Food

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Abdullah Abdul Samad Dashti of Kuwait as United Nations Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

In Colombia, the United Nations team has received over $17 million for the multi-donor fund aiding the country’s “Total Peace” initiative, securing 76 per cent of the Fund’s 2023 investment needs to support transitional justice, rural development, reintegration of ex-combatants and security.

The Elsie Initiative Fund for Women in Peace Operations announced today the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali will receive a nearly $1.5 million grant to build gender-sensitive camp facilities and thus facilitate greater deployment of women police from Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

In Sudan, where humanitarian needs are at a record high, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Khardiata Lo Ndiaye, today launched the 2023 appeal for $1.7 billion in aid. An estimated 15.8 million people, one third of the population, will need life-saving assistance next year, up 1.5 million from 2022.

The World Health Organization released data showing that, in 2021, countries around the world held the line against further setbacks to malaria prevention, testing and treatment services, with an estimated 619,000 malaria deaths globally in 2021, compared to 625,000 in the first year of the pandemic.

Marking the Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare, the Secretary-General said that chemical weapons have claimed countless victims across the globe. He stressed that on this Day, the international community must honour them and reaffirm its commitment to achieve a world free from this threat.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is in West Java, Indonesia, following the earthquake that struck Monday, and has distributed 350 customized kits to women, adolescents and people living with HIV. Deployed midwives to West Java have also established a reproductive health centre, where three babies have been born so far.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

​​​​​​​United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Reena Ghelani of Australia as United Nations Famine Prevention and Response Coordinator.

The World Food Programme’s Executive Director went to Venezuela, where he met with President Nicolas Maduro and visited the Araya peninsula in Sucre state, where the Programme has been providing school meals since July and where over 430,000 children and their families receive food rations delivered to schools in eight states.