Bolivia

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s 2020 Multidimensional Poverty Index reveals progress in tackling poverty before the onset of COVID-19, with 65 out of 75 countries showing significant reductions.  However, experts warn the pandemic now threatens to set back development gains by up to 10 years.

In Nepal, the United Nations team is helping the Government cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the repatriation of Nepali migrants returning from the Gulf and Southeast Asia at entry and transit points, with quarantine sites and isolation centres.  Some 25,000 returnees are expected in this first phase.

Some 50 people died in three attacks in Burkina Faso’s northern regions — the Sahel, North, Centre-North and East — marking the deadliest violence since March, when 43 civilians were killed during two attacks on northern villages.  Rising insecurity is making it difficult to reach the 2.2 million people in need of aid throughout the country.

A new United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report based on data from 57 countries finds that a quarter of women are not able to make their own decisions about accessing health care, and nearly one in ten is unable to make her own choices about using contraception.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Susana Sottoli of Argentina as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bolivia, with the host Government’s approval.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations in Iraq expressed her strong concern today over the suspension in granting access letters to humanitarian actors carrying out critical missions in support of the country’s vulnerable people.

The new Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, Rubén Darío Cuéllar Suárez, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

In a report on Chile published today, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says that during the recent mass protests and state of emergency the police failed to adhere to international human rights norms and standards relating to management of assemblies and the use of force.

Following earthquakes that struck Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina this morning, two United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination technical support members will be deployed to Albania.  The United Nations stands ready to provide assistance if required, and is in contact with local authorities.