Lebanon

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed today its deep concern over the recent arbitrary arrests and detentions of women and girls by the country’s de facto authorities because of their alleged non-compliance with the hijab decree.

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is extremely concerned about the well-being of refugees and returnees fleeing the current hostilities in Sudan — as South Sudan continues to see an influx of new arrivals from across the border.

In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today expressed concern about the impact on civilians of escalating hostilities in the north-west of the country — as well as the potential for the violence to jeopardize cross-border missions by United Nations staff.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is concerned about the plight of civilians during the winter as, yet again today, there was another wave of attacks in the Kherson and Odesa regions. These attacks damaged critical civilian infrastructure, including homes, a hospital and a school.

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that more than half of the country’s population is going hungry, and an estimated 1.6 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2024.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) notes with concern that exchanges of fire across the Blue Line continued throughout the weekend, with reports that people were injured on both sides of the border. This follows the reported deaths of three people there following exchanges of fire on 1 December.

In Somalia, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator there, George Conway — together with the Government and the Somali non-governmental organization consortium — have jointly warned that the country is in the midst of a disaster as devastating rains and floods continue to spread.

In Niger, the UN Humanitarian Air Service has been given permission to resume domestic and humanitarian flights service, which will facilitate the uninterrupted and secure delivery of nearly 2.4 metric tons of cargo monthly, mostly essential medical supplies for people in need.

The Syrian Government has extended permission for the UN to use Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee crossings to deliver humanitarian from Türkiye to north-west Syria for three months, until 13 February 2024. Each month, about 2.5 million people are reached with critical assistance and protection services.