Amidst a steady influx of people to Vakaga prefecture from Sudan, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is maintaining a temporary presence in the village of Tiringoulou following recent attacks against Central African defence forces.

United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has allocated $3 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to urgently respond to the arrival of Sudanese refugees and others in Chad. In Khartoum, the World Health Organization reports that over 60 per cent of health facilities are closed.

The World Food Programme today urgently called for $26.7 million to support 541,000 people impacted by Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique who have no alternative for meeting their basic needs. This crisis is unfolding at the beginning of the main harvest season, exacerbating the already high levels of hunger.

In Türkiye and Syria, the United Nations, along with partner organizations, have provided water, sanitation and hygiene support to more than 440,000 men, women and children impacted by the earthquake. Rehabilitation work and emergency repairs have also restored water and sanitation access for some 250,000 people.

The World Health Organization’s new report on the effect of COVID-19 on people living with non-communicable disease said such people had difficulty accessing routine medicines and experienced disrupted treatments, thus underlining the importance of including such treatment and care into national preparedness plans responses.

Following the earthquakes, as of today, 730 trucks carrying aid provided by seven United Nations agencies crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria using the three available border crossings.

The Secretary-General arrived in Addis Ababa from New York on Thursday, 16 February, where he would attend the thirty-sixth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China today said he is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives and destruction caused by the 5 September earthquake in Sichuan Province. He said the Organization stands ready to assist and support the Government of China’s valiant rescue efforts.

The new Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations, Tesfaye Yilma Sabo, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

According to a new report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), one in three schools in the world still lack access to drinking water and basic sanitation facilities.