A three-month flash appeal to provide vital assistance for 542,000 people affected by Tropical Storm Ana, which hit Malawi late in January, has been launched in the country. It seeks $29.4 million and focuses on the six hardest-hit districts — Chikwawa, Nsanje, Phalombe, Mulanje, Chiradzulu and Balaka.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The World Food Programme (WFP) is substantially scaling up its assistance in Myanmar, where ongoing security challenges, humanitarian access restrictions and COVID-19 cases are impacting the population. It is targeting at least 4 million people across the country, where 1 in 4 is facing food insecurity.
Happy birthday, Radio Okapi, the United Nations radio in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now 20 years old, the peacekeeping mission’s radio station has, over the years, become a trusted, reliable source of information, with programming for adults and children across the country, in multiple languages.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 400 civilian casualties in Ukraine have been reported since the conflict began, including more than 100 deaths. The real figure could be considerably higher, as many reported casualties have yet to be confirmed.
In Afghanistan, senior emergency experts from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations called for urgent support to life-saving humanitarian action after a five-day mission to the country. Over 24 million people – 59 per cent of the Afghan population - requires lifesaving aid, up 30 per cent from 2021.
Some 14.6 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance in 2022, the Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2022 says, 9 per cent more than in 2021. More households are turning to negative ways of coping, including child labour, child marriage and the sale of productive assets.
As South Sudan marks the two-year anniversary of the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, the United Nations Mission there is calling for a fresh push to finalize transitional security arrangements and pass new legislation to support constitution-making and elections, among other steps.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi expressed deep concern today over the increasing violence and serious human rights violations against refugees and migrants at European borders. He noted that many European States have failed to investigate, despite mounting and credible evidence.
The last United Nations staff member detained by the Ethiopian authorities has been released. However, humanitarian challenges in the country remain, with thousands of Eritrean refugees in need of emergency aid after they fled fighting in the Afar region. UNHCR remains extremely worried about their safety and well-being.
Wildfires are burning more severely and more often, and urban noise pollution is growing into a global public health menace, according to a new report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report identifies and offers solutions to those and other environmental issues.