Haiti

Today is World Refugee Day.  Events, recognizing that close to 70.8 million people around the world are fleeing war, persecution and conflict, include a social media takeover of the Secretary-General’s Youth Envoy accounts by a young Syrian refugee who now lives in Za’atari camp, in Jordan.

The United Nations is stepping up its response to the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is now in its tenth month and has claimed more than 1,200 lives.  The Secretary-General has appointed David Gressly, Deputy Head of mission, as the Organization’s Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator.

The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) for a final period of six months until 15 October and requested the Secretary-General to start planning for an appropriate integrated United Nations system presence in the Caribbean nation that would include a special political mission.

As a United Nations justice support operation in Haiti prepares to end its mandate, the Security Council today discussed the best path forward over the next six months to foster stability and craft a new political mission amid political uncertainty and urgent humanitarian needs.

The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund issued the first comprehensive global report on water, noting that one in four health facilities around the world lack basic water services.  In the least developed countries, that number rises to 55 per cent of health facilities lacking services.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, Mamadou Diallo, and Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant have launched the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti.  It seeks $126 million to provide critical humanitarian assistance and protection services for 1.3 million Haitians.

The United Nations refugee agency and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called upon European countries and regional organizations today to take urgent action to ensure no child is born, or remains, stateless in Europe.  In 2017, some 2,100 children were registered as “stateless”, a four-fold increase over 2010.

The Government of the Philippines declared a major outbreak of measles last week in Metro Manila and Central Luzon, which has now expanded to other areas, according to humanitarian affairs officials.  More than 4,300 suspected cases of measles have been reported since January, with at least 70 deaths.

The Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Security Council on Mali today.  Despite noting progress to implement the 2015 peace agreement, she however added that the security situation remains of concern, with attacks targeting peacekeepers, national and international forces, and civilians.

Close collaboration with the Government of Haiti and its partners will be essential to the successful transition to a non-peacekeeping United Nations presence in that country, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) told the Security Council today.