State of Palestine

On Thursday, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, while UNRWA and other UN agencies’ staff were on the compound. This is the second appalling incident against UNRWA in less than a week.

In Haiti, the UN and its aid partners are responding in the wake of recent attacks in the Port-au-Prince commune of Delmas, providing food, shelter and other supplies. This week, the World Food Programme distributed food to 264,000 schoolchildren and over 5,600 displaced people in the capital.

In Zambia, the UN and partners have launched an $228 million appeal to assist 4.6 million people this year after the Government there declared a national drought disaster at the end of February. The driest agricultural season in over 40 years has left over 9 million people, nearly half the population, food insecure.

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Belize, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

In a joint statement today, more than 190 organizations, including UN agencies, appealed for sustained support for the more than 18 million people in need in Yemen, warning that the 2024 humanitarian appeal for the country is only 16 per cent funded, with only $400 million received of the total $2.7 billion needed.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

At least 11 United Nations personnel — seven military and four civilians — were killed in deliberate attacks in 2023, the UN Staff Union Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service said today.

In Madagascar, following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Gamane in late March, the United Nations continues to support the Government-led response. Focusing on the health response due to the risk of epidemics, humanitarian organizations have provided medicine, mosquito nets and water purification products.

In Myanmar, the United Nations team there reports that they are concerned by the spreading of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, especially in northern Rakhine State.

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that more than 124,000 people have been impacted by seasonal rains. The United Nations, with its partners, have pre-positioned supplies in nearly two dozen hotspot districts to meet the needs of nearly 770,000 people who are expected to be impacted.