Children

Led by Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis, the UN is supporting Viet Nam’s efforts to respond to one of the most damaging typhoon seasons in decades. Between May and early October, 11 typhoons and tropical depressions, including Bualoi and Matmo, struck within days of each other, affecting over a million people across six provinces.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, while traveling from Cairo to Rafah, spoke of how vital that route is as a lifeline for aid going into Gaza. He stressed the need for all the crossings to open to allow for a massive scale-up and start turning the situation on the ground around.

In Gaza, the ceasefire announcement has generated new hope for relief at last, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports. Within minutes of taking effect, thousands of people resumed movement north. The United Nations and its aid partners are ready to immediately scale up the humanitarian response.

In Ukraine, several civilians have been killed and injured over the past three days, with most casualties recorded in the Kherson, Sumy, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, according to local authorities. Meanwhile, power plants and oil depots were damaged during attacks in the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Donesk regions.

In Chad, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator has allocated $1 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for an urgent response to the deadly cholera outbreak in the country. The funding aims to contain the spread of the disease — mainly by improving access to water and sanitation, and providing medical support.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Vanessa Frazier of Malta as his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.  She succeeds Virginia Gamba of Argentina, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service and commitment to the United Nations.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today reported that millions in Somalia are at risk of worsening hunger and malnutrition as critical funding shortfalls have forced the agency to reduce the number of people it supports by over two thirds to just 350,000 in November, down from 1.1 million in August.

The UN is coordinating with humanitarian partners, local non-governmental organizations and provincial and municipal disaster offices in the Philippines following the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck the Province of Cebu, killing 56 people.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of the Girl Child, observed on 11 October:

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UN partners continue to deliver aid across the country amid multiple attacks in different parts of Ukraine. These attacks are impacting the energy infrastructure in Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Vinnytsa.