Democratic Republic of the Congo

The World Food Programme reports that, starting next month, it will suspend assistance for over 200,000 people in Palestine — 60 per cent of its caseload — due to severe funding shortfalls. It urgently needs $51 million to continue providing life-saving food and cash aid to 350,000 Palestinians until the end of this year.

Following are United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the eleventh high-level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region, in Bujumbura today:

In Nigeria, where severe hunger will affect an estimated 4.3 million people in conflict-affected areas between June and August, the World Food Programme is increasing emergency food and nutrition aid and the United Nations Children’s Fund is giving therapeutic treatment to severely wasted children.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) dispatched two patrols to protect civilians after receiving two reports yesterday about the presence of members of the CODECO armed group in Blukwa, near Djugu, in Ituri Province, forcing the armed group to withdraw.

A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization says that more than one in two preschool-aged children – approximately 372 million children, three quarters who live in South and East Asia, the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa - suffer from the lack of at least one of three micronutrients; iron, vitamin A or zinc.

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.

In Papua New Guinea, the International Organization for Migration and humanitarian partners are helping with rapid assessments coordinated by provincial authorities after the magnitude-7 earthquake in the Chambri Lake area, which, due to the remote location, requires seaplane and canoe to be reached.

Adopting a presidential statement today, the Security Council recalled its recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo amidst increasing violence and extreme humanitarian need, while also voicing support for African-led regional processes to resolve the crisis, as the United Nations’ top official in the country outlined the security, humanitarian and electoral challenges present on the ground.

Cautioning about the fraught security and humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, due to the depredations of armed groups, delegates also looked forward to elections slated to take place there at the end of 2023, and noted signs of progress as they briefed Member States on the Security Council mission to the country from 9 to 13 March.

A convoy of five trucks today reached the front-line community of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine where repeated shelling has destroyed or damaged many homes, and delivered shelter materials, solar lamps, medicines and other medical and hygiene supplies to the town’s remaining 3,000 people, one sixth of the population.