In Central America, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is launching five campaigns designed to underscore the risks of irregular migration and encourage informed decision-making among young migrants. The campaigns will take place in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The sixty-eighth United Nations Civil Society Conference kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah, today under the theme “Building Inclusive and Sustainable Cities and Communities”. Up to 5,000 representatives of civil society from more than 100 countries will take part, with about 40 per cent being under the age of 32 years.
Today is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), this observance is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said that the Myanmar has conveyed to Bangladesh’s Government the names of 3,450 Rohingya refugees who have been cleared for return to Myanmar’s Rakhine State. UNHCR called Myanmar’s engagement a positive step in affirmation of the right to return of Rohingya refugees.
UNICEF appealed today for more than $70 million to provide life-saving humanitarian aid to 900,000 children across Venezuela until the end of 2019. The agency says it is stepping up efforts to help children and families facing food shortages and limited access to health care, safe water and education.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that in Libya at least 90 civilians have been killed and more than 200 injured in and around the southwest town of Murzug since fighting escalated earlier this month. The United Nations and aid agencies are responding with emergency supplies.
In Geneva, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is having its annual conference to strengthen global wildlife trade rules. The Conference received 56 proposals to change the levels of protection for wildlife species.
The World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed what it called important and positive steps by authorities in Yemen to ensure food aid reaches the most vulnerable in Government-controlled areas. WFP will resume food distributions after the Eid Al-Adha festival for 850,000 people in Sana’a City.
The Senior Humanitarian Adviser to the Special Envoy for Syria said today that it is deeply regrettable that the cessation of hostilities announced on Monday has collapsed and that a new wave of violence is again threatening the lives of millions of civilians in the Idlib area, more than a million of whom are children.
United Nations humanitarian officials in the Philippines report that the Government declared a national dengue epidemic yesterday. There have now been more than 146,000 reported cases of dengue fever and 622 confirmed fatalities since the beginning of 2019, mostly affecting children between 5 and 9 years old.