Attacks across Ukraine in recent days have caused significant civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including in Kyiv and Odesa. Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale cited a growing pattern of strikes on shopping malls, warehouses, railway and energy infrastructure, stressing that such attacks should never be normalized.
A UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report released today says victims of Afghanistan’s decades-long armed conflict continue to face severe physical, psychological, social and economic consequences, while lacking access to justice, adequate assistance or acknowledgement of their suffering.
In Ukraine, nearly 60 civilians were killed and 240 injured in attacks over the weekend, according to authorities. Kyiv and its surrounding region, were the hardest hit, with drone strike on an ammunition depot triggering an explosion that killed 38 people, including residents of an elder care facility.
In Djibouti, drier-than-normal, El Niño-driven conditions have left 256,000 people, a quarter of the population, acutely food insecure through December. Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $2 million from the Central Emergency Response to support over 53,000 of the most vulnerable people.
The risk of the Ebola outbreak spreading to the Central African Republic has increased following the confirmation of cases in provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo bordering the country. The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator has allocated $3 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help the Central African Republic with prevention efforts.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Ebola outbreak has caused nearly 2,500 deaths as of 18 August, the Government and aid partners are expanding the response with five operational priorities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has allocated 70,000 doses of the Ebola Zaire vaccine to front-line health workers.
In Colombia, the UN and its partners have provided assistance to 3,000 people across the departments of Chocó, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda, complementing the Government-led response following the earthquake that struck the country just over a week ago, impacting over 186,000 people and leading to 300 deaths.
In the Central African Republic, the UN peacekeeping mission, UN agencies and the UN Department of Safety and Security are helping the national authorities strengthen the national response and preparedness efforts to prevent the Ebola outbreak in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo from entering.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that more than 2.6 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied a secondary education in the five years since the de facto authorities took power. UNICEF warns that girls who are out of school face heightened protection risks, including child labour, abuse, early marriage and gender-based violence.
Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of women — half its population — making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world, UN-Women reports. Half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month due to severe restrictions.
