Children

The World Food Programme’s Executive Director went to Venezuela, where he met with President Nicolas Maduro and visited the Araya peninsula in Sucre state, where the Programme has been providing school meals since July and where over 430,000 children and their families receive food rations delivered to schools in eight states.

In a report published ahead of World Children’s Day, marked on 20 November, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that racism and discrimination against children based on their ethnicity, language and religion are rife in countries across the world.

The heads of three United Nations entities and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today urged States to support a new political declaration to protect civilians from explosive weapons in populated areas.

In Tunisia, the third of nine commercial vessels from Ukraine arrived over the weekend, through the Black Sea Grain Initiative, bringing more than 78,000 tons of soft wheat to the country. A fourth vessel is scheduled to land today in Tunis, with 30,000 tons of corn.

In Haiti, suspected cholera cases have doubled over the past few days to nearly 2,000. In Cité Soleil, the outbreak’s epicentre, the United Nations Children’s Fund has begun delivering potable water to 1,000 people and the World Food Programme brought food to 6,000 of the most vulnerable people over the weekend.

In Pakistan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is warning today that in the flood-impacted areas of Sindh and Balochistan, more than 1 in 9 children under 5 admitted to health facilities are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

The World Health Organization’s new report noted that, in this decade, almost 500 million people will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases due to physical inactivity. If Governments do not urgently encourage more physical activity, costs for this could reach $27 billion annually.

The latest Every Woman Every Child progress report was released today, and it shows that women’s and children’s health has suffered globally, as the impacts of conflict, the pandemic and climate change have converged with devastating impacts.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations peacekeepers and the Congolese armed forces are regularly patrolling along national route 72 in Ituri’s Djugu territory. Reassured by the presence of national security forces and the United Nations, some displaced persons are also returning to their communities.

In the Gambia, the United Nations is assisting the Government following the deaths of a number of children due to acute kidney injury in the last two and a half months. The Organization is supporting authorities to investigate the cause of the outbreak and prevent further spread.