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.
In progress at UNHQ
Food
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.
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 Secretary-General — in observance of International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, on 2 November — stated that 62 journalists were killed for doing their jobs in 2020. Noting that the number of media workers killed outside conflict zones has risen in recent years, he urged leaders to demonstrate the political will needed to investigate and prosecute these crimes.
A United Nations Children’s Fund report released today shows that at least 200 million schoolchildren are living in 31 low- and middle-income countries that remain unprepared to deploy remote learning in future emergency school closures. It warns that the situation could be far worse than the available data shows.
In Sudan, the United Nations is working with partners to provide life‑saving aid to 9 million vulnerable people. Operations must continue unimpeded to prevent the humanitarian situation there from deteriorating further. However, the 2021 response plan, which seeks $1.9 billion, remains only 30 per cent funded.
More than half of Afghanistan’s population — some 22.8 million people — will face acute food insecurity starting November, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned today, including 3.2 million children under the age of five, who are expected to suffer acute malnutrition by the end of 2021.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says more children and women were abducted for ransom between January and August 2021 than during the entire 2020. UNICEF estimates based on official sources say 71 women and 30 children were abducted in the first eight months of 2021, and 59 women and 37 children in 2020.
Despite increased climate ambition and net-zero commitments, Governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Production Gap Report, released today.