Food

The World Health Organization (WHO) released the latest edition of its Mental Health Atlas, which cites a worldwide failure to provide people with the services they need.  It comes as the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts continue to spotlight a growing need for mental health support in countries across the globe.

In Afghanistan, the World Health Organization reports that since 30 August, nine flights have arrived with health‑care supplies for 2.5 million people.  The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also scaling up emergency aid due to the conflict, supporting nearly 4,500 internally displaced people.

In northern Syria, a reported 5 million people lack reliable access to and suffer from insufficient levels of safe water due to low water levels and disruptions to water systems.  The United Nations and aid partners have released a plan to target 3.4 million of those most affected by the water crisis in the next six months.

The Secretary-General spoke at the opening ceremony of the fifteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 15) in Barbados and repeated his call to donors and multilateral development banks to allocate at least 50 per cent of their climate support towards adaptation and resilience.

The humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia is spiralling out of control, with 5.3 million people requiring food aid and 400,000 in famine-like conditions, according to United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths.  In the past week, 79 trucks carrying aid arrived in Tigray, but 100 truckloads are needed daily.

The Office for Children and Armed Conflict have released a new report covering 2019 and 2020 which documents grave violations committed against 3,500 children in Yemen, the most prevalent being the denial of humanitarian access, killing and maiming, and the recruitment and use of children.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the Global Citizen event today:

At the opening of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the Secretary‑General stressed that food systems can and must play a leading role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals and called for a world where healthy and nutritious food is available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Under the leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres, the United Nations Food Systems Summit took place on Thursday, 23 September 2021.  It was a completely virtual event during the General Assembly high‑level week.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Food Systems Summit, held today: