Africa

In Madagascar, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that another cyclone is expected to make landfall tomorrow. This comes on the heels of Tropical Cyclone Fytia, which touched down on 31 January. The Central Emergency Response Fund has released $3 million to help pre-position staff and supplies.

Somalia today condemned Israel’s “flagrant assault” on its country’s unity and territorial integrity through recognition of “Somaliland”, as multiple Security Council members and regional States warned the move was a provocative step that could inflame tensions in the Horn of Africa and undercut Mogadishu’s sovereignty and political cohesion.

Recent political upheavals in Benin and Guinea-Bissau expose ongoing vulnerability in a region already plagued by violent extremism, a senior United Nations official warned the Security Council today, as she urged increased collaboration with and between regional organizations to address these challenges.

Since 10 December, the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Huang Xia, has held several exchanges with officials regarding the rapid deterioration of the situation in Uvira and its regional implications, including the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

In Sikikede and in Sam-Ouandja — both in north-east Central African Republic — the national disarmament body launched new disarmament and demobilization operations, with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) providing logistical, technical and security support.

Countries in Central Africa are registering electoral progress and notching some security gains, even as climate shocks and increasingly sophisticated terrorist attacks continue to drive human misery across the subregion, the senior UN official there told the Security Council today.

Air strikes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on 10 December hit the general hospital in Mrauk-U Township, killing more than 30 civilians and injuring more than 70 others, including patients, caregivers and medical staff. The World Health Organization (WHO) says this is the sixty-seventh verified attack on health in Myanmar this year.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the city and region of Kyiv were hit by large-scale drone and missile strikes, killing and injuring several civilians. Up to 500,000 families in Kyiv lost electricity, with water and heating services disrupted. In Dnipro, an attack also killed and injured civilians.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the seventh annual African Union-European Union Summit, in Luanda today:

In Jamaica, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has mobilized an initial $2 million in Resilient Recovery grants for hurricane recovery efforts. This includes clean-up and management of debris — estimated at 4.8 million metric tons — as well as recycling opportunities through cash-for-work modalities.