In Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that public health risks remain very high, including for communicable diseases, due to the overcrowding and poor sanitation. As of the end of February, 24 out of 32 environmental samples collected tested positive for vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.
In progress at UNHQ
Humanitarian issues
Nearly 15 million people in Afghanistan — one in every three — will experience high levels of acute food insecurity during the first quarter of 2025. UN humanitarian partners warn that aid funding cuts will cost both lives and livelihoods and undermine development gains.
The Secretary-General will convene the two Cypriot leaders and the Guarantor Powers of Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom for an informal meeting in Geneva from 17 to 18 March, which will provide an opportunity for a meaningful discussion on the way forward on the Cyprus issue.
In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that since last month, humanitarian partners have screened more than 100,000 children under the age of five for malnutrition, enrolling those who need it for treatment.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN, its humanitarian partners and the Congolese Government today launched in Kinshasa, the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan seeking $2.5 billion to provide life-saving assistance and protection for more than 11 million people, including 7.8 million internally displaced.
In Somalia, some 3.4 million people are already experiencing crisis-levels of hunger. This figure is expected to rise to 4.4 million between April and June when below-average rains are forecast. However, the $1.42 billion humanitarian appeal is only 12 per cent funded.
The Advisory Committee established by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) concluded its second three-day meeting in Tripoli on 20 February. The Committee held discussions on the current electoral framework, focusing on the contentious aspects that have impeded the holding of national elections in Libya.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Food Programme has partially resumed food assistance in parts of Goma, delivering vital nutrition supplies to treat moderate acute malnutrition in children, and plans to resume operations fully as soon as it is safe to do so.
The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is sheltering and protecting some 1,400 people in its premises in Goma, North Kivu. In recent days, nearly 56,000 displaced persons have relocated to 34 newly created collective centres across Goma, mainly schools, churches and hospitals.
In Sudan, the total number of newly displaced people in Shamal Jabal Marrah, in Central Darfur State, reached over 120,000, after hostilities over the past week in Zamzam in North Darfur state caused about 5,500 people to seek safety and shelter there, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports.