Democratic Republic of the Congo

The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Nabeel Rajab and ensure that all Bahrainis are able to exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression without fear of arbitrary detention.  She urges Bahrain to stop criminalizing dissenting voices.

On 18 December 2018, the Group of Experts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo transmitted its midterm report to the President of the Security Council (document S/2018/1133).

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

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Kacou Houadja Léon Adom (Côte d’Ivoire):

On 6 December 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo received a briefing from the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo in connection with the Group’s midterm report in pursuance of paragraph 4 of resolution 2424 (2018).

The WFP reached 5 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018, double the number reached last year.  WFP significantly expanded its operations there due to widening violence and displacement, poor harvest and endemic poverty, with scaled up interventions in Ituri, Tanganyika and North and South Kivu.

In Afghanistan, humanitarian organizations in Herat City have started distributing food and non-food items to displaced people who have been affected by drought.  As part of the ongoing full-scale drought response, WFP and its partners reached nearly 287,000 affected people from 6 to 12 December with food and cash assistance.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Kacou Houadja Léon Adom (Côte d’Ivoire):

The High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration launched their regional refugee and migrant response plan for Venezuela, the first of its kind in the Americas.  The plan will respond to the needs of Venezuelans on the move, and for next year require $378 million.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock announced today a $10 million regional contribution from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) towards mitigating the possible impact of the current Ebola outbreak in the Demoractic Republic of the Congo should it spread to neighbouring countries.