The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Sudan (document S/2020/614), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:
The Emergency Relief Coordinator reported that six humanitarian workers were lost in targeted attacks in Somalia, in two separate incidents in South Sudan, and in north-west Syria. “This cannot be tolerated,” he said, calling the attacks a violation of international law and an “obscene act against people working hard” to help the world’s vulnerable.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today it has been laying the groundwork for the rapid, safe and efficient delivery of the eventual COVID-19 vaccine by stockpiling syringes and other necessary equipment, in anticipation of delivering 1 billion syringes to support vaccination efforts in 2021.
Although hand-washing with soap is critical to anti-coronavirus efforts, millions of people around the world lack ready access to a place to wash their hands, UNICEF) warned today, reporting that, according to the latest estimates, only three out of five people worldwide have basic hand-washing facilities.
Growing numbers of indigenous peoples are succumbing to extreme poverty, amid a spike in land evictions and loss of traditional livelihoods brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations expert charged with assessing their wellbeing told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates raised questions and concerns about their plight.
To mark Space Week, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs will hold a webinar tomorrow on the KiboCUBE programme, a collaboration with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency giving developing countries an opportunity to deploy a satellite from Japan’s module of the International Space Station free of cost.
Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s video message to mark World Teachers’ Day, observed on 5 October:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are helping the Government of Cambodia with distance learning programmes for the more than 3 million students who are out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Security Council today urged Member States to develop effective measures to prevent and address attacks and threats against schools, including by developing domestic legal frameworks.
A survey by the United Nations Children’s Fund found that 535,500 children in Burkina Faso under five years old are acutely malnourished, including 156,000 who suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are at imminent risk of death. Community health workers have been mobilized to screen and treat children in the most remote areas.
