The number of reported cases worldwide of the coronavirus stands at 95,265, with 3,281 deaths, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said today, noting encouraging signs from the Republic of Korea, where the number of newly-reported cases appears to be declining.
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In north-east Nigeria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 7.9 million people — more than 1 out of every 2 people in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States — need aid in 2020. With an upsurge in attacks in the area over the past year, aid agencies have been forced to scale down their work.
United Nations agencies and their partners launched an appeal today for $877 million to help some 855,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who are in Bangladesh, as well as more than 444,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in communities generously hosting those refugees. More than half will fund vital services.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is appealing for calm and an easing of tensions on Turkey’s borders with the European Union, following a recent increase in movements of people. Groups arriving at Turkey’s borders have included Syrians, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese and other nationalities.
The Middle East Peace Process Special Coordinator said today he was very concerned about Israel’s announcements regarding advancement of settlement construction in many areas in the occupied West Bank. He said that all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace.
The border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has become the epicentre of a fast-growing crisis marked by unprecedented levels of armed violence, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. Armed assailants have forced more than 3,600 schools and 241 health centres in those countries to close.
Almost 300,000 people in Burkina Faso have been forced to flee their homes since last December and nearly 766,000 in total are displaced as of today. More than half the internally displaced have inadequate shelter or none at all, and $10 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Fund to help them.
The Secretary-General visited the World Health Organization (WHO) crisis centre, praising the agency’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, urging countries to do their utmost to be prepared, and calling on donors to support WHO. “If there is truly something stupid to do, it is to not fully fund WHO appeals,” he said.
About 6.5 million people in South Sudan – more than half the country’s population – could face acute food insecurity at the height of the May-to-July hunger season, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
Today, a Commission convened by the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and The Lancet said that no single country is adequately protecting children’s health or their environment to ensure a healthy future, warning that climate change and processed food intake are set to reverse child health gains.