A group of regional United Nations entities launched a $2.5 million recovery fund to support Mauritius as it responds to the oil spill caused by a shipwreck off its coast in July, with efforts focused on the livelihoods impacted. United Nations regional directors for eastern and southern Africa have pooled $250,000 to kick-start the fund.
Health
In Mali, human rights officials from the United Nations peacekeeping mission have gained access to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other detainees held by the mutineers since Tuesday. The Mission continues to closely monitor the situation and reports that Bamako remains relatively calm with no major security incidents.
In Asia, a strong monsoon season has caused floods and landslides over the past week, killing hundreds of people, displacing millions and destroying infrastructure. The United Nations and aid partners are supporting Government-led responses in several countries despite COVID-19-related logistical challenges.
The Beirut port is temporarily operational, with nearly 9,000 containers unloaded between 11 and 18 August, including 1,000 tons of goods such as iron and wheat. The High Commissioner for Refugees is providing psychosocial support, emergency help cash and shelter kits, one of several United Nations agencies to offer emergency assistance.
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.
Polio immunization campaigns have resumed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, months after COVID-19 left 50 million children without their polio vaccines, UNICEF said today. There is concern that up to 1 million children in Afghanistan could miss out as door-to-door vaccinations are not possible in some areas.
Adopted 21 years ago, the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour reached universal ratification, with Tonga depositing its instruments. The International Labour Organization estimates there are 152 million children in child labour and warns that COVID-19 could cause a spike in such practices for the first time in 20 years, unless action is taken.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called on Guatemalan authorities to fully investigate the violent death of a transgender woman found dead at her home on Saturday in Guatemala City. She had sought asylum in Guatemala after fleeing violence in El Salvador due to her gender identity.
In Zimbabwe, where 60 per cent of the population is projected to be food insecure by the end of 2020, the World Food Programme appealed for $250 million to prevent a human catastrophe. A nationwide COVID-19 lockdown has led to joblessness in urban areas, growing hunger in rural areas and hyperinflation that has made basic goods unaffordable.
The World Food Programme (WFP) today said swift action is needed to avoid severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, the world’s most coronavirus‑affected region that also faces a relentless rise of hunger, deepening inequality and an active hurricane season.