A record $7 billion to support millions of people in need of humanitarian aid in Syria, as well as for refugees and host communities in neighbouring countries, was pledged at the donors’ conference in Brussels on 14 March.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The flooding caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai has caused at least 122 deaths and affected more than a million people in both Mozambique and Malawi, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Close to 83,000 people are displaced in Malawi and more than 17,000 in Mozambique, OCHA says.
UNAIDS is concerned that new HIV infections are not declining among people who inject drugs, despite a decline in new infections globally. A new report also shows that 99 per cent of them live in countries lacking adequate needle and syringe programmes, drug-dependency treatment, and HIV testing and treatment.
A measles outbreak continues to surge in the Philippines, where the Government is conducting a mass immunization campaign with assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). At least 280 deaths have been reported since the beginning of the year.
Since 11 March, 30 deaths have been recorded and more than 93,000 households have been impacted by heavy rains and flooding in Malawi, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which stands ready to support Malawi authorities as they respond to humanitarian needs.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) together with Colombia’s authorities today opened a reception centre — the first of its kind — to support people arriving from Venezuela to the border city of Maicao. The centre can take in up to 350 people and has the possibility for expansion.
A new ILO report finds that women in 2018 were 26 percentage points less likely to be employed than men, despite 70 per cent of women saying they would rather be employed than stay at home. This marks an improvement of only two percentage points in closing the work-gender gap over nearly three decades.
The United Nations today released the 2019 Needs and Priority Plan for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which calls for $120 million to urgently provide life-saving aid to 3.8 million people.
Helsinki, Finland, hosted the inaugural International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes today, with the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth in attendance. It aims to boost young people ’s participation in efforts to build and sustain peace, even as their contributions remain undervalued.
Humanitarian officials are concerned by reports of civilian casualties in Syria due to both continued hostilities and unexploded ordinance left behind in the country’s north-west. At least four civilians were reported killed and many more hurt by shelling in Idleb, Hama and Aleppo in the first three days of March.