Afghanistan

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China today said he is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives and destruction caused by the 5 September earthquake in Sichuan Province. He said the Organization stands ready to assist and support the Government of China’s valiant rescue efforts.

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

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France):

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today said that world food commodity prices dipped for a fifth month in a row. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 138 points in August, down 1.9 per cent from July although remaining 7.9 per cent above its value a year before.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan as his new Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

In Ukraine, a convoy, organized by the United Nations and its partners, recently reached Toretsk in eastern Donetsk Oblast on 26 August. The convoy delivered 56 tons of food and other items for 2,000 people living close to the front line and who are under shelling.

Restrictions on fundamental human rights and freedoms — especially for women and girls — are exacerbating the bleak humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, as members diverged over the international community’s optimal level of engagement with the Taliban in light of such repression.

In Afghanistan, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a programme to protect rural livelihoods amid continuing drought and extreme economic crisis and will support more than 9 million people across 34 provinces in 2022.

In Algeria, the United Nations team on the ground sent out an appeal for increased support from the international community to boost lifesaving assistance to some 90,000 Sahrawi refugees risking food insecurity and malnutrition.

After back-to-back droughts in the Horn of Africa, the World Food Programme (WFP) is expanding its assistance as levels of hunger soar. Since the start of the year, 9 million more people have slipped into severe food insecurity across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.