Haiti

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis shows that 350,000 people are facing catastrophic conditions of hunger in Tigray, Ethiopia — the highest number of people classified in a “phase 5 catastrophe” in a single country in the last decade.  WFP increased food distribution to reach 1.4 million people.

The Security Council expressed its deep concern today at the political and multiple other protracted crises in Haiti, urging stakeholders to set aside their differences and calling upon them to prepare for free, fair, transparent and credible presidential elections later in 2021.

The United Nations and the Government of Iraq today released the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan which seeks $607.2 million in humanitarian aid to assist 1.5 million of the most vulnerable internally displaced people in Iraq and returnees.  According to the overview, 4.1 million Iraqis need humanitarian assistance.

The number of civilians killed and injured in Afghanistan rose following the start of peace negotiations in September, according to report released today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Organization’s human rights office.  The country remains among the deadliest for civilians.

A tense political crisis, shrinking civic space and chronic development deficits are exacerbating dire humanitarian conditions in Haiti, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council in a videoconference meeting today, while calling on international partners to support crucial elections scheduled for later in 2021.

Cabo Verde is among the first African countries to receive the first allocation of COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX facility, the United Nations team there reports. In the next few weeks, thanks to additional World Bank funding of $5 million, Cabo Verde will be able to buy vaccines for almost 35 per cent of the population.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has asked for $1.5 billion to fund its education, health, social services, infrastructure and other essential services, as well as emergency appeals and priority projects for 2021.

The United Nations team in Indonesia is supporting efforts to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population, over 216 million people, against COVID-19.  Work has begun to bring the country into the COVAX facility, and the World Health Organization helped finalize a vaccine introduction road map and guidelines.

The new Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations, Antonio Rodrigue, paid a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Although hand-washing with soap is critical to anti-coronavirus efforts, millions of people around the world lack ready access to a place to wash their hands, UNICEF) warned today, reporting that, according to the latest estimates, only three out of five people worldwide have basic hand-washing facilities.