Humanitarian issues

The Secretary-General launched the 2023 United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap report, warning that if nothing changes, in 2030 emissions will be 22 gigatons higher than the 1.5°C limit will allow and roughly the total annual emissions of the United States, China and the European Union combined.

The UN Secretariat has received a letter from the Sudanese Government announcing its decision to immediately terminate the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan. The Government also communicated its commitment to engage constructively with the Security Council and the Secretariat on a new formula.

The UN is now seeking $173 million to support communities through March 2024 affected by the impact of three earthquakes that struck Herat province in west Afghanistan last month. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports 275,00 people have been affected, up from an initial estimate of 114,000 people.

The Syrian Government has extended permission for the UN to use Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee crossings to deliver humanitarian from Türkiye to north-west Syria for three months, until 13 February 2024. Each month, about 2.5 million people are reached with critical assistance and protection services.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 65 trucks carrying food, medicines, water and health supplies entered Gaza yesterday through the Rafah crossing, but said the volume of aid entering Gaza remains wholly inadequate and more than one entry point is needed.

The United Nations has released $25 million to cope with the effects of once-in-a-century flooding in Somalia, including $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund and $15 million from the Somalia Humanitarian Fund, all which is supporting work to save lives, stem disease outbreaks and address food insecurity.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the International Humanitarian Conference for the Civilian Population in Gaza, in Paris today:

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today launched its Production Gap Report, which reveals that Governments are on track to produce more than twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

In Sudan, the UN refugee agency reports that 4.5 million people have been internally displaced, while 1.2 million others have fled to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, as well as Ethiopia and the Central African Republic. That is almost 6 million people who have been forced to move since the start of fighting in April.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Indrika Ratwatte of Sri Lanka as his new Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan.   Mr. Ratwatte will also serve as the Humanitarian Coordinator.