Democratic Republic of the Congo

In Somalia, the United Nations and the Government have just unveiled a revamped multi-donor trust fund in support of the country’s development priorities. The Somalia Joint Fund will provide flexible funding to address key challenges facing the country and its people.

In Sudan, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are increasing their response to the current crisis. With food insecurity expected to surge to record levels, affecting two fifths of the population, the World Food Programme plans to scale up emergency assistance to some 4.9 million people in the coming months.

The World Food Programme reports that, starting next month, it will suspend assistance for over 200,000 people in Palestine — 60 per cent of its caseload — due to severe funding shortfalls. It urgently needs $51 million to continue providing life-saving food and cash aid to 350,000 Palestinians until the end of this year.

Following are United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the eleventh high-level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region, in Bujumbura today:

In Nigeria, where severe hunger will affect an estimated 4.3 million people in conflict-affected areas between June and August, the World Food Programme is increasing emergency food and nutrition aid and the United Nations Children’s Fund is giving therapeutic treatment to severely wasted children.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) dispatched two patrols to protect civilians after receiving two reports yesterday about the presence of members of the CODECO armed group in Blukwa, near Djugu, in Ituri Province, forcing the armed group to withdraw.

A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization says that more than one in two preschool-aged children – approximately 372 million children, three quarters who live in South and East Asia, the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa - suffer from the lack of at least one of three micronutrients; iron, vitamin A or zinc.

Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, is still in Khartoum and is continuing to engage with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and other key Member States on the ground in efforts to secure an immediate de-escalation and cessation of the fighting.

In Papua New Guinea, the International Organization for Migration and humanitarian partners are helping with rapid assessments coordinated by provincial authorities after the magnitude-7 earthquake in the Chambri Lake area, which, due to the remote location, requires seaplane and canoe to be reached.

Cautioning about the fraught security and humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, due to the depredations of armed groups, delegates also looked forward to elections slated to take place there at the end of 2023, and noted signs of progress as they briefed Member States on the Security Council mission to the country from 9 to 13 March.