Human rights

The World Food Programme (WFP) reached an agreement with Venezuela to begin operations to serve nutritious meals to the most vulnerable children, particularly in pre-primary and special education schools, reaching up to 185,000 children by year-end.  WFP aims to provide daily meals to 1.5 million students by the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

Indigenous peoples’ lands are increasingly occupied by terrorists and extremists, threatening their lives and often their ability to partner with Governments in the establishment of institutions to protect their rights, a renowned international human rights expert told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today.

The largest global gathering on indigenous issues, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, will run in a mostly virtual format from 19 to 30 April.

Indigenous peoples have time and again shown themselves to be constructive partners with Member States and enrich the work of the United Nations, the Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues stressed today, as she opened the body’s 2021 session.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the twentieth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today:

The United Nations team in Timor-Leste, led by Roy Trivedy, the Resident Coordinator, is supporting local authorities following floods that have impacted Díli and other parts of the country.  The Government says there have been more than 30 deaths and over 13,500 people are living in evacuation sites.

After La Soufriere volcano erupted today in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the United Nations Emergency Technical Team for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries met to discuss the pre-positioning of relief items.  The World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund are also readying supplies.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that, due to significant funding gaps, it is cutting food rations for refugees and internally displaced people in South Sudan.  The cuts will affect nearly 700,000 of them and they will now receive 50 per cent of a full ration, down from 70 per cent.

In Timor-Leste, the United Nations is helping the Government amid the worst flash flooding and landslides in recent years that have damaged homes, road and bridges, affecting at least 10,000 people in eight municipalities.  The Organization has delivered sanitary and dignity kits, plastic mats and blankets to those in need.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the International Romani Union, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its first Congress, on 8 April: