China

The new Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund announced a partnership to build a first-of-its-kind factory to convert plastic waste in Côte d’Ivoire into modular plastic bricks, which will be used to build classrooms.  Côte d’Ivoire needs 15,000 classrooms; 500 will be constructed through the partnership in the next two years.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Today is the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, and the 2019 theme is “Let’s Grow the Future Together”.  In his message, the Secretary-General stressed that protecting and restoring land can reduce forced migration, improve food security, spur economic growth and help address the global climate emergency.

Responding to record flood levels in Iran, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country, Ugochi Daniels, today asked the donor community for $25 million to cover the emergency and early recovery needs of 115,000 highly vulnerable people in the most hard-hit Provinces of Golestan, Khuzestan, Ilam and Lorestan.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Beijing from New York on the evening of Thursday, 25 April.

This week is World Immunization Week, and UNICEF is highlighting the dangers of the global rise in measles cases.  Executive Director Henrietta Fore said today:  “If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.”

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says more measles cases continue to be recorded in the Philippines, with nearly 23,000 so far, including 333 deaths officially reported, a 385 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018.  More than half the cases involve children under the age of five.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the Chinese Lunar New Year today: