The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it continues to receive reports of systematic forced return of Mozambican families from the United Republic of Tanzania. The Agency urged Mozambique’s neighbours to respect access to asylum for those fleeing widespread armed conflict in the northern part of the country.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message marking the entry into force of the Escazú Agreement, today:
The World Food Programme (WFP) said it will launch an operation to reach up to 2 million vulnerable people in Myanmar’s main cities and other areas where people have recently been uprooted. WFP estimates that 3.4 million more people will be hungry within the next six months, amid the ongoing effects of poverty, COVID-19 and political crisis.
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, today released $14 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to provide shelter and emergency services to over 45,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh displaced by a devastating fire which destroyed critical infrastructure in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar.
Delegates urged a reckoning today with how the past injustices of the transatlantic slave trade perpetuate present racial discrimination and inequality around the world, as the General Assembly held a meeting to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
More than 3 billion people globally are at risk of disease because the quality of their rivers, lakes and groundwater is unknown due to a lack of data, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today. UNEP’s survey of over 75,000 bodies of water in 89 countries found more than 40 per cent severely polluted.
At least 14 civilians were killed in an attack by suspected combatants of the ADF on Sunday night in Bulongo village, east of Beni, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported. The Mission’s Force Intervention Brigade deployed to the area yesterday.
Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message for the R-SDG Forum segment on the “Presentation of the 2020 System-wide results report of the UN+ development system in Latin America and the Caribbean”, held today:
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.
Central America is bracing for another potentially catastrophic storm – named Iota – just two weeks after Hurricane Eta made landfall in the region, causing death and destruction. Ahead of Iota, the United Nations, alongside regional and national partners, is building on preparedness and response efforts for Eta.
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 following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary‑General António Guterres:
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ opening remarks to the forty-first regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), held today:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has put two reports online, one detailing violations in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, and the other warning that accountability for violations committed in the context of demonstrations remains elusive, despite promising steps by the Government of Iraq.
In Mali, human rights officials from the United Nations peacekeeping mission have gained access to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other detainees held by the mutineers since Tuesday. The Mission continues to closely monitor the situation and reports that Bamako remains relatively calm with no major security incidents.
Adopted 21 years ago, the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour reached universal ratification, with Tonga depositing its instruments. The International Labour Organization estimates there are 152 million children in child labour and warns that COVID-19 could cause a spike in such practices for the first time in 20 years, unless action is taken.
The World Food Programme (WFP) today said swift action is needed to avoid severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, the world’s most coronavirus‑affected region that also faces a relentless rise of hunger, deepening inequality and an active hurricane season.
United Nations teams in Brazil, Colombia and Peru issued a joint statement calling for increased COVID-19 pandemic-related support and response efforts in the Amazon region. The pandemic is impacting hundreds of thousands of indigenous people, including 170,000 people living in remote areas along the Amazon River.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the launch of the policy brief on “The Impact of COVID-19 on Latin America and the Caribbean”, in New York today:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme today jointly warned that funding shortages, conflict and disasters — as well as supply chain challenges, rising food prices and loss of income due to COVID-19 — threaten to leave millions of refugees across Africa without food.
