Guatemala

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.

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

In West Darfur, the UN Population Fund has sent health and social workers to support thousands of displaced and vulnerable women and girls with reproductive health care and protection services, and in eastern Sudan has delivered reproductive health supplies for 150,000 women and girls at the Port Sudan Maternity Hospital.

In Pakistan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today warned that, one year after the historic floods that devastated the country, millions of children continue to need humanitarian assistance and access to essential services.

Wrapping up her visit, Bintou Keita, Head of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, met with representatives of displaced communities, civil society and the local community in Bukavu, South Kivu, to discuss ways to strengthen partnerships to support provincial peace and security efforts.

The United Nations Development Programme, launching their policy brief, “The Human Cost of Inaction: Poverty, Social Protection and Debt Servicing, 2020–2023”, and noting that an 165 million additional people fell into poverty as a result of the cumulative crisis, proposed a “debt-poverty pause” for developing economies.

The United Nations team in Afghanistan today released its new road map which prioritizes the needs and rights of those most vulnerable, including women and girls, children and youth, internally displaced persons, returnees, refugees, ethnic and religious minorities and focuses on essential services, among other things.

A new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) finds the cholera outbreak impacting 11 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa is an “emergency for children”. The agency is mobilizing health supplies, safe water and technical support in the region, and is calling for $171 million to protect those in need.

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.

The new Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations, Carla María Rodríguez Mancia, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today. She is the first Guatemalan woman to hold this post.