Afghanistan

Children make up nearly half the people who have fled Ethiopia’s Tigray region for Sudan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports.  Their most urgent needs are clean water and sanitation, as well as child-protection and gender-based violence services for the most vulnerable and at-risk refugees, the agency says.

Citing the threat posed by chronic terrorist violence in Afghanistan, delegates commended fresh progress in peace talks and exchanged views on the best way to help the nation move into a new era of stability and prosperity, as the General Assembly adopted, by a recorded vote, its annual resolution on the situation in the country.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message, “Together to End Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence in Central Asia and Afghanistan”, at the high‑level launch event of the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan, today:

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched its largest ever humanitarian appeal, $818 million, to fund critical assistance for 54 million women, girls and young people in 68 countries, including for sexual and reproductive health care as well as services to prevent gender-based violence.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video remarks to the Afghanistan Conference 2020, held in Geneva today:

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) still desperately needs $70 million in contributions to avoid painful measures in the coming weeks and to limit the amount of liabilities carried over into 2021, Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini has told the Agency’s Advisory Board.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said carbon dioxide continues to be at record highs, despite COVID-19 lockdowns around the world.  According to the WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, carbon dioxide levels saw a growth spurt in 2019 and the annual global average breached the significant threshold of 410 parts per million.

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

Following is the text off UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the virtual high-level consultation on “Return and Reintegration: Building a Future for All Afghans”, held today:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Inga Rhonda King (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines):