Today marks the first Kiswahili Language Day. With more than 200 million speakers, Kiswahili is one of the most widely used languages of African origin, and the most widely spoken language in sub-Saharan Africa.
In progress at UNHQ
Human rights
In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP) today said that 3 in 10 households are food insecure, according to its latest food security assessment. Food inflation is alarmingly high. This month there was a 57 per cent increase in food prices, which has crippled the population’s ability to put food on the table.
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Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the launch of the Action Agenda on International Displacement, held today:
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Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the “Commonwealth Says No More Violence against Women” side event of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Kigali today:
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On 20 June 2022, the President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, held an informal high-level event to commemorate the first International Day for Countering Hate Speech, as established by General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/309 on the “Promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in the fight against Hate Speech”. This milestone resolution was adopted by consensus on 21 July 2021.
In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP) is launching its emergency response in the country amid the escalating food crisis. WFP is working to provide life-saving food, cash and voucher assistance to 3 million of the most vulnerable people who can no longer meet their food needs due to the economic crisis there.
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Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarks at the fifteenth session of the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, today:
Almost one third of the food insecure South Sudanese that the World Food Programme (WFP) planned to support in 2022 will be without humanitarian food assistance due to funding shortages. WFP said that the suspension of aid comes as South Sudan faces a year of unprecedented hunger.
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The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today awarded the Population Award for an individual to its youngest‑ever recipient, Emma Theofelus, a 25-year-old Parliamentarian from Namibia for her work advocating for women’s empowerment and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.