The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
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 was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
On Myanmar, nearly one year after the takeover, the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the international community to intensify pressure on the military to stop its campaign of violence against the people of the country and to insist on the prompt restoration of civilian rule.
On 14 November, United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres appointed Jose Miguel Barreto of Peru as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guatemala, with the host Government’s approval.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that half a million people in parts of Balochistan province in Pakistan are facing crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity. Another 100,000 people need immediate life-saving assistance due to severe drought-like conditions.
Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, today expressed great concern about serious allegations of sexual violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital. She called for zero tolerance of sexual violence among all warring parties.
Violence in the Central African Republic is disrupting critical supply routes, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Bangui. Following recent attacks on aid convoys and peacekeepers, more than 1,600 trucks carrying food and medicine are blocked at the border with Cameroon, as food prices spike.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said carbon dioxide continues to be at record highs, despite COVID-19 lockdowns around the world. According to the WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, carbon dioxide levels saw a growth spurt in 2019 and the annual global average breached the significant threshold of 410 parts per million.
Following explosions in Beirut on 4 August, the United Nations is requesting $565 million to help Lebanon move towards recovery and reconstruction. Peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are also donating blood and have joined the “#UN4Beirut” initiative to clean up devastated city streets.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called on Guatemalan authorities to fully investigate the violent death of a transgender woman found dead at her home on Saturday in Guatemala City. She had sought asylum in Guatemala after fleeing violence in El Salvador due to her gender identity.
Officials at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) say locust swarms linked to climate change remain a serious threat to food security in parts of East Africa, India and Pakistan. United Nations agencies are helping affected areas by providing data on weather, climate and the desert locust life cycle.
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.
An Ebola outbreak has been identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s western Equateur province. The health ministry has identified six cases, including four people who have died. The World Health Organization has staff in Mbandaka, the main city impacted by the outbreak, to support the response.
The United Nations donated 250,000 surplus protective face masks to the United States for New York City’s health workers who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, as agencies called for a $2.5 trillion assistance package for developing countries, who face an estimated $220 billion in income losses.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) is not declaring the novel coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern at this time, the outbreak is a very high risk in China, as well as regionally and globally, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
Luis António Lam Padilla, the new Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The Yemen office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed that 52 detainees were among those killed when air strikes hit a former community college compound on the northern outskirts of Dhamar City, United Nations teams in the country reported on Sunday. As many as 170 detainees were being held there.