More than 1,000 migrants have died or disappeared since 2014 while trying to leave East Africa and the Horn of Africa, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. Most were travelling to the Arabian Peninsula or South Africa. Migrants face violence, abandonment by smugglers, limited access to medical care and detention, among other dangers.
Food and nutrition aid has reached 2.1 million people in Myanmar during the first quarter of 2022, the World Food Programme (WFP) says. WFP hopes to reach at least 4 million of the country’s most food-insecure and vulnerable people this year, subject to availability of resources and access to those in need, and calls for unimpeded humanitarian access.
The United Nations-Energy Plan of Action Towards 2025 was launched today, presenting collective action by 30 United Nations entities and international organizations aiming to enable 500 million more people to gain access to electricity, and to create 30 million jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency, among other targets.
In Haiti, clashes resumed between gangs in Port-au-Prince, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, violence has displaced more than 1,200 people. Dozens of houses were burned and a hospital in Marin was looted.
Over 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by the World Health Organization. The agency estimates that, if widely deployed, the vaccine could save the lives of an additional 40,000 to 80,000 children annually.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says its operational costs for West Africa are expected to expand by $136 million as a result of rising fuel and food prices. Some 43 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity by June. Before the Ukraine conflict WFP had already forced to cut rations in Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali and Niger.
The United Nations team in Myanmar remains alarmed by deteriorating humanitarian conditions amid continued fighting, particularly in the country’s south-east and north-west. Across Myanmar, more than 900,000 people are displaced, including more than 560,000 people who remain uprooted since the military takeover in February 2021.
Some 10,000 people have sought refuge in Uganda’s Kisoro district, following violent clashes that began on Monday in the Rutshuru territory. The United Nations Refugee Agency is working with the Government of Uganda and humanitarian partners to provide assistance.
Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide, about 121 million a year, are unintended, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says, warning the Ukraine and other conflicts are expected to drive an increase through disruption of access to contraception and growing sexual violence.
United Nations staff in Myanmar report that civilians continue to suffer amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and continued fighting. Nearly 890,000 people are displaced across the country, humanitarian needs are rising and aid workers face limited access, which is hampering the planned scale-up of assistance for 2022.
Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, strongly condemned today the continuing violence in the country that is impacting the safety of civilians and humanitarian workers and disrupts the delivery of aid and services to vulnerable people. These appalling acts of violence must stop, she stressed.
In Ethiopia, fighting in the northern region of Afar continues to prevent the delivery of aid into neighbouring Tigray. These clashes are also causing large-scale displacement and increasing humanitarian needs in Afar.
At least 10 people have died and more than 43,000 are displaced across 180 displacement sites as a result of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar on 5 February. The first aerial assessment took place today with a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service flight.
World Wetlands Day, observed on 2 February, is being celebrated under the theme “Wetlands Action for People and Nature”, highlighting the importance of actions to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands for human and planetary health.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):
In tsunami-hit Tonga, the United Nations continues to support the recovery, providing satellite phones for Government staff to communicate while the underground communications cable undergoes repairs. On Tongatapu, the main island, 90 per cent of power has been restored and aid distribution continues.
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.
After a volcanic eruption and tsunami caused significant infrastructure damage in Tonga, the World Food Programme said it is exploring ways to bring in aid and the United Nations Children’s Fund is ready to send emergency water, sanitation and other supplies from warehouses in Fiji and Brisbane.
In Yemen, the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) has expressed its concern at the allegations of the militarization of the Hudaydah ports. The Mission has made a request to undertake an inspection and reminds all parties that the ports are a crucial lifeline for millions of Yemenis.
