Children

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it continues to receive reports of systematic forced return of Mozambican families from the United Republic of Tanzania.  The Agency urged Mozambique’s neighbours to respect access to asylum for those fleeing widespread armed conflict in the northern part of the country.

UNICEF announced today it has signed a long-term agreement with Moderna to supply vaccine for the COVAX facility.  Through the agreement, the agency and its partners will have access to up to 34 million doses for some 92 countries and territories in 2021.  This is the fifth vaccine-supply agreement it has signed.

The United Nations and the Government of Timor-Leste have launched a $32 million joint appeal to provide food, shelter, water and sanitation to some 65,000 people impacted by flooding in April.  Nearly 34,000 homes were destroyed amid a strict COVID-19 lockdown in the capital, Dili, which has seen a surge in cases.   

Aid workers in Ethiopia report rising incidents of denial of relief cargo, and the confiscation of humanitarian vehicles and supplies, by parties to the conflict in the Tigray region.  While over 5 million people are targeted for food assistance, only about 1.8 million have been reached since late March amid limited access.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that in Niger’s western Tillabery region, 10,000 people have fled their homes since 14 May, following attacks by non-State armed groups in the Anzourou district, near the border with Mali.  The number of internally displaced persons in Tillabery has nearly doubled in 18 months to 102,000.

The Secretary-General welcomed the beginning of consultations between Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville government, following a referendum on Bougainville’s political future held in 2019.  The consultations mark an “important step” in the implementation of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement.

Humanitarian officials in Somalia say a “double climate disaster”, marked by drought followed by torrential rains, has killed at least 25 people in two weeks.  Warning that 2.7 million people in the country are already food insecure, they note that the Humanitarian Response Plan is currently only 19 per cent funded.

Secretary-General António Guterres praised the impactful first decade of the “Every Woman Every Child” campaign, which mobilized more than $180 billion in investments.  While maternal and child deaths have declined significantly in that time, he cautioned that COVID-19 has revealed the fragility of those advances.

The Organization released today $65 million for the humanitarian response in Ethiopia, comprising $45 million from the United Nations-managed Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund and $20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund, as the security situation in Tigray remains volatile.

An annual report released by the Global Network against Food Crises warns that the number of people facing acute food insecurity and needing urgent life- and livelihood-saving assistance hit a five-year high in 2020 in countries beset by food crises.