Marking International Day to End Violence against Women, the Secretary-General reiterated the United Nations commitment to end all forms of violence against women and girls, which are among the most horrific, persistent and widespread human rights violations and affect one in every three women in the world.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The World Food Programme will need $196 million in 2020 to assist the growing number of people leaving Venezuela, as well as Colombian returnees. The challenge in Colombia and Ecuador is such that the Governments need support to assist with the influx of migrants. Six out of 10 migrants do not know where they will find their next meal.
During her 10-day visit to Myanmar, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy met with the Union Electoral Commission, representatives of the main political parties in Parliament and Rohingya and Rakhine political [parties] and activists, as well as local officials, community leaders and returnees in northern Rakhine State.
The United Nations Environment Programme and its partners released a report stating that countries plan to produce 120 per cent more fossil fuels by 2030 than can be burned under the 1.5°C warming limit, creating a “production gap” that makes climate goals more difficult to reach. The report also details options for closing the gap.
Violence and insecurity have sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. The number of internally displaced persons exceeds 750,000 and 2.4 million need food assistance, the World Food Programme reports.
A report released today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) points to historic gains overall for the world’s children, notably in under-5 mortality rates and primary education, since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989. Yet many of the poorest children have yet to feel the impact.
More than 210,000 people in Chad have been affected by widespread flooding following heavy rains over the past few months and need food, shelter and non-food items, according to the Chadian Red Cross. The United Nations and humanitarian partners plan to scale up the aid response, but have very limited resources.
The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about developments in Bolivia and has appointed a Personal Envoy who will be travelling to La Paz today to engage with all Bolivian actors and offer United Nations support in efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis, including through inclusive elections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a pilot programme to prequalify human insulin to increase treatment for diabetes in low- and middle-income countries — part of WHO’s efforts to address the growing diabetes burden. Some 65 million people with type 2 diabetes need insulin, but only half of them can access it, largely due to high prices.
Pneumonia is preventable but this forgotten epidemic remains the leading killer of children under the age of five, claiming more than 800,000 lives last year, or one child every 39 seconds, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today, which is World Pneumonia Day.