Children

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Youth Day, observed on 12 August:

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the risk of famine still lingers among communities of displaced people in parts of the country. This is despite the scale-up of humanitarian assistance and better-than-forecast rains which have brought some relief from the devastating drought.

On 19 June 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) was briefed by Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba on the situation of children and armed conflict in Yemen, upon invitation by the Committee.

Wrapping up her visit, Bintou Keita, Head of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, met with representatives of displaced communities, civil society and the local community in Bukavu, South Kivu, to discuss ways to strengthen partnerships to support provincial peace and security efforts.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the fourth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in South Sudan (S/2023/99), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

The United Nations Development Programme, launching their policy brief, “The Human Cost of Inaction: Poverty, Social Protection and Debt Servicing, 2020–2023”, and noting that an 165 million additional people fell into poverty as a result of the cumulative crisis, proposed a “debt-poverty pause” for developing economies.

The World Health Organization announced today that 12 countries across different regions in Africa are set to receive 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine over the next two years. The roll-out is a critical step forward in the fight against one of the leading causes of death on the continent.

Briefing the Security Council today, the senior official tasked with advocating for children in armed conflict noted that 2022 held the highest number of grave violations ever verified by the United Nations, with Government armed and security forces the main perpetrators of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that, halfway into 2023, it has only received 20 per cent of the $54.8 billion needed to help the one in 22 people globally that require assistance. Further, unequal funding across emergencies has challenged the Office’s ability to respond to surging needs.

The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and the mine action partner Foundation Suisse de Déminage have launched a programme for farmers most affected by the war in Ukraine to support smallholder farmers with plots smaller than 300 hectares and rural families growing food for their own consumption.