Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ramesh Rajasingham is in Burkina Faso, where, with Government and donor representatives, he launched the country’s 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan, which seeks $607 million to help 2.9 million people. The appeal targets 61 per cent more people than in January 2020.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The United Nations and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research hosted an online discussion on how to prioritize actions to recover more equitably from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 100 participants from 60 countries attended, including those responsible for $100 billion annually in global research investments.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayeh and Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lucia Elmi launched a $417 million Humanitarian Response Plan to help 1.8 million people over the coming year. The latest assessment found that 2.45 million Palestinians - 47 per cent of the population - need aid.
This morning, David Beasley, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Executive Director, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on his organization’s behalf. With 270 million people approaching starvation and only $5 billion needed to save 30 million from famine, he said, in the Nobel spirit of peace and brotherhood, let’s feed them all.
In Yemen, the United Nations and its aid partners report they have distributed emergency food, hygiene kits and other essential items to over 7,600 families impacted by deadly floods and torrential rains that destroyed homes, crops and livestock in July and August. An estimated 62,000 families have been affected.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund warned today that disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is causing an alarming decline in the number of life-saving vaccines for children around the world, threatening hard-won progress.
In Nepal, the United Nations team is helping the Government cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the repatriation of Nepali migrants returning from the Gulf and Southeast Asia at entry and transit points, with quarantine sites and isolation centres. Some 25,000 returnees are expected in this first phase.
The Secretary-General welcomed the agreement between representatives of the Government of Venezuela and the Advisory Team of the National Assembly on responding to COVID-19. He encouraged parties to respect humanitarian principles in implementing the accord and to continue seeking common ground to overcome the protracted crisis.
The twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will now take place from 1-12 November 2021, in Glasgow. United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said that if done right, recovery from the COVID-19 crisis can foster a more inclusive climate path.
More than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said today. The latest ILO analysis of coronavirus’s impact on the labour market notes that those youth who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by 23 per cent.
The Secretary-General’s annual report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict has been released. Covering 2019, it documents the death and injury of tens of thousands; the displacement of millions; as well as widespread reports of sexual violence, noting children were forced to take part in fighting.
Venezuela is mired in a protracted crisis that only its people can resolve, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Security Council during a 20 May videoconference meeting.
Today on International Nurses Day, the World Health Organization remind us that as the world struggles to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic there is an urgent shortage of nurses worldwide. Almost 6 million more are needed, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
A new International Labour Organization report finds that COVID-19 is expected to wipe out 6.7 per cent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers. The report highlights the worst affected sectors and regions, and outlines policies to mitigate the crisis.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is sending equipment to more than 40 countries to help them use nuclear-derived technology to rapidly detect COVID‑19. Dozens of labs will receive diagnostic machines to speed up national testing, biosafety supplies and personal protection equipment.
The death toll from the measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 6,000 people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. The outbreak is currently the worst in the world.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported today that an estimated 761,000 children were internally displaced by storms in the Caribbean between 2014 and 2018; that’s the hottest five-year period on record. This is an increase of 600,000, compared to the 175,000 children displaced in the preceding five years.
The World Food Programme will need $196 million in 2020 to assist the growing number of people leaving Venezuela, as well as Colombian returnees. The challenge in Colombia and Ecuador is such that the Governments need support to assist with the influx of migrants. Six out of 10 migrants do not know where they will find their next meal.
