Guatemala

The Secretary-General said today that 195 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff members have been killed, the highest staff death toll in UN history. UNRWA’s $1.2 billion appeal to cover critical humanitarian needs until year’s end is less than 20 per cent funded.

Spotlighting Guatemala’s transformation — including its tremendous efforts to combat corruption — as an example of what national endeavours bolstered by international support can achieve, that country’s President underscored the urgent need to rescue multilateralism as a fundamental tool for overcoming pressing global challenges as he addressed the General Assembly today — a point also made by the body’s President, who opened the meeting.

In Zambia, the UN and partners have launched an $228 million appeal to assist 4.6 million people this year after the Government there declared a national drought disaster at the end of February. The driest agricultural season in over 40 years has left over 9 million people, nearly half the population, food insecure.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General informed that the first phase of the disengagement of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from South Kivu has begun, with a plan to complete its withdrawal from the area by June 2024.

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that more than half of the country’s population is going hungry, and an estimated 1.6 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2024.

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

The UN Secretariat has received a letter from the Sudanese Government announcing its decision to immediately terminate the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan. The Government also communicated its commitment to engage constructively with the Security Council and the Secretariat on a new formula.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported that 220,000 internally displaced people are sheltering in 88 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip, also noting that numerous personnel, teachers and students have been killed. Agency staff are working around the clock, caring for the people in the shelters.

Abdoulaye Bathily, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN mission there, expressed concern today over the emergence of unilateral and competing initiatives on the reconstruction of Derna and other flood-affected areas. He urges leaders to agree on a unified response.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that more than 11,600 children crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea to Italy without a parent or legal guardian. That’s between January and mid-September 2023. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to the same period last year.