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The eerie silence of starvation ‘is deafening, it never leaves you’: UN official

·August 4, 2023·2 min read

Globally, over 250 million people suffered acute hunger in 2022, the highest in recent years, with about 376,000 people facing famine-like conditions in seven countries – all affected by armed conflict or extreme levels of violence. Another 35 million people are on the edge, Reena Ghelani said. Hunger and conflict...

Time running out on election timeline for South Sudan, UN official warns

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·August 3, 2023·3 min read

“With only 17 months remaining on the Roadmap timelines before elections in 2024, I repeat what I had said in an earlier press conference, that 2023 is a ‘make or break’ year,” Nicholas Haysom said. Mr. Haysom heads the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) which reported that “a race against...

Ukraine: War intensifies and so do the needs, says UN relief official

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·August 1, 2023·2 min read

Denise Brown, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, spoke remotely at a press briefing at UN Headquarters, in New York, and said that funds are needed particularly to prepare for the approaching winter. “It is almost August, and it gets cold very early in Ukraine,” she said. She said that humanitarians...

World entering a ‘humanitarian doom loop’, warns UN food aid official

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·July 30, 2023·2 min read

At a press briefing in New York, Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, said that the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative after Russia ended its engagement was “regrettable, to say the least.” Under the initiative, WFP shipped more than 725,000 tons of grain, relieving...

During visit to Greece, UN official calls for enhanced refugee protection

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·July 30, 2023·1 min read

During the visit, Ms. Triggs mentioned that one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean happened just over a month ago. Protecting refugee rights “The Pylos tragedy and the other devastating tragedies in the Mediterranean underscore the primacy of saving lives and protecting the rights of people forced to flee....

Top UN official urges Israeli, Palestinian leaders to ‘put on the brakes’

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·June 28, 2023·2 min read

“The choice is clear,” said Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). “Either continue along the downward spiral of violence and provocations leading to a political vacuum or turn towards constructive dialogue linked to concrete actions that can create hope and a political horizon.” ‘Alarming...

Top UN official for Africa calls for added action to stop piracy’s spread

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·June 22, 2023·3 min read

Despite gains made in tackling sea-faring criminal groups, “piracy incidents continue to threaten the safety of maritime traffic in the region,” said Martha Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations. Effective deterrents Since her last briefing on maritime security in November, she...

Dam disaster: UN ‘committed to reaching all Ukrainians in need’, says top aid official

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·June 8, 2023·3 min read

Denise Brown, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, offered reassurance to Dmytro Kuleba that UN agencies and other humanitarian partners have been delivering water, food and cash to those displaced or suffering the impact of the dam breach, and collapse of the crucial hydroelectric plant in the southeast region near the city of Kherson....

‘The world cannot abandon the people’: Top humanitarian official in Afghanistan

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·April 7, 2023·3 min read

Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said that amid severe underfunding, the move would “further undermine humanitarian partners’ ability to support the population, especially the most vulnerable such as women and girls”. “The world cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan at this precarious moment,” Dr. Alakbarov insisted, before...

Top UN official urgently calls for de-escalating nuclear tensions over Belarus

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·April 2, 2023·4 min read

“The risk of a nuclear weapon being used is currently higher than at any time since the depths of the cold war,” said Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. “The war in Ukraine represents the most acute example of that risk.” The Security Council met on the heels...

Afghanistan still a grave humanitarian crisis, senior aid official says

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·March 1, 2023·2 min read

Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, updated journalists in New York on developments in a country where 28 million people now depend on aid to survive. Immense humanitarian needs “Afghanistan remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 2023, notwithstanding, of course, the recent devastating earthquakes...

DR Congo: Senior UN rights official calls on authorities to stop ‘appalling’ violence

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·February 24, 2023·2 min read

The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris, concluding a 10-day visit to the country on Wednesday, reported a resurgence of attacks by armed groups and the devastating toll on communities alongside the need for action. “The violence must stop,” she said, encouraging authorities to redouble their efforts...