Guatemala

The conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to take a toll on civilians, with more than 5 million people affected and 3.5 million people in need of aid.  The 2018 response plan is only 38 per cent funded and disbursement of $162 million urgently needed for 2019 is now crucial as winter temperatures drop.

In Afghanistan, humanitarian organizations in Herat City have started distributing food and non-food items to displaced people who have been affected by drought.  As part of the ongoing full-scale drought response, WFP and its partners reached nearly 287,000 affected people from 6 to 12 December with food and cash assistance.

The United Nations Population Fund’s annual State of World Population report “The Power of Choice: Reproductive Rights and the Demographic Transition” shows that the global trend towards smaller families and the power to choose the number, timing and spacing of children can bolster economic and social development.

Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, called today for urgent funding to restore depleted supplies of emergency fuel for essential services in the Gaza Strip.  Within a week, Al Aqsa Hospital in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip may have to shut down, and, without fuel, some 300,000 people will potentially be affected by serious public health concerns.

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

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

The Human Rights Office published the United Nations first-ever report on the human rights situation in Kashmir today, which states that past and ongoing human rights abuses must be urgently addressed, and details violations committed by security forces with impunity.

The World Food Programme has begun distributing food rations to people affected by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Equateur Province.  The World Health Organization is helping the nine surrounding countries scale up national emergency preparedness and response capacities.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo welcomes the condemnations by the province’s leaders regarding recent ethnically motivated incidents, and calls upon authorities to intensify efforts to fight against impunity and bring perpetrators to justice.

A humanitarian coordination team of 60 experts from United Nations agencies and aid partners is traveling to Guatemala today to assess the immediate humanitarian needs of more than 1.7 million people impacted by the eruption of volcano Fuego two days ago.