Environmental issues and sustainable development

Schools for more than 168 million children around the world have been closed for an entire year due to lockdowns, a report from UNICEF says, noting that around 214 million children globally, or one in seven, have missed more than three quarters of their in-person learning.  The most vulnerable may never return, it warns.

Following is text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Powering Past Coal Alliance Summit today:

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya today strongly encouraged the House of Representatives to consider the vote of confidence in the cabinet to be proposed by the Prime Minister-designate.  The Mission also said it is not in a position to comment on allegations of bribery during the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

United Nations Children’s Fund Representative (UNICEF) in Nigeria Peter Hawkins calls on those responsible for the mass abduction of girls from a State-run school in Zamfara to release them immediately and for the Government to take steps to ensure their safe release and the safety of other schoolchildren in the country.

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

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ligia Noronha of India as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The United Nations team, led by Resident Coordinator Stefan Priesner, is helping authorities in Malaysia launch a national COVID-19 vaccination programme.  More than 500,000 people have registered to receive the vaccine, which aims to reach 80 per cent of the population, 24 million people, by March 2022.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message marking the second anniversary of Costa Rica’s National Decarbonization Plan, today:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration today began preparing asylum seekers in the Matamoros camp for entry to the United States as the country ends a policy that forced some 25,000 people to wait in Mexico for their immigration hearings.