Half-way to 2030 with only 12 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals targets on track, Member States must overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple worldwide crises that threaten decades of progress in order to achieve the Global Goals, speakers stressed, as the high-level political forum on sustainable development, held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, opened today.
In progress at UNHQ
Environmental issues and sustainable development
The United Nations’ humanitarian partners have concluded an initial damage assessment following the recent operation by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp. They report that 460 housing units were damaged, at least 40 families remain displaced and the camp remains largely without running water.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan who are seeking shelter in South Sudan. The funds will help provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in Trinidad and Tobago and online today:
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the forty-fifth regular meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in Trinidad and Tobago today:
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the eightieth session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee, in London today:
The United Nations team in Afghanistan today released its new road map which prioritizes the needs and rights of those most vulnerable, including women and girls, children and youth, internally displaced persons, returnees, refugees, ethnic and religious minorities and focuses on essential services, among other things.
The country team in Egypt is addressing food insecurity - worsened by disrupted grain exports from the Russian Federation and Ukraine – by supporting vulnerable groups through cash transfers, vouchers, and food distribution, and providing fertilizers, loans and training to improve livelihoods to some 4,600 smallholder farmers.
The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and the mine action partner Foundation Suisse de Déminage have launched a programme for farmers most affected by the war in Ukraine to support smallholder farmers with plots smaller than 300 hectares and rural families growing food for their own consumption.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ flagship annual report, Global Trends in Forced Displacement, noted that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights abuses stood at a record 108 million people, up 19.1 million people from 2021, the biggest increase ever.