survive will face serious hunger and malnutrition, the agency warned today, citing reduced donor funding due to the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. WFP needs $323 million to assist refugees over the next six months.