United Nations colleagues in Brazil expressed their grave concern following an attack against a group of indigenous persons from the Gamela ethnicity, earlier this week in the Maranhão region of northern Brazil. More than 10 were injured — some of them severely and are still receiving treatment in hospital.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Nearly 75,000 refugees and migrants, including an estimated 24,600 children, are stranded in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Western Balkans, and at risk of psychosocial distress from living in a protracted state of limbo, UNICEF warned today. The situation is particularly acute for single mothers and children.
Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy for Syria, told reporters today that the United Nations is very concerned at reports of escalation, including alleged air strikes, at a delicate moment in the Astana discussions, where proposals to de-escalate the conflict are under very serious consideration.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that the Central African Republic counts among the world’s most forgotten crises, receiving ever-shrinking humanitarian funding. With half its people needing humanitarian aid and more than 2 million hungry, WFP’s humanitarian response plan for 2017 is only 7 per cent financed.
A group of 36 Yazidi women, men and children have been rescued from slavery after being held for nearly three years by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh). The women and girls are under care at dedicated United Nations Population Fund service points supported by the Government of the Netherlands.
The United Nations human rights office today urged Cambodian authorities to release five human rights defenders who have been in pretrial detention for one year, and whose detention was just extended for an additional six months by the investigating judge.
Stephen O’Brien, Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefing the Security Council on Syria today, voiced his concern about the situation in eastern Ghouta where the United Nations has been unable to get access to some 400,000 people since last October. He called for a pause in fighting to allow for the delivery of aid.
UNICEF said today that it procured 2.5 billion doses of vaccines for children in nearly 100 countries in 2016, reaching almost half the world’s children under the age of 5. The figures, released during World Immunization Week, make UNICEF the largest buyer of vaccines for children in the world.
In Geneva, the Secretary-General called the pledging conference for Yemen a considerable success, with more than half of the $2.1 billion appeal for the year reached. Those pledges now needed to be translated into effective support for the people of Yemen. Three things would ensure that: access, access and access.
More than 25 million children between 6 and 15 years old, or 22 per cent of children in that age group, are missing out on school in conflict zones across 22 countries, according to a UNICEF report issued today. South Sudan has the highest rate at almost 72 per cent, followed by Chad and Afghanistan.