Afghanistan

A United Nations report details today the worsening human rights situation in the Central African Republic in the past year, attributing responsibility for 54 per cent of the documented incidents to armed groups, and the remainder to national defence and security forces, bilateral personnel and private military contractors.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President T.S. Tirumurti (India):

A new report by the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stresses the need to prevent torture in places of detention in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region.  “No circumstances, however exceptional, justify torture,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative in the country.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) say in a new report that conflict, coronavirus and the climate crisis are likely to increase hunger in 23 countries in the next four months.  Ethiopia and Madagascar are the world’s newest “highest alert” hunger hotspots, the report states.

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

The World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund say that as drought worsens in Madagascar, malnutrition rates are expected to quadruple among children in the South, where at least half a million under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished, including 110,000 in severe condition.

The new Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations, Ghulam M. Isaczai, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon expressed deep regret over the inability of Lebanon’s leaders to reach agreement on the formation of a new Government that is urgently needed to address the country’s numerous challenges.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) cited a tight window for farmers in hunger-stricken northern Ethiopia to get crops in the ground ahead of upcoming seasonal rains.  It appealed for $30 million in urgent support, noting that farmers have seen seeds and animals looted and credit lines disappear.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as escalating conflict has displaced 270,000 Afghans inside the country since January, bringing the total uprooted population to more than 3.5 million.  UNHCR said the needs of those who have fled are “suddenly acute”.