In Somalia, hunger is pushing 6 million people — almost a third of the population — into critical levels of food insecurity, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
After 14 weeks of intensive negotiations under UN auspices in Amman, the parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed to release over 1,600 conflict-related detainees — the largest such release deal since the start of the conflict, and a profound relief for thousands of Yemenis enduring long, painful waits for family members.
Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $12 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund for food, healthcare, drinking water and shelter, among other life-saving aid, to 200,000 people in Jonglei and Upper Nile States in South Sudan grappling with conflict-triggered displacement and food insecurity.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, aid partners operating a toll-free counselling hotline report cases involving suicide ideation rose by 90 per cent. In Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 43,000 people have potentially life-changing injuries.
In Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports an surge in gender-based violence in the first three months of this year. Almost 2,000 incidents — or about 21 cases per day — were recorded. More than 70 per cent of the cases involved rape, up from 49 per cent the previous quarter.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 6.5 million people in Somalia are experiencing crisis-level hunger, acute malnutrition or are at risk of starvation due to worsening drought conditions, conflict and funding shortfalls. WFP warns that without additional funding it may be forced to halt emergency assistance.
In Ukraine, humanitarian convoys continue to reach hard-to-access communities near the front line, even as heavy bombardment in urban centres across the east are causing civilian casualties, including among first responders. In the last two days, the UN and its partners delivered two convoys to the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
In Sudan, the World Health Organization, UN Children’s Fund and the Government have launched a nationwide polio vaccination campaign to reach over 4 million children under the age of five in high-risk and conflict-impacted areas in Kassala and North Kordofan. Nearly 1.5 million children remain inadequately protected.
In Ukraine, at least three drone strikes in the last week hit humanitarian vehicles in the city of Kherson, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports. Two incidents involved the same local non-governmental organization, while another impacted a different organization delivering food.
