Ethiopia

Mahamat Annadif, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative for West Africa, and Foreign Minister of Guinea, Morissanda Kouyaté, launched a new initiative to facilitate an inclusive transition in Guinea by fostering reconciliation at national and community levels and increasing participation of women and all communities.

Since Sunday night, at least 11,000 people fleeing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have sought refuge in Uganda, the largest single-day influx in over one year, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports.  It is requesting urgent resources to address the new arrivals’ needs.

Meeting today to discuss urgent action to de-escalate the potentially disastrous conflict in Ethiopia, speakers in the Security Council extended their support for the African Union’s regional peace initiative and urged the Ethiopian authorities and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and its allied forces to enter a ceasefire, allow for unhindered humanitarian access and engage dialogue towards a political solution.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that the number of people teetering on the edge of famine in 43 countries has risen from 42 to 45 million people, as acute hunger spikes around the world.  The agency said needs are vastly surpassing available resources at a time when traditional funding streams are overstretched.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez (Mexico):

For Youth Day at the Glasgow Climate Change Conference, the Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group and young climate activists discussed how to include young people in formal decision-making processes.  Indigenous youth leaders also shared on the importance of traditional knowledge as a vital component of climate action.

In Yemen, the United Nations and partners continue to provide life-saving aid to thousands of civilians on both sides of the front lines in Ma’rib, Al Bayda and Shabwah since fighting escalated in these governorates in September, amid calls by the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, for de-escalation.

The global level of undernourishment increased sharply last year, under the shadow of the COVID‑19 pandemic, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s annual Statistical Yearbook, released today.  Nearly 10 per cent of the world’s population suffered from hunger in 2020, up from 8.4 per cent in 2019.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary‑General António Guterres:

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the situation in the northern part of Ethiopia is rapidly deteriorating, amid fighting in and around Dessie and Kombolcha in the Amhara region, which led to large-scale displacement and increasing humanitarian needs.  The two towns were already hosting a large number of displaced people from nearby areas.