The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports that it has observed Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forces firing upon opposition troops at the Nassir airstrip in Upper Nile, and directing rocket-propelled grenades towards opposition positions in Kedbek.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic reports that tensions remain high in Bria following clashes between the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique and the Union de la paix en Centrafrique. The Mission confirms that at least 16 civilians have been killed and 52 wounded.
An inter-agency United Nations-Red Cross-Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy deployed to the hard-to-reach area of Rastan in northern rural Homs in Syria to deliver food, water and other supplies for 107,000 people in Rastan and surrounding villages. Rastan was last reached on 27 July.
Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council the intense unleashing of military aggressions in Aleppo, Syria, and the surrounding rural area is having devastating consequences for civilians, with reports of a high tempo of airstrikes and shelling across non-State armed group-held areas.
The world’s first malaria vaccine will be rolled out in pilot projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization has confirmed. The vaccine, known as RTS,S, acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally and the one most prevalent in Africa.
The Secretary-General said the Government of Canada’s announcement that it was resuming support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees by donating Can $25 million will help the Agency continue vital health, education, humanitarian and social services for 5.3 million vulnerable refugees.
Marking International Day of Tolerance, the Secretary-General said that the values of tolerance and mutual understanding are facing profound tests. He noted that refugees and migrants continue to face closed doors and clenched fists, while bigotry shows its face through racism, anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination.
A report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization highlights mounting evidence that food systems may be major conduits of antimicrobial resistance and the need for greater vigilance over the way antibiotics are used on farms, especially in livestock production.
More than 54,000 Iraqis have been internally displaced, as military operations to retake Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) continue. The World Food Programme have provided food assistance to more than 100,000 people fleeing and are working to reach those trapped in Mosul and surrounding areas.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has called for immediate action to fulfil the rights of victims and survivors of atrocities in Iraq as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) appears to continue killings based on decisions of its self-appointed ‘courts’.