An estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation this year and if programmes and services stay shut for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure will reach 6.1 million by 2030, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population 2020” report issued today.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the China‑Africa Summit on solidarity against COVID-19, in New York today:
A new United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report finds that universal child benefits such as cash payments or tax transfers — crucial to fighting child poverty — are only available in 1 out of 10 countries. Officials say that they are needed now more than ever amid the economic fallout of COVID-19.
In Bangladesh, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed today that a 71-year-old Rohingya man is the first refugee in the Cox’s Bazar camp to die from COVID-19 and some 30 other people have tested positive so far, yet the numbers are likely higher as testing is ramping up.
More than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said today. The latest ILO analysis of coronavirus’s impact on the labour market notes that those youth who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by 23 per cent.
The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Vaccine Alliance, warned today that COVID-19 is disrupting routine vaccination efforts around the world, putting about 80 million children under the age of one at risk of diseases including diphtheria, measles and polio.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that the voluntary repatriation of registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan has been suspended and it has closed several repatriation centres until further notice due to the Government’s precautionary steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Food prices around the world are at their highest levels in five years, the food price index from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says. According to FAO, prices rose for the third consecutive month in December, with vegetable oil, sugar, dairy and cereals among the commodities driving up world food prices.
A group of 66 vulnerable refugees was evacuated from Libya to Rwanda yesterday evening on a flight chartered by the Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the first group to be moved under the Emergency Transit Mechanism established by the Government of Rwanda, UNHCR and the African Union.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the exhibition on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in New York today:
Following is UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Maria Luiza Viotti, Chef de Cabinet, to the ministerial meeting on cooperation between China and Africa on matters before the Security Council, in New York today:
Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, signed an agreement in New York with the Government of Sudan to open several offices in that country. Ms. Bachelet said that with this milestone pact her office is poised to offer its support to make the transition a success for the human rights of all Sudanese.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the reception on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in New York today:
The new Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.
The United Nations Children’s Fund announced a partnership to build a first-of-its-kind factory to convert plastic waste in Côte d’Ivoire into modular plastic bricks, which will be used to build classrooms. Côte d’Ivoire needs 15,000 classrooms; 500 will be constructed through the partnership in the next two years.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
Today is the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, and the 2019 theme is “Let’s Grow the Future Together”. In his message, the Secretary-General stressed that protecting and restoring land can reduce forced migration, improve food security, spur economic growth and help address the global climate emergency.
Responding to record flood levels in Iran, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country, Ugochi Daniels, today asked the donor community for $25 million to cover the emergency and early recovery needs of 115,000 highly vulnerable people in the most hard-hit Provinces of Golestan, Khuzestan, Ilam and Lorestan.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Beijing from New York on the evening of Thursday, 25 April.
This week is World Immunization Week, and UNICEF is highlighting the dangers of the global rise in measles cases. Executive Director Henrietta Fore said today: “If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.”
