Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths today announced an extra $25 million grant to boost aid efforts and address urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of people in the earthquake-stricken parts of Syria. Some 130 search and rescue teams are working in affected areas in Türkiye; another 57 teams are on their way.
In progress at UNHQ
Food
The Food and Agriculture Organization, in its January Food Price Index, said that world food commodity prices declined for the tenth consecutive month and that low domestic prices could result in a small cutback in the Russian Federation’s wheat plantings while Ukraine’s winter wheat area plantings could reduce by about 40 per cent.
Marking peacekeeping’s seventy-fifth anniversary, the Peacekeeping Department is launching a campaign, Peace Begins with Me, which promotes understanding of challenges faced by communities in conflict, demonstrates peacekeeping’s impact and calls for a global movement for peace.
In Madagascar, the United Nations team led by Resident Coordinator Issa Sanogo reports it has aided 53,000 households and farmers impacted by ongoing drought in the south by providing over 30 water tanks and constructing irrigation channels. The World Food Programme is distributing food and cash to over one million people.
In the Central African Republic, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there launched a countrywide campaign on 16 January to promote efforts to protect civilians and to build confidence between the internal security forces and the population.
A report released today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that children from the poorest households benefit the least from national public education funding. According to the report, children living in poverty are less likely to have access to school and drop out sooner.
In Nigeria, due to continued conflict, climate change, inflation and rising food prices nearly 25 million people are at risk of hunger between June and August, if urgent action is not taken, according to a food and nutrition analysis by Nigeria’s Government in partnership with the United Nations.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report that the ozone layer is on track to recover within four decades.
A new report issued today by the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows that the COVID-19 crisis measures yielded powerful new evidence that giving workers more flexibility in how, where and when they work can be positive for both them and for businesses.
On 31 December 2022, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maritime Task Force assisted the Lebanese Armed Forces-Navy with a search-and-rescue operation relating to a boat in distress off the northern coast, between Beirut and Tripoli.