Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, is still in Khartoum and is continuing to engage with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and other key Member States on the ground in efforts to secure an immediate de-escalation and cessation of the fighting.

While a senior United Nations official today outlined the dangers posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s latest missile launch, Security Council members disagreed on the path forward and whether it should include more sanctions.

In Somalia, the number of people affected by flooding has reached 175,000 and displaced 140,000. The United Nations and partners are providing food, shelter, cash and hygiene kits to over 100,000 people. However, the $2.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 is only 15 per cent funded.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Since last month’s earthquakes, more than 1,070 trucks have crossed into the north-west of Syria from southern Türkiye, carrying aid provided by seven United Nations agencies. Staff have now completed 37 cross-border missions into the north-west since the first inter-agency visit to Idlib on 14 February.

The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the expert panel assisting the committee overseeing its sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea until 30 April 2024.

A report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services suggests that an estimated 43,000 excess deaths may have occurred in the country in 2022 due to the deepening drought.

​​​​​​​While urging one another to end their five-year impasse and unite to counter the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s repeated launchings of ballistic missiles, Security Council members argued over the best approach to accomplish that, as a senior United Nations official briefed the 15-nation organ on Pyongyang’s latest round of projectiles.

In Afghanistan, due to lack of funds, the World Food Programme (WFP) today said that it has been forced to drastically reduce critical lifesaving assistance in March to millions of vulnerable Afghanis. In March, at least 4 million people will receive just half of what they need to get by.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres: