Democratic Republic of the Congo

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Zhang Jun (China):

The United Nations country team in Myanmar calls for the immediate release of dozens of journalists who are detained more than three months after the military seized control of the Government.  To date, military authorities have revoked the operating licenses of six Myanmar media outlets; 82 journalists have been arrested, more than half of them are still detained.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, with support from the World Health Organization and other partners, has launched a yellow fever vaccination campaign targeting more than 16.3 million people in the country, the first such drive against the disease in Africa this year.

Progress in protecting the world’s forests — and the people who rely on them — is at risk due to the devastating impacts of the coronavirus and the escalating climate and biodiversity crises, according to a new report released today by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The first members of the International Organization for Migration’s emergency response team arrived in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines today to deliver essential shelter and emergency items to thousands of people forcibly displaced after the eruption of La Soufrière volcano.

United Nations humanitarian staff in Nigeria continue to receive alarming reports of clashes between insurgent groups and the armed forces in the town of Damasak in Borno State.  Recently, they say, non-State armed groups have been searching house to house, reportedly looking for civilians identified as aid workers.

Nearly half of women in 57 developing countries are denied the right to decide whether to have sex with their partners, use contraception or seek health care, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s 2021 flagship “State of World Population” report, released today.

A new strategy to prevent conflict and consolidate peace in Africa’s Great Lakes region will bring fresh support to leaders working to end violence by armed groups, especially in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting today, while describing diplomatic relations across the region as being broadly “on the right track”.

After La Soufriere volcano erupted today in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the United Nations Emergency Technical Team for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries met to discuss the pre-positioning of relief items.  The World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund are also readying supplies.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Marcos De Sá Affonso Da Costa of Brazil as Force Commander for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).