In southern Africa, humanitarian personnel report that the region is experiencing severe food insecurity due to an El Niño-induced drought. More than 1.1 million children under the age of 5 are facing severe acute malnutrition in 12 countries.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports that the significant rise in the water levels of the Nile has heightened the need for preparedness there, especially in high-risk communities near rivers or swampland.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and most particularly in the West Bank, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is warning that people there are increasingly exposed to deadly warfare tactics that seem to exceed international standards for law enforcement.
Violence this last month in Syria and the surrounding region has not only taken a toll on civilians but has also presented new threats to international peace and security, United Nations officials warned the Security Council today as they expressed deep concern about the ongoing tense situation across many fronts in that country.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees today warned that without additional, urgent support, the recently declared Mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be devastating for refugees and displaced communities there and other impacted countries in Africa.
In Bangladesh, which has suffered from flash floods, triggered by heavy rainfall and upstream water flows from India, the United Nations team on the ground are providing water purification tablets, hygiene kits and food.
With polio beginning to spread through the Gaza Strip, and humanitarian and health agencies overextended, an immediate humanitarian pause and a long-term peace deal are imperative, the Security Council heard today during an open briefing on the Palestinian question.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) appealed today for $18.5 million to provide crucial healthcare services to migrants, internally displaced people, and host communities at risk of Mpox in East Africa, the Horn of Africa and the southern part of the continent.
In Ukraine, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator there condemned an overnight attack in the Donetsk region, in the eastern part of the country, where a transit centre for displaced people was damaged. The site in Pokrovsk Town was sheltering people who had fled earlier hostilities.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for World Humanitarian Day, observed today:
