Escalation continues in southern Lebanon. Today between midnight and 4:00 p.m. local time, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) recorded 478 trajectories of projectiles — 468 attributed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and 10 to Hizbullah.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, has allocated up to $60 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to expedite the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the wider region. A first tranche of $10 million has just been released for activities.
Today marks three years since the war began in Sudan, a tragic milestone in what has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Nearly 34 million people inside Sudan need humanitarian assistance; more than 4.5 million have been forced to flee across borders.
In Gaza, the UN and its aid partners coordinated 10 humanitarian missions with the Israeli authorities on Wednesday to collect incoming food, vaccines, fuel and health supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Kerem Abu Salem and Zikim crossings. The UN Development Programme began removing solid waste from a dumping site in Gaza City.
In Bangladesh, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched an emergency response following a large fire in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar on 20 January. Relief efforts are being carried out in close coordination with the Government of Bangladesh, as well as humanitarian partners.
In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says a wave of attacks has severely disrupted critical services across the country, aggravating humanitarian needs amid harsh winter conditions. Between 18 December and today, authorities report several fatalities, with more than 30 injured nationwide.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply saddened over the tragic capsizing of a boat off the coast of Malaysia and Thailand carrying up to 70 people from Myanmar, including Rohingya. Some 13 people were brought ashore by Malaysian authorities; at least 21 people died.
As the Rohingya flee brutal attacks and persecution in Myanmar, speakers at the General Assembly today called for safe zones, sustained international support and justice, including by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court.
In Bangladesh, where monsoon rains and high winds triggered landslides, floods and damage across the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the International Organization for Migration, in coordination with State authorities, launched an emergency response to support emergency relocations and rescue operations.
The Secretary-General arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh on the afternoon of 13 March.
