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.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, observed on 13 October:
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today said that they remain deeply concerned about the ongoing hostilities along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, calling on all sides to immediately end the fighting and respect international human rights and humanitarian law.
Without aid, more than 5 million people in Somalia could face acute food insecurity by the end of 2020 due to the combined effects of flooding, the desert locust infestation, and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other challenges, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message at the World Humanitarian Forum’s hybrid summit, held today:
The Secretary-General expressed concern over the number of restrictions and attacks against journalists, as many face harassment, intimidation, killing and arbitrary detention. He called on Governments to immediately release journalists detained while exercising their profession, stressing: “No democracy can function without press freedom.”
With the number of people suffering from food insecurity projected to double in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, those in conflict zones still face the most severe threats of hunger and even famine, experts told the Security Council during a 17 September videoconference meeting on conflict-induced hunger, as they issued a clarion call for donors to step up their support.
While the confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in Syria currently stands at 3,618, reports from inside the country are pointing to a much broader spread of the disease, and it will not be possible to gauge the extent of the outbreak without more laboratory testing nationwide, Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting on 16 September.
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.
The COVID-19 pandemic will push 47 million more women and girls below the poverty line by 2021, reversing decades of progress to eradicate extreme poverty, according to new data released today by the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
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.
The spread of COVID-19 in Syria is likely more severe than official data suggests, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting on 27 August, adding that food insecurity remains a nationwide concern and that humanitarian convoys are suffering delays after the 15-member organ in July reduced the number of authorized border crossings to one.
Fighting in Afghanistan’s Kunduz Province has displaced 52,000 people since 16 August following attacks by a non-State armed group and responsive strikes by national security forces. A surge of United Nations staff is under way to boost humanitarian capacity in Kunduz and a joint assessment team was deployed.
A group of regional United Nations entities launched a $2.5 million recovery fund to support Mauritius as it responds to the oil spill caused by a shipwreck off its coast in July, with efforts focused on the livelihoods impacted. United Nations regional directors for eastern and southern Africa have pooled $250,000 to kick-start the fund.
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.
In Asia, a strong monsoon season has caused floods and landslides over the past week, killing hundreds of people, displacing millions and destroying infrastructure. The United Nations and aid partners are supporting Government-led responses in several countries despite COVID-19-related logistical challenges.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for World Humanitarian Day, observed today:
The Beirut port is temporarily operational, with nearly 9,000 containers unloaded between 11 and 18 August, including 1,000 tons of goods such as iron and wheat. The High Commissioner for Refugees is providing psychosocial support, emergency help cash and shelter kits, one of several United Nations agencies to offer emergency assistance.
There is a real danger that the global health crisis will create a COVID-19 generation who lose out on schooling and see their opportunities permanently damaged, warned Gordon Brown, Special Envoy on Global Education, noting that an estimated 30 million children may never return to school, according to UNESCO.
In a note issued on Friday, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Bolivia, Jean Arnault, welcomed the agreement reached among the Executive Branch, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and the Plurinational Electoral Organ regarding the 2020 general elections.
