Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the opening of the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), in Geneva today:
While the crisis in Ukraine remains Europe’s most serious security challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic — which was declared as such a year ago this month — has occasioned worrying setbacks for democracy and human rights in the region which cannot go ignored, the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said today, during a videoconference meeting of the Security Council.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the occasion of European Parliamentary Week, today:
The situation in eastern Ukraine will remain fragile until a way is found to calm rising tensions, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs warned during a Security Council videoconference briefing today.
The United Nations team in Indonesia is supporting efforts to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population, over 216 million people, against COVID-19. Work has begun to bring the country into the COVAX facility, and the World Health Organization helped finalize a vaccine introduction road map and guidelines.
The Food and Agriculture Organization said it is working to bolster the global response to the Fall Armyworm, considered one of the top 10 devastating plant pests, which places at risk up to 80 million metric tons of maize worth $18 billion per year in Africa, Asia and the Near East.
A series of tropical cyclones have devastated areas in the Philippines, Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic since early October, United Nations humanitarian officials report, noting that the Organization and partners are seeking $95 million to help nearly 675,000 displaced people.
The recent United States-mediated agreement on Belgrade-Pristina economic cooperation and the resumption of European Union-facilitated talks between the two sides represent positive steps towards reconciliation and lasting peace, the top United Nations official in the Balkans told a Security Council video-teleconference meeting on 21 October.
In South‑East Asia, severe, widespread flooding and landslides due to recent heavy rains have killed more than 100 people and displaced over 111,000, according to the United Nations, which is working with partners in Viet Nam to assess affected areas and support the Government’s aid response by providing food and other items.
The United Nations human rights office called today for urgent action to address the dire situation of migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean Sea in search of safety in Europe, and to tackle the shocking conditions they face in Libya, at sea, and frequently, upon their reception in Europe.