The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as escalating conflict has displaced 270,000 Afghans inside the country since January, bringing the total uprooted population to more than 3.5 million. UNHCR said the needs of those who have fled are “suddenly acute”.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat has a new draft Global Biodiversity Framework to guide actions worldwide through 2030 to preserve and protect nature, and its essential services to people. It will serve as the basis for negotiations at the Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, in October.
Humanitarian officials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said the entry of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing remains limited, and some 250,000 people are still without regular access to piped water. They called for a return to the predictable entry of goods and the easing of movement restrictions.
The World Meteorological Organization and its partners today released the first Hydromet Gap report, which states that an estimated 23,000 lives could be saved annually and at least $162 billion per year in potential benefits could be realized by improving weather forecasts, early warning systems, and climate information.
The World Meteorological Organization reports that the recent heatwave in Canada and the United States had major impacts on people, animals and vegetation, and that so many records were broken in June regarding high temperatures worldwide that it was hard to keep track.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning today that, without urgent funding, the displacement crisis in the north of Mozambique could become a hunger emergency. Displacement has left at least 730,000 people in Cabo Delgado without access to their land and no means of earning a living.
In Niger, 2.1 million children need humanitarian assistance, a third more than just a year ago, as the country continues to face conflict, displacement, food insecurity, floods and drought, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports. The Agency is appealing for safe, sustained access to deliver aid.
In Syria, United Nations agencies and aid partners are trucking in emergency water supplies and installing reverse osmosis pumps in Al-Hasakeh city amid reports of another disruption at Alouk water station, which shut down on 23 June. Up to 1 million people in the region are affected when the station ceases to operate.
A new report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development found that the crash in international tourism due to COVID-19 could cause a $4 trillion loss to global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic’s direct impact on the sector and ripple effects on others.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) recorded 617 human rights abuses, including 165 killings by armed groups in the country, which is 37 per cent higher than the previous six months. The deteriorating human rights situation is also marked by a steep rise in abductions.