Americas

In Nigeria, the World Food Programme today warned that it might cut food aid as early as next month to more than 500,000 people in the north‑east unless it receives at least $55 million in urgent funding.  The cuts come as severe hunger reaches a five-year high due to years of conflict and worsened by COVID-19.

In northern Syria, a reported 5 million people lack reliable access to and suffer from insufficient levels of safe water due to low water levels and disruptions to water systems.  The United Nations and aid partners have released a plan to target 3.4 million of those most affected by the water crisis in the next six months.

At the opening of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the Secretary‑General stressed that food systems can and must play a leading role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals and called for a world where healthy and nutritious food is available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the High‑Level Dialogue of the Americas on Climate Action, held today:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning today that, without urgent funding, the displacement crisis in the north of Mozambique could become a hunger emergency.  Displacement has left at least 730,000 people in Cabo Delgado without access to their land and no means of earning a living.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it continues to receive reports of systematic forced return of Mozambican families from the United Republic of Tanzania.  The Agency urged Mozambique’s neighbours to respect access to asylum for those fleeing widespread armed conflict in the northern part of the country.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it will launch an operation to reach up to 2 million vulnerable people in Myanmar’s main cities and other areas where people have recently been uprooted.  WFP estimates that 3.4 million more people will be hungry within the next six months, amid the ongoing effects of poverty, COVID-19 and political crisis.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message marking the entry into force of the Escazú Agreement, today:

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, today released $14 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to provide shelter and emergency services to over 45,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh displaced by a devastating fire which destroyed critical infrastructure in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar.

Delegates urged a reckoning today with how the past injustices of the transatlantic slave trade perpetuate present racial discrimination and inequality around the world, as the General Assembly held a meeting to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.