COVID-19 – UN OFFICES
In duty stations around the world, UN staff are taking precautions and doing what they can to flatten the curve of the COVID 19 infections.
At UN Headquarters in Kenya, managers are required to implement remote working to the full extent compatible with business continuity, in order to substantially reduce personnel exposures to transit and other crowded areas. Full implementation of telecommuting up to three days a week will significantly reduce the staffing footprint of the Nairobi complex, and therefore reduce risk to personnel.
Similarly, the United Nations in Ghana has decided, as a precautionary measure, that staff normally working in these premises should from now work from home. This measure is taken for a period of time.
After consultation with the heads of the UN agencies in Iran, the Resident Coordinator has there recommended on 1 March the full implementation of organizational business continuity plans, including work from home. The decision followed steep increase in COVID-19 cases in Iran, including of one UN staff member. The UN in Iran is still fully working from home, an arrangement that is reviewed weekly by managers.
In Geneva, guided tours have been suspended. Cultural events organized by Member States and international organizations together with the UN Office in Geneva have also been cancelled.
As of next Monday, and until further notice, the entrance to the Palais des Nations would be strictly reserved to UN and non-UN personnel whose workplace or office is located in the Palais de Nations complex; people coming into the Palais for essential official meetings; and journalists with permanent accreditation will be allowed in.
At UN Headquarters in New York, security staff said that the number of swipes at the different entrances to the compound on the 4th March – the day before the first measures were put in place – was 11,033 and last Wednesday, 11th March it had dropped to 5,393. The preliminary numbers for today showed an even steeper drop. The UN will continue to reduce its footprint.
 
COVID-19
Dr. Tedros said that more than 132,000 cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to the World Health Organization, from 123 countries and territories. He added that 5,000 people have now lost their lives, calling this a tragic milestone.
He added that Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China. More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic.
He reiterated his message to countries: you must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone, not contact tracing alone, not quarantine alone, not social distancing alone – do it all, he said.
He added that any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks “that won’t happen to us” is making a deadly mistake. It can happen to anyone, he warned.
Together with the UN Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, the World Health Organization launched the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to allow individuals and organizations to contribute.
 
IRAQ
The United Nations Assistance Mission in that country calls for immediate de-escalation on all sides. 
The Mission says that attacks and retaliatory attacks, including repeated strikes on the Global Coalition forces - present in Iraq at the invitation of its Government to fight Da’esh - do not serve the common interest of the country. 
The UN Mission condemns the continued loss of life and calls upon all parties to act with maximum restraint in keeping with international law. Partnership and dialogue are the only way to build up Iraq’s strength and to prevent a resurgence of Da’esh. The country and its people cannot afford to be used as a theatre for different power competitions and proxy conflicts. Iraqis desperately deserve stability and peace. 
 
BURKINA FASO
The UN Refugee Agency said today that about 14,000 people have fled their homes in the past 17 days, bringing the total of internally displaced to 780,000. Most of them are searching for safety in the country, but recent violence has also forced more than 2,000 people to flee to Mali.
The UN Refugee Agency said it is alarmed by the dramatic rise of forced displacement in the Sahel and reiterated its call for the protection of civilian populations and those fleeing violence.
They have scaled-up their response and are providing protection and emergency supplies to those forced to flee, as well as communities hosting them.
In Mali, UNHCR is also working to strengthen its presence.
 
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Romania has now paid its budget dues in full bringing the total number up to 70.