“The United Nations and our partners in Afghanistan are coordinating with the de facto authorities to swiftly assess needs and provide emergency assistance,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. UN agencies, partners, and the de facto authorities continued to mount emergency operations. Initial assessments indicated that the 6.3 magnitude quake that...
Speaking in Geneva, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said that a new altitude record for the freezing point had been set a day earlier, climbing to 5,298 metres (17,381 feet) – well above Europe’s very highest peaks including Mont Blanc, at 4,811 metres (15,784 feet). WMO figures show that this is 115...
It represents the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and reflects “concerning trends” seen in recent months throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory “Palestinians and Israelis are killed and injured in near daily violence – including just hours before this briefing when another fatal shooting attack killed an Israeli in the...
She is currently deployed with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, to the north of her country, supporting refugees who are fleeing conflict in Sudan. She has been speaking to UN News ahead of World Humanitarian Day which is commemorated annually on 19 August. “Saving lives became a passion of mine when...
The 45-year-old Palestinian died in his prison cell on Tuesday morning following a nearly three-month hunger strike. He had been protesting Israel’s widespread policy of arbitrarily detaining Palestinians in “abhorrent conditions” and in violation of fair trial guarantees. The call for greater accountability came from the independent expert, or Special...
They strongly condemned the execution this week of Tangaraju s/o Suppiah, who was convicted of conspiring to traffic cannabis from Malaysia to the country in 2013. Fair trial concerns Mr. Suppiah, a 46-year-old Tamil from Singapore, was hanged on Tuesday despite claims that he had not been provided with adequate...
“I am horrified by the toll the clashes are having on civilians”, said Abdou Dieng. “At least 331 people have been killed nationwide, including five aid workers, and nearly 3,200 have been injured.” The fighting between troops from the national army and a powerful rival militia known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)...
Antonio Guterres was addressing via videolink, the fourth meeting of the Major Economies Forum, convened by the United States President Joe Biden, which is designed to galvanize efforts to keep the global temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, within reach – in line with the Paris Agreement. Biggest coffers,...
According to a statement attributable to the Executive Director of the UN agency, Cindy McCain, the workers were carrying out life-saving duties in Kabkabiya, North Darfur. In a separate incident on Saturday, a WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was significantly damaged at Khartoum International airport during an exchange...
In an appeal for $178 million to support humanitarian assistance across the seven affected countries in the Greater Horn region, veteran WHO worker Liesbeth Aelbrecht warned that the situation was worse than anything she’d seen in more than two decades in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. “These 48...
The development follows the UN World Food Programme (WFP)’s announcement that it would be cutting back on assistance to those sheltering in the vast Cox’s Bazar camp complex from 1 March because of a lack of funding. “These rations cuts are a stain on the conscience of the international community,” said Tom Andrews, UN...
The biennial panel’s theme is human rights violations relating to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to limiting the practice to only the most serious crimes. Promise of the Charter Volker Türk said this is ultimately about the United Nations Charter’s promise of the highest standards...