A United Nations-chartered vessel carrying the first shipment of humanitarian food under the Black Sea Grain Initiative is expected to berth soon at Ukraine’s Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) port to collect Ukrainian wheat purchased by the World Food Programme in support of the drought-stricken Horn of Africa where there is risk of famine.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
In Senegal, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN-Women and United Nations Population Fund are helping national authorities tackle the effects of fuel and food price hikes due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and climate change, with a joint programme benefiting over 14,000 food-insecure households in eight regions.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic deployed a rapid reaction force near Ndélé, Bamingui-Bangoran Prefecture, to protect civilians amid reports of possible attacks by armed groups. The Mission continues to reinforce community protection, including in Ouadda-Djallé, Vakaga Prefecture, through early warning training.
The ceasefire in Gaza, brokered by the United Nations and Egypt, still holds. Humanitarian partners are responding to the needs of affected families and the United Nation Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is providing services, as usual. Meanwhile, Israel has reopened the crossings with Gaza yesterday.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched an appeal for $10.7 million to deliver life-saving health care in the next six months to over 2 million women and girls in Sri Lanka, where the health system risks collapsing amid debilitating power shortages and a lack of critical supplies and equipment.
In Mauritius and the Seychelles, the United Nations is ramping up its support to authorities to address the impacts of the rising costs of fertilizers. This is urgent for both countries, which are currently 100 per cent dependent on imported chemical fertilizers.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today announced the 10 winners of its first-ever Joint Innovation Challenge, a competition to fund social enterprises with innovative solutions that advance the empowerment of women and girls worldwide.
The Secretary-General expressed his concern about legal actions being carried out against justice officials in Guatemala. He is also following recent developments regarding the arrest of José Rubén Zamora, a journalist and founder of a newspaper that has played an important role in exposing corruption.
In Sudan, according to preliminary reports from local authorities and United Nations partners, over 31,000 people have been displaced following intercommunal violence in Ganis town in Blue Nile State. Humanitarian organizations continue to provide the displaced and other affected people with assistance.
Senior humanitarian directors of United Nations agencies and partners wrapped up a visit yesterday to Somalia where the threat of famine looms, with more than seven million people already acutely food insecure. Assistance has reached over four million drought-affected people, but aid workers face severe funding shortfalls.