Haiti

Thérèse Gastaut, a former Spokeswoman for the United Nations in Geneva, passed away last night.  She ably served the Organization for 37 years and held positions in the Department of Public Information in New York, Geneva and Brussels.  Thérèse had the United Nations in her blood and in her heart.

In June, 921,000 people were forced to leave Burkina Faso, making it the site of one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement crises.  Increased insecurity has also made humanitarian access more difficult, with the number of people in need of assistance jumping to 2.9 million people, from 2.2 million in January.

Amid protracted political, economic and institutional crises in Haiti, a strong response to COVID-19 is urgently needed to prevent an erosion of national stability, a top legal expert in the country told the Security Council in a 19 June videoconference meeting.

COVID-19 is has pushed nearly 4 million Haitians – about 1 in 3 people – into acute food insecurity, with 1 million people now in a situation of severe hunger, a Government study found.  In the first four months of 2020, the World Food Programme reached 200,000 people, and restarted emergency food and cash distributions.

Political deadlock in Haiti, entering its second year, has paralysed national institutions, hobbled the economy and fuelled chronic insecurity amid spotty progress and ever-worsening living conditions for more than 4 million citizens, the Security Council heard today.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at a wreath laying ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, in New York today:

The United Nations Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) today called for the immediate release of Siham Sergewa, an elected member of the House of Representatives, who was seized at night from her home in Benghazi six months ago.  Since her violent abduction, her fate remains unknown.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations in Iraq expressed her strong concern today over the suspension in granting access letters to humanitarian actors carrying out critical missions in support of the country’s vulnerable people.

The United Nations is in touch with the Government of the Philippines, which is leading the response to the Taal volcano eruption in the Calabarzon region, some 70 kilometres south of Manila.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that 18,000 people have taken shelter in evacuation centres.

Following is text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the tenth anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, in New York today: