Guatemala

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

The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack today that killed and injured religious scholars gathered in Kabul who were there to promote peace in Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a study that found nearly half of Afghan children are missing out on school.

The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic says investigations are ongoing in Bria (in Haute Kotto prefecture), where United Nations police arrested an anti‑Balaka leader suspected of involvement in an attack on a Formed Police Unit patrol that resulted in the death of a peacekeeper last December.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over the murder of three human rights defenders working with indigenous and peasants’ rights organizations in Guatemala during the last 10 days, calling for a prompt investigation into those and other attacks against rights defenders, and accountability for the perpetrators.

After decades of displacement, 93 refugees in Thailand have returned to south-eastern Myanmar with the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners.

Our humanitarian colleagues are concerned for the safety and protection of 2 million men, women and children living in Syria’s Idlib Governorate, where air strikes and shelling continue to be reported daily, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, as well as the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

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

The World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering emergency supplies to some 200,000 people in northwest Bangladesh after massive floods inundated more than half the country.  Many survivors have lost everything.  Nearly 7 million people have been affected by the floods; more than 580,000 hectares of crop land has been destroyed.

Three planes chartered by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have delivered 36 tons of life-saving medical and water purification supplies to Yemen to combat the outbreak of cholera which has surpassed 200,000 cases.  The supplies include oral rehydration salts to treat 10,000 people, as well as 10.5 million water purification tablets.

Ali Al-Za’atari, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, urged all parties to grant immediate access to the besieged towns of Zabadani, Foah, Kefraya and Madaya, where 60,000 civilians are trapped by daily violence and deprivation.  They have not received aid since 28 November.