A newly released World Health Organization report finds that nearly a billion people worldwide live with a mental disorder. It identifies public health crises, inequality, war and climate change as major health threats, and shows that depression and anxiety spiked more than 25 per cent in 2020.
The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) has, in what it calls a major breakthrough, brokered a peace accord between the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka communities, who agreed to dialogue to protect people, livestock and property, and to find a sustainable solution to the final status of Abyei.
Two peacekeepers died and four others were injured in Mali this morning, when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device north of Mopti while on its way to Timbuktu. They were all from Egypt. The attack is another reminder of the urgent need to continue and strengthen efforts to stabilize the centre of Mali.
Marking International Human Solidarity Day, the Secretary-General said that hunger is no longer about lack of food, but largely a man-made disaster, concentrated in countries affected by large-scale, protracted conflict. He urged the international community to do everything in its power to tackle both hunger and conflict.
The new Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, Karlito Nunes, paid a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.
The new Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, Karlito Nunes, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.
The United Nations and the Government of Timor-Leste have launched a $32 million joint appeal to provide food, shelter, water and sanitation to some 65,000 people impacted by flooding in April. Nearly 34,000 homes were destroyed amid a strict COVID-19 lockdown in the capital, Dili, which has seen a surge in cases.
Unrelenting drought in southern Madagascar is forcing hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports. At least 1.35 million people need emergency food and nutrition assistance. Acute malnutrition in children under 5 has almost doubled over the last four months.
The United Nations team in Timor-Leste, led by Roy Trivedy, the Resident Coordinator, is supporting local authorities following floods that have impacted Díli and other parts of the country. The Government says there have been more than 30 deaths and over 13,500 people are living in evacuation sites.
In Timor-Leste, the United Nations is helping the Government amid the worst flash flooding and landslides in recent years that have damaged homes, road and bridges, affecting at least 10,000 people in eight municipalities. The Organization has delivered sanitary and dignity kits, plastic mats and blankets to those in need.
Ethiopia is facing dire shortages of food, water, fuel, cash and electricity, as well as telecoms services in the Tigray region, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. More than 63,000 people are recorded as internally displaced in Tigray, including some who fled towards Afar and Amhara.
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.
In the biggest humanitarian undertaking in its history, the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to assist up to a record 138 million people. WFP estimates the number of hungry people in the countries where it operates could reach 270 million by year’s end, up 82 per cent from before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
The Secretary-General and top UN officials held a virtual briefing for Member States to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as his call for global ceasefires saw positive gains in Colombia, Syria and Yemen and UNICEF continued to procure and ship protective equipment and other vital supplies to affected countries.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the event in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the referendum in Timor-Leste, in New York today:
In Burkina Faso, where armed attacks continue to affect parts of the north and east, some 30,000 people have been displaced every month since the start of 2019. July alone saw a nearly 35 per cent surge in the number of health centres closed due to insecurity, depriving 625,000 people of access to basic care.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
Humanitarian operations in Iraq are contracting in 2018 versus last year, when 6.2 million people were targeted with assistance. The 2018 humanitarian response plan, launched on 6 March, seeks $569 million to assist 3.4 million highly vulnerable people struggling in the aftermath of the conflict with Da’esh.
Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks at the signing ceremony of a new maritime boundary agreement between Australia and Timor-Leste, in New York today:
