COVID-19/UN OFFICES
UN teams around the world are continuing to offer support to national and local authorities to prepare and respond to the pandemic.
In Zimbabwe, upon the Government’s request, the UN is also supporting the most immediate preparedness needs such as training of healthcare workers, while ensuring their own safety, on caring for patients with COVID-19. The UN is also supporting the Government with the school system’s preparation, with posters for schools and leaflets for students to take home and share with families, while also preparing for potential home-schooling needs.
The UN is also engaging with the private sector and civil society for a whole-of-society response to COVID-19. In parallel, the UN has also supported the Government in developing a Risk Communication and Community Engagement Preparedness, Readiness, Response Plan, as well as public information material for distribution and display at health centres and other public places, including airports and other points of entry into Zimbabwe.
In China, the UN team has been supporting national and local efforts to share information on COVID-19 through traditional and social media channels targeting various age groups and communities. These efforts have helped reach over 1 billion views on several social media channels.
UN entities also translated COVID-19 preparedness messages in more than 40 languages and dialects tailored to the elderly or those in ethnic minority communities.
On social media, the most prominent is the Social Distancing Campaign jointly launched by the WHO and the Resident Coordinator, which has attracted over 51 million views and more than 540,000 people have participated in online discussions. A subsequent online survey conducted in early March indicated a 34 per cent increase of people maintaining social distancing since the outbreak, and more than 90 per cent of survey respondents correctly identified hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and social distancing as some of the top four WHO recommendations.
COVID-19/WHO
The World Health Organization today called on Member States in South-East Asia to urgently scale-up aggressive measures to combat COVID-19, as confirmed cases cross 480, with eight deaths.
Eight of the 11 countries in WHO’s South-East Asia region have confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the numbers of cases are increasing quickly.
While this is an indication of an alert and effective surveillance, it also puts the spotlight on the need for more aggressive and whole of society efforts to prevent further spread of COVID-19, WHO said. We clearly need to do more, and urgently.
COVID-19/OCHA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that some of the 140 countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are already in crisis due to conflicts, natural disasters and climate change. They are home to millions of people who already need our emergency assistance.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are determined that crucial, lifesaving work for the world’s most vulnerable communities must be sustained.
That means continuing focused coordination across the global humanitarian system, swift fund-raising to ensure critical programmes have the resources they need, and maintaining effective humanitarian operations, leaving no one behind.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has appealed for $675 million to fund the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is currently working with WHO and other partners to coordinate a consolidated global humanitarian appeal.
The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, has released $15 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to help fund WHO and UNICEF’s efforts to contain the virus in vulnerable countries.
Other OCHA-managed funds in individual countries are also stepping up and country-based pooled funds have released money to scale up immediate preparedness in Afghanistan, Sudan and Jordan.
UN agencies and their partners are currently assessing where and how humanitarian operations on the ground are being disrupted to identify solutions as quickly as possible. At the same time, we are taking precautions to ensure the safety of staff and the people we serve.
COVID-19/PAKISTAN
The UN Refugee Agency tells us that, in Pakistan, following the closure of the Torkham and Chaman official border-crossing points with Afghanistan, the voluntary repatriation of registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan has been suspended. This is due to the Government’s precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Several UNHCR Voluntary Repatriation Centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are closed until further notice. UNHCR said its utmost priority is to support global efforts on lessening the spread and impact of COVID-19, and to assist the Government of Pakistan with its comprehensive preparedness and response plans.
LIBYA
The UN Mission in Libya, UNSMIL, joins the call by international partners on all parties to the Libyan conflict to declare an immediate humanitarian cessation of hostilities as well as a halt to the continuing transfer of all military equipment and personnel into Libya. That is in order to allow local authorities to rapidly respond to the unprecedented public health challenge posed by COVID-19.
While UNSMIL continues its efforts in facilitating an inter-Libyan dialogue on the political, military and economic tracks, the UN Mission urges all parties in Libya to take the bold step in unifying their efforts in facing this pandemic.
SYRIA
The UN continues to step up its cross-border response efforts out of Turkey to address the needs of hundreds of thousands of newly displaced women, children and men in north-west Syria.
Since 1 December, approximately 960,000 people have been newly displaced in Idlib and surrounding areas, mainly women and children.
The mass displacement further increases needs across northwest Syria, where over four million people are living in severe conditions.
Between 1 and 16 March, over 650 trucks carrying food, shelter material, water, sanitation and hygiene and nutrition assistance have been sent into north-west Syria through the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam border crossings, as authorized by the Security Council.
A detailed humanitarian readiness and response plan for north-west Syria has been in place since the end of January, covering both cross-border, and delivery from within Syria, with an updated funding requirement of $500 million to assist over 1.1 million people in need. Over $300 million has been provided by donors towards this plan, but more is needed to fully address critical lifesaving needs.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Last night, a statement was issued in which the Secretary-General strongly condemned the attack perpetrated by anti-Balaka elements against local officials on 15 March in Grimari, in the Ouaka Prefecture.
United Nations peacekeepers confronted the attackers and one Burundian peacekeeper was killed.
The Secretary-General also strongly condemned another attack on Sunday by suspected elements of two armed groups against a UN Mission patrol on the Ndélé -Birao axis. One peacekeeper from Pakistan was injured.
The Secretary-General emphasizes that attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime under international law.
Today, peacekeepers in the Central African Republic are continuing patrols in and around the city of Ndélé, the area where one Pakistani blue helmet was injured on Sunday. The patrols are conducted in coordination with the country’s gendarmerie, to protect the population and prevent new clashes.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, welcomed the recent adoption of a Child Protection Code by the Central African Republic’s National Assembly. The code criminalizes the recruitment and use of children, emphasizes that children associated with armed groups should be considered primarily as victims and addresses other grave violations against boys and girls, such as sexual violence.
TANZANIA
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that the recent sentencing of eight senior members and one former senior leader of Tanzania's main opposition party on charges including sedition and unlawful assembly is further troubling evidence of the crackdown on dissent and the stifling of public freedoms in the country.
The Human Rights Office says that the latest sentences highlight what appears to be an ongoing strategy by the Government to use the criminal justice system to target its critics, imposing large fines or jail terms on opponents, journalists and civil society figures.
The Human Rights Office asks the Government of Tanzania to abide by its international obligations to respect human rights, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression.
UZBEKISTAN
An estimated 50,000 stateless people in Uzbekistan are set to acquire citizenship following the passing of a new law in the country. A provision in the Citizenship Law signed by the Uzbek President last Friday will come into effect on 1 April, conferring citizenship to registered stateless people who were granted permanent residence in Uzbekistan before 1 January 1995.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the law and provided recommendations to national authorities during its drafting.
GLOBAL GOALS
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe today launched a first Regional report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
The report looks at change over recent years by reviewing 49 indicators across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The report found that countries in Europe are making good progress in targets like reducing extreme poverty, covering the population with social protection, providing modern means for family planning, and having low levels of maternal, infant and child mortality.
However, there has been slow progress in areas such as reducing pollution, protecting marine areas, development assistance, and disaster-risk reduction strategies.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Malta has paid its budget dues in full bringing the total to 72 financial contributions.
