#COVID-19

Africa Amnesty Month begins today.  Linked to the Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2020 initiative, the disarmament effort is designed to reduce the flows of illicit small arms and light weapons, allowing anyone to hand in illegal weapons throughout the month of September.

The spread of COVID-19 in Syria is likely more severe than official data suggests, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting on 27 August, adding that food insecurity remains a nationwide concern and that humanitarian convoys are suffering delays after the 15-member organ in July reduced the number of authorized border crossings to one.

Millions of refugees across Eastern Africa who rely on the World Food Programme (WFP) to survive will face serious hunger and malnutrition, the agency warned today, citing reduced donor funding due to the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  WFP needs $323 million to assist refugees over the next six months.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the launch of a policy brief on tourism and COVID-19, in New York today:

Gauging the global threat posed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, counter-terrorism officials cautioned the Security Council during a 24 August videoconference meeting that Member States must address pressing issues — particularly the repatriation of detained foreign fighters and their families — to prevent the group from spreading its influence across countries and regions.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the opening of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on the theme:  “Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet”, in New York today:

The COVID-19 pandemic — beyond having crippling effects on health systems — threatens to worsen current conflicts and foment new ones, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on 12 August, as delegates echoed his call during a high-level videoconference meeting for comprehensive, integrated responses that will preserve hard-won development gains.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council open videoconference on “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace:  Pandemics and the Challenges of Sustaining Peace”, today:

Polio immunization campaigns have resumed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, months after COVID-19 left 50 million children without their polio vaccines, UNICEF said today.  There is concern that up to 1 million children in Afghanistan could miss out as door-to-door vaccinations are not possible in some areas.

In Somalia, more than 150,000 people have fled their homes since late June — including 230,000 in the last week alone — due to flooding in the south.  Some 650,000 people across the country having been displaced by heavy rains since January, with many now living in overcrowded, makeshift shelters.  Food is in short supply and many are going hungry.