As violence escalates in and around Aleppo city, Syria, Yacoub El Hillo, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, and Kevin Kennedy, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, say 200,000 to 300,000 people are now closer to the line of fire and at risk of besiegement since 7 July.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) welcomes the ceasefire agreement announced yesterday. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, Ellen Margrethe Løj, urges security forces in Juba to allow unhindered access to UNMISS patrols to protect the civilian population.
The Secretary-General calls on South Sudanese leaders to do everything possible to de-escalate current hostilities immediately. Urging the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country, he condemns the killings of two Chinese United Nations peacekeepers and one of the Organization’s national staff members.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is extremely concerned at the unfolding situation in Aleppo, Syria, where an estimated 300,000 people are trapped due to heavy clashes that are putting civilians at risk of death and injury while cutting off humanitarian access to people in need.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan reports that heavy mortar shelling and machine gunfire to the south of its compound in Wau earlier today prompted an additional 200 to 250 people to flee to the protection area adjacent to Mission’s base, where an estimated 19,000 internally displaced people continue to shelter.
UNHCR says more than 15,500 asylum seekers were pre-registered on mainland Greece in an effort by the Greek Asylum Service, with the agency’s assistance. Asylum seekers in open temporary accommodation structures have received cards allowing them to reside legally in Greece for a year, with the right to access services.
Some 3.6 million children in Iraq - one in five in the country - are at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups, according to a new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reflecting an increase of 1.3 million at-risk children in 18 months.
The Secretary-General condemns the terrorist attack at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport. He stands firmly by Turkey and stresses the need to intensify regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism.
Following the signing of the Agreement on Bilateral and Definitive Cease Fire and Laying Down of Arms between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP, a first group of 23 UN observers arrived in Bogota this week. They join an advance team of civilian staff already there preparing for the establishment of the mission.
The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic condemned the killing of a peacekeeper by unidentified armed men on 24 June in Bangui. His body was found at Bangui General Hospital. The mission also welcomed the release of six Central African policemen held hostages by armed men.