Afghanistan

On the heels of International Water Day, which was yesterday, humanitarian staff in the Horn of Africa say millions of people face severe water shortages and are going hungry due to the devastating drought in that region, which risks becoming one of the Horn’s worst climate-induced emergencies in the last 40 years.

The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations special political mission in Afghanistan for one year, shifting its priority tasks to better align with the evolving reality on the ground.

A total of 36 donors at yesterday’s pledging event for Yemen pledged nearly $1.3 billion, only 30 per cent of the roughly $4.3 billion required for an efficient and effective response to the humanitarian crisis.  Unprecedented funding shortages are forcing reductions and closures of life-saving aid.

Humanitarian affairs officials in Somalia say an estimated 4.5 million people — including 671,000 who are internally displaced — are affected by the intensifying drought emergency.  Health authorities have reported a measles outbreak, and at least nine related deaths in Jubaland state.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said they are closely following reports about the mobilization of forces and movement of large convoys of armed groups that have increased tensions in and around Tripoli.  The Mission calls on all parties to refrain from any action that could lead to armed clashes.

Six months after the fall of the Afghan Government, the international community must begin engaging more substantively with the de facto Taliban authorities, the senior United Nations official in Kabul told the Security Council today, citing economic challenges that have left the country on the brink of “irreversible” ruin.

In Afghanistan, senior emergency experts from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations called for urgent support to life-saving humanitarian action after a five-day mission to the country.  Over 24 million people – 59 per cent of the Afghan population - requires lifesaving aid, up 30 per cent from 2021.

Some 14.6 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance in 2022, the Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2022 says, 9 per cent more than in 2021.  More households are turning to negative ways of coping, including child labour, child marriage and the sale of productive assets.

The last United Nations staff member detained by the Ethiopian authorities has been released.  However, humanitarian challenges in the country remain, with thousands of Eritrean refugees in need of emergency aid after they fled fighting in the Afar region.  UNHCR remains extremely worried about their safety and well-being.

In Nigeria, the humanitarian community and the Government today launched the 2022 humanitarian response plan for the north-eastern part of the country.  The plan seeks $1.1 billion to provide critical aid and services to 5.5 million people impacted by the conflict in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.