Eight years after the signing of Colombia’s peace accords, significant challenges remain, the Head of the United Nations special political mission in the country told the Security Council today, warning that violence is resurging in some areas.
In Ukraine, humanitarian officials there report that civilians continued to suffer the impact of hostilities over the Easter period. Authorities reported nearly 190 civilian casualties between 18 April and today. The most severe attack occurred in Kharkiv on Good Friday, injuring several people and damaging schools and homes.
In Myanmar, two weeks after the country was hit by two earthquakes, pushing 2 million more people into critical need of support, the UN and partners have launched a $275 million appeal, which is an addendum to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to reach 1.1 million people with urgent assistance.
In South Sudan, the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) continues to be engaged in intensive high-level political efforts to de-escalate the current tensions and convince the parties to preserve the peace deal they all agreed to.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today released a report urging the Government of Colombia to protect civilians during ongoing violence by armed groups. The report details how armed groups use violence to exert control over the population, furthering their own economic interests and undermining governance.
In Colombia, the Emergency Relief Coordinator released $3.8 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help more than 42,000 people in the north-east of the country. The new funding will support displaced people and host communities in the region of Catatumbo.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 armed group reportedly seized Minova in North Kivu province yesterday. Minova is a critical hub along the supply route to Goma. Since Saturday, the armed group has captured other localities in South Kivu, where UN peacekeepers are no longer present, resulting in casualties and the displacement of over 250,000 people.
Amid one of the deadliest waves of violence in Colombia since the signing of the 2016 Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, speakers in the Security Council today underscored the urgency of implementing the accord’s security guarantees.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
In Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that since the war began 19 months ago there, the first domestic UN flight travelled today from Port Sudan to Kassala. The WFP-managed flights will now offer regular flights to transport aid workers and light humanitarian cargo from Port Sudan to Kassala once a week.
