Europe

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.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the online dialogue on Europe’s Role in the World, hosted by the Jane Goodall Institute and the European Citizens’ Forum, in New York today:

Wildlife crime threatens both biodiversity and human health, according to a new United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report.  It finds that many illegally trafficked animals may spread diseases to people, and the pangolin — a possible source of COVID-19 — remains the most trafficked mammal in the world.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, commemorated on 11 July:

The COVID-19 pandemic is a test of the multilateral system’s ability to overcome global challenges through collective action, the European Union’s foreign policy chief told the Security Council in a videoconference meeting on 28 May, where he called on the 15-member organ to overcome its differences and unite to resolve conflicts and reinforce international peace and security.