Afghanistan

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Samuel Žbogar (Slovenia):

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Georgette Gagnon of Canada as his new Deputy Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports in the north-east of the country the UN carried out a cross-line inter-agency assessment mission to Al-Kisrah district in Deir-ez-Zor, and that is the first such mission since 2018.

In Bangladesh, which has suffered from flash floods, triggered by heavy rainfall and upstream water flows from India, the United Nations team on the ground are providing water purification tablets, hygiene kits and food.

The surge of Mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of African countries is a public health emergency of international concern, the World Health Organization warns. The Agency has released $1.45 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies and may release more in the coming days.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 200,000 people — that is about 9 per cent of Gaza’s current population — have now been displaced over the last week in the wake of evacuation orders issued by the Israel Defense Forces.

In Afghanistan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today said that it, along with its partners, are coordinating with the de facto authorities there on the response to the heavy rainfall and flash flooding that have impacted the east and north-east of the country earlier this week.

The United Nations continues to support countries in the Caribbean that have been impacted by Hurricane Beryl. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that most of the health facilities assessed in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are now operational, despite sustaining damage.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has started a joint operation with the Congolese Armed Forces to protect civilians in the Madombo and Itendey areas of Ituri Province, respectively controlled by the Zaire and CODECO armed groups.

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), General Aroldo Lázaro, met over the weekend with 13 mayors of the Al Qalaa Union representing communities in the south-west to discuss the situation due to the ongoing exchanges of fire along the Blue Line and its severe impact on the local population.