The Security Council today encouraged Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to resume negotiations, at the invitation of the African Union Chairperson, on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project, with a view to finalizing the text of a mutually acceptable agreement on filling and operating the dam “within a reasonable time frame”.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) announced today a decision by the Secretariat to repatriate all Gabonese military units, effective immediately, following credible reports of sexual abuse by Gabon’s contingent deployed to the Mission.
The World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it will be forced to suspend food aid delivery to more than 100,000 displaced people in parts of South Sudan, beginning in October, due to funding shortfalls. It warned that further cuts may be inevitable if an additional $154 million is not raised in the next four months.
Following is a transcript of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ press conference, held in New York today:
Food insecurity in Somalia is set to increase until the end of 2021 due to the impacts of poor rainfall and continued insecurity, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today. FAO said approximately 1.2 million children under the age of five are likely to be acutely malnourished during that period.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said that, in September, it started delivering emergency relief food assistance to communities in regions bordering war-torn Tigray. According to WFP, across Ethiopia, more than 13.6 million people are estimated to be food insecure due to a number of factors.
The Office for Children and Armed Conflict says the United Nations and the Plateforme coalition of armed movements in Mali signed new action plans by which the latter committed to release all child recruits, end military use of schools, and guarantee unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to all children.
Weather-related disasters have risen five-fold since 1970, killing $2 million people, mostly in developing countries, and causing $3.64 trillion in losses, the World Meteorological Organization reported today. However, the number of deaths fell significantly thanks to better early warning systems and disaster management.
A devastating combination of a severe drought – the worst in 40 years – sandstorms and pest infestations have led to crop losses of up to 60 per cent in Madagascar, where the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Grand Sud. People have resorted to eating locusts, raw red cactus fruits or wild leaves.
The Secretary-General will convene a high-level dialogue on energy on Friday, 24 September, under the auspices of the General Assembly. The dialogue, which will be held virtually, is an opportunity to mobilize action and cooperation to ensure that all people can access clean, affordable energy by 2030.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council meeting on Ethiopia, held today:
The unity of Ethiopia and regional stability beyond its borders are at stake, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned the Security Council today as it met to discuss the spread of the military confrontation in that country and the attendant humanitarian catastrophe.
Today marks three years since the death of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. As the current Secretary-General said, Kofi was one-of-a-kind, a man who embodied United Nations values. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said that, on this day three years ago, the world lost one of its moral voices.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said today it urgently needs $27 million to continue providing emergency shelter for internally displaced people in Tigray. With more than 2.1 million people internally displaced, some have fled Ethiopia and sought refuge in neighbouring Sudan, the agency reported.
Health authorities in Guinea, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), have confirmed the country’s first case of Marburg virus. The United Nations team on the ground is bolstering urgent infection prevention and control measures, such as contact tracing, while strengthening treatment capacity and risk communication.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regained access to two refugee camps previously cut off by clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray Province. It is calling for urgent support amid rising displacement, as well as safe passage to transfer refugees to a safer site, 135 kilometres away.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that, despite numerous challenges, it has delivered food to more than a million people in the north-western and parts of southern Tigray in June and July. More than 175 trucks arrived in Tigray during the first week of August, and an additional 90 are expected in the coming days.
Humanitarian officials warn that, without sustained funding, millions of people in in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states will struggle to feed themselves during the lean season due to conflict, COVID-19, high food prices and the effects of climate change.
The World Health Organization reported that weekly deaths from COVID-19 in Africa reached a record peak in the week ending 1 August, with more than 6,400 deaths recorded — the highest seven-day toll since the onset of the pandemic in Africa. South Africa and Tunisia accounted for more than 55 per cent of the fatalities.
A new report by the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stresses the need to prevent torture in places of detention in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region. “No circumstances, however exceptional, justify torture,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative in the country.
