Environmental issues and sustainable development

At least 527 civilians were killed, injured, abducted or just disappeared, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) says in its quarterly report on trends in human rights violations and abuses, an overall increase of more than 25 per cent from the first quarter.

One billion children are at extremely high risk of suffering the effects of the climate crisis, according to a new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  Environmental shocks may be particularly severe in the Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria, jeopardizing access to education and basic services.

Heavy rains and flooding have claimed dozens of lives in Chad and Niger, impacting over 100,000 people in recent weeks.  The United Nations is supporting Governments in providing health care, food, shelter, water, hygiene and sanitation, and warns that the Sahel region’s weather variability has been worsened by climate change.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ statement on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 report on the physical science basis of the sixth assessment, today:

The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that, despite numerous challenges, it has delivered food to more than a million people in the north-western and parts of southern Tigray in June and July.  More than 175 trucks arrived in Tigray during the first week of August, and an additional 90 are expected in the coming days.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to “The road to the SDGs:  the journey so far” (SDG achievements and initiatives — the Islamic Development Bank’s SDG journey) today:

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to a virtual side event of the Economic and Social Council’s High-Level Political Forum on “Equity in the era of COVID-19 and the Sustainable Development Goals:  Improving Accountability for the Health and Rights of Vulnerable Women, Children and Adolescents”, on 13 July:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the Food Systems Pre-Summit ministerial round table on Transforming Food Systems for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals:  Rising to the Challenge, in Rome today:

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that half a million people in parts of Balochistan province in Pakistan are facing crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity.  Another 100,000 people need immediate life-saving assistance due to severe drought-like conditions.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the plenary of the Food Systems Pre-Summit in Rome today: