Environmental issues and sustainable development

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for World Wildlife Day, observed on 3 March:

Some 14.6 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance in 2022, the Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2022 says, 9 per cent more than in 2021.  More households are turning to negative ways of coping, including child labour, child marriage and the sale of productive assets.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António video message to the conference “Energizing the world while preserving the planet”, in Lisbon today:

Wildfires are burning more severely and more often, and urban noise pollution is growing into a global public health menace, according to a new report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  The report identifies and offers solutions to those and other environmental issues.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the League of Arab States for Arab Sustainable Development Week, in Cairo today:

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.  Only one in three science and engineering researchers in the world is a woman.  In his message, the Secretary-General says that this inequality is depriving our world of enormous untapped talent and innovation.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the One Ocean Summit in Brest, France, today:

In Ethiopia, fighting in the northern region of Afar continues to prevent the delivery of aid into neighbouring Tigray.  These clashes are also causing large-scale displacement and increasing humanitarian needs in Afar.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, on “Transforming Education to Transform Our World by 2030” at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland Carmichael Lecture, in Dublin today:

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following Tuesday’s attack in Ituri province, United Nations peacekeepers are patrolling the area with reinforced troops to provide security around the Savo displaced persons site and are facilitating medical supplies and evacuations to Bunia for wounded civilians.