While South Sudan is not currently ready to hold elections later this year, they can still take place before the end of the transition period, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers discussed the support necessary for that to happen amid increasing internal and external challenges.
South Sudan
In Abyei, the United Nations Interim Security Force there reported that they are continuing to patrol in order to protect civilians and are engaging with community leaders and local authorities to de-escalate intercommunal tensions.
In Ethiopia, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator has allocated $17 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to address worsening food insecurity in the country. The new funding reflects the Organization’s deep concern over the impact of a new El Niño-driven drought that is impacting Ethiopia.
The UN Human Rights Office in Geneva released a horrific report today that details violations and abuses by both sides in the conflict in Sudan since April 2023, resulting in thousands of civilians killed, millions displaced, property looted, and children conscripted into fighting.
The UN team in Costa Rica is presenting a “Preparedness and Response Plan for People in Transit” to partners this week, which aims to boost assistance to vulnerable refugees and migrants. Over 500,000 people entered Costa Rica from Panama in 2023 — more than double the number of those who did so in 2022.
Following a surge of hostilities in Ukraine over the weekend, humanitarian organizations have provided materials for emergency repairs to houses. Meanwhile, the UN and its partners are addressing the impact of oil spillage on water sources in Kharkiv after a strike on an oil storage facility in that area on 9 February.
In Haiti, the Humanitarian Coordinator there condemned the violence that has further escalated in the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as across the country. She said that civilians — particularly children — are bearing the brunt of the recent violence.
The first State of the World’s Migratory Species report was launched today by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, which is a UN biodiversity treaty. The report shows that while some migratory species listed under the treaty are improving, 44 per cent are showing population declines.
The new Permanent Representative of South Sudan to the United Nations, Cecilia A.M. Adeng, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.
In war-torn Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 3.5 million children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year. The Agency and its partners have secured ready-to-use therapeutic foods through July and are scaling up their response to prevent a massive loss of lives.