In progress at UNHQ

Noon Briefings


In Nicaragua, UNICEF and its partners have prepositioned emergency supplies and developed a joint response plan to address the needs of families impacted by Hurricane Eta, including 10,000 people evacuated from the northern coast, while the World Food Programme has positioned 80 metric tons of food assistance in the region.

The Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, has condemned the killing on 29 October of an aid worker in the greater Pibor area, stressing that it is unacceptable that eight humanitarian workers have already lost their lives this year in South Sudan while providing aid to people in need.

In Viet Nam, where Typhoon Molave made landfall this week, nearly 70 people have reportedly died or are still missing and some 375,000 are in evacuation centres, the United Nations reports.  With aid partners, it has distributed emergency relief kits and is developing a response plan to support Government-led efforts. 

Marking the twentieth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, the Secretary-General told the Security Council today that the world has a choice: continue down the path of increasing militarization, conflict and inter-generational losses or work towards greater inclusion and gender equality.

A new Food and Agricultural Organization report warns that the Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved by 2030 unless the world’s forests are restored.  Regional responses are making significant advances and 63 countries and other entities have committed to restoring 173 million hectares, but more needs to be done.

Some parts of Yemen are showing the highest rates of acute malnutrition among children under 5 ever recorded there, with more than half a million cases in southern districts, according to a food analysis released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Food Programme and partners.

Honduras deposited the fiftieth instrument of ratification to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, resulting in it being entered into force in January 2021.  The Secretary-General said the Treaty is a commitment towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, which is the Organization’s highest disarmament priority.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that following unprecedented floods in Sudan, affecting 875,000 people, a secondary health emergency has put 4.5 million at risk of vector-borne diseases.  Efforts are now addressing supply needs, amid funding shortages in the Humanitarian Response Plan.