Environmental issues and sustainable development

In Somalia, flash floods have impacted nearly 30,000 people in different parts of the country. Authorities say at least four people have been killed in the past week. Humanitarian officials note that the rains come after months of dry conditions that decimated water sources and grazing land.

In Ukraine, humanitarian officials there report that civilians continued to suffer the impact of hostilities over the Easter period. Authorities reported nearly 190 civilian casualties between 18 April and today. The most severe attack occurred in Kharkiv on Good Friday, injuring several people and damaging schools and homes.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that escalating violence continue to harm civilians there. In North Kivu province, partners estimate that more than 2,300 people fled clashes between armed groups in the Kibua area of Walikale Territory on 15 April.

With the adoption of two draft resolutions today, the General Assembly moved to foster sustainable forest management around the world by proclaiming 2027–2036 as the United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation and bolstered cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Mother Earth Day, observed on 22 April:

In Ecuador, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team reports at least 150,000 people have been impacted by the massive oil spill in Esmeraldas in March and need humanitarian assistance.

In Myanmar, two weeks after the country was hit by two earthquakes, pushing 2 million more people into critical need of support, the UN and partners have launched a $275 million appeal, which is an addendum to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to reach 1.1 million people with urgent assistance.

Following is the text of UN Secretary General António Guterres’ video message to the International Conference on Central Asia in the Face of Global Challenges; Consolidation for Common Prosperity, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan today:

In the Central African Republic, nearly 20,000 Central African refugees returned to their homeland voluntarily in 2024. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says this was the highest annual number of people returning to the country since the voluntary repatriation programme began in 2017.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly event on the International Day of Zero Waste, in New York today: