Africa

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on Africa Day 2023, observed on 25 May:

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ high-level pledging event on the Horn of Africa today raised $2.4 billion. The Secretary-General said action is urgently needed to prevent crises in the region — which are threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people — from turning into catastrophe.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks for the Africa Dialogue Series’ High-level Policy Dialogue titled “Market and Scale: Unlocking Industrialization through Intra-Africa Trade”, in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as delivered, at the Horn of Africa Pledging event, in New York today:

Insecurity in the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger continues to grow, a senior United Nations peace operations official told the Security Council today, highlighting the urgent need to strengthen support and advance the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region, as members discussed the appropriate scope of that response.

In Myanmar, 5.4 million people are expected to have been in the path of Cyclone Mocha – one of the strongest to ever hit the country – in Rakhine and in the north-west. Given the high risk of waterborne and communicable diseases, humanitarian agencies will need access to people impacted by the cyclone, as well as expedited travel authorizations and customs clearances for supplies.

Following are United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the eleventh high-level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region, in Bujumbura today:

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) dispatched two patrols to protect civilians after receiving two reports yesterday about the presence of members of the CODECO armed group in Blukwa, near Djugu, in Ituri Province, forcing the armed group to withdraw.

Fighting in Sudan continues to exact a heavy toll on civilians, and the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that many will die due to lack of essential services and disease outbreaks. Amidst critically low medical supplies and an increasing number of refugees, United Nations agencies are providing relief.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Leonardo Santos Simão of Mozambique as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.