Africa

Armed groups and violent extremists are increasing their influence in West Africa and the Sahel while repeated coups d’état are destabilizing Governments, political experts from the region informed the Council today.

In two separate reports released today, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation said that approximately 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth lost their lives in 2021.

In Myanmar, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that the number of people living in poverty has doubled due to the effects of the pandemic and the military takeover — to nearly half of the population, that’s 25 million people.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the inaugural African Union’s Ambassadors’ Ball, in Washington, D.C., today:

Noting that recent elections held in Angola, Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea showed significant progress towards democracy and rule of law, as well as a greater participation of women, briefers told the Security Council today that strengthened international and regional cooperation was needed to build and sustain peace and democratic strides in Central Africa in the face of persistent security challenges.

The World Health Organization released data showing that, in 2021, countries around the world held the line against further setbacks to malaria prevention, testing and treatment services, with an estimated 619,000 malaria deaths globally in 2021, compared to 625,000 in the first year of the pandemic.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the inaugural session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, in Geneva today:

The ninth United Nations inter-agency cross-line convoy of 16 trucks, carrying 482 metric tons of food and other humanitarian supplies, crossed from Aleppo into Sarmada in north-west Syria. Supplies included medicines, nutrition items, water, sanitation and hygiene items, reproductive health kits, and education materials.

On 1 December, the African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat and the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, held the sixth African Union-United Nations Annual Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

​​​​​​​Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Nigeria Institute of Directors, in Abuja, Nigeria today: