UN Secretary-General António Guterres echoed that message, warning that record temperatures and extreme weather were “causing havoc” around the world. The global response has fallen “far short”, Mr. Guterres insisted, just as latest UN data indicates that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are only 15 per cent on track at...
In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that the “disastrous, senseless war in Sudan, born out of a wanton drive for power, has resulted in thousands of deaths, the destruction of family homes, schools, hospitals and other essential services, massive displacement, as well as sexual violence,...
The International Organization for Migration (IOM); the UN refugee agency, UNCHR; and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also called for coordinated search and rescue mechanisms. The tragedy occurred between Thursday 3 August and Friday 4 August, and to date, only four survivors have been rescued – all by a merchant...
UNICEF estimates that 76 per cent of children under 18 in the region – 460 million – are exposed to extreme high temperatures where 83 or more days in a year exceed 35° Celsius. July was the hottest month ever recorded globally, raising further concerns about a future where children, including those living...
“The lives of those in need should never be reduced to the tactics of geopolitical games,” Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly, said. “Humanitarian action must always be guided by the principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence. As such, effective humanitarian assistance can never be...
The UN’s top humanitarian official in the country Matthias Schmale informed that severe hunger affects 4.3 million people in Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The number of children under five at risk of life-threatening severe acute malnutrition has doubled in one year to reach 700,000. Describing the situation in...
Secretary-General António Guterres was speaking to reporters in Doha, Qatar, after convening an international meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan. He said they had agreed on the need for a “strategy of engagement” with the Taliban, to help the country’s most vulnerable people. No question of Taliban recognition Mr. Guterres made clear that...
“We have the tools to drive down malaria, a package of interventions that includes vector control, preventive medicines, testing, and treatment,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Adopting as its theme for the day – “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement” – WHO’s...
Thousands searching for a better life meet their death crossing deserts, rivers and remote areas in the region. IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, documented 1,433 deaths last year – the highest number since its establishment in 2014. The Project is run by the UN agency’s Global Data Institute (GDI), which this...
“Brutal” armed conflict has left 10 million children in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in need of humanitarian assistance – more than double the number in 2020, UNICEF warned in a new report. And hostilities spilling over into neighbouring countries, are putting an extra four million children at risk. “The conflict may...
When my mandate began, in 2018, it was not long after the end of the dictatorship [The two-decade rule of Yahya Jammeh]. The new Government was already embracing several reforms simultaneously, reviewing the constitution, the judiciary, and the security sector, and the UN had allocated funds for peacebuilding. Women working...
“Every person searching for a better life deserves safety and dignity,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. “We need safe, legal routes for migrants and refugees.” The UN refugee agency (UNCHR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in a joint statement, expressed condolences for the victims and called on countries...