The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Rio de Janeiro from Baku, Azerbaijan, early on Saturday morning, 16 November. He was in Brazil to attend the annual Group of 20 (G20) meeting, as he does every year.
The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), General Aroldo Lázaro, met over the weekend with 13 mayors of the Al Qalaa Union representing communities in the south-west to discuss the situation due to the ongoing exchanges of fire along the Blue Line and its severe impact on the local population.
Results from the Global We the Women survey, produced by the UN Office for Partnerships and the polling company John Zogby Strategies, show that 86 per cent of women from 185 countries cite climate change and more than 50 per cent identify conflict as primary concerns for the next decade.
In Nigeria, the UN, its humanitarian assistance partners and the Government have launched a $306 million appeal to support 2.8 million people in the country’s north-east — comprising the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe — where some 4.8 million people are facing food insecurity, the highest level in seven years.
In Haiti, the UN and its aid partners are responding in the wake of recent attacks in the Port-au-Prince commune of Delmas, providing food, shelter and other supplies. This week, the World Food Programme distributed food to 264,000 schoolchildren and over 5,600 displaced people in the capital.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The Director of Coordination for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in a briefing yesterday to the Security Council, reported that at least 576,000 people in Gaza — one quarter of the population — are one step away from famine.
In Nigeria, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is amplifying its efforts to counter a growing outbreak of diphtheria that has affected children in 27 states. As of last month, 3,850 suspected cases were reported with 1,387 confirmed as diphtheria.
In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that hunger and displacement due to the ongoing war are spiraling out of control. More than 6 million people in the country — about 13 per cent of the population — are now one step away from famine.
Despite the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that more than 40 trucks carrying some 1,600 tons of food reached Kassala, Gedaref and White Nile between 22 and 27 July and five trucks delivered roughly 300 tons of relief supplies to West Kordofan.
