#COVID-19

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, observed on 27 December:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Universal Health Coverage Multi-stakeholder Hearing, today:

The World Health Organization’s new report on the effect of COVID-19 on people living with non-communicable disease said such people had difficulty accessing routine medicines and experienced disrupted treatments, thus underlining the importance of including such treatment and care into national preparedness plans responses.

Today, two inter-agency convoys, facilitated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, delivered medicine, emergency shelter kits, blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene kits and solar lamps to 5,000 residents in two towns in the southern Khersonska oblast that had been heavily impacted by fighting.

The United Nations country team in South Africa is working with authorities to respond to the recent measles outbreak, including 245 confirmed cases, almost 75 per cent of them children under the age of nine. With funding from Germany and Japan, UNICEF is procuring equipment that will benefit approximately 2,000 health facilities.

Following is United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, observed on 27 December:

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today released its Adaptation Gap Report, which finds that global efforts in adaptation planning, financing and implementation are not keeping pace with the growing risks.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks for the high‑level event on ending the COVID-19 Pandemic through equitable access to tests, treatments and vaccines, in New York today:

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that three consecutive years of severe drought in the Grand Sud of Madagascar have led to the country’s worst food crisis in 20 years, exacerbating the vulnerabilities of already poor populations.

In Chad, torrential rains have killed 22 people and destroyed more than 2,000 hectares of farmland since June. The United Nations, along with its partners, are supporting the Government in providing emergency assistance of food, shelter, malaria management and other critical help.