Humanitarian issues

The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun rolling out food distributions to nearly 900,000 refugees in Ethiopia following a full revamp of the safeguards and controls at its refugee operations, with refugee camps across five regions receiving food parcels for the first time since WFP paused food distributions in June.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, observed 13 October:

In Armenia, the UN, led by acting Resident Coordinator Natia Natsvlishvili, is boosting support to national authorities to address the needs of over 100,000 refugees, who recently arrived. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to distribute locally procured core relief items requested by local municipalities.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s newly released Trade and Development Report 2023 warns of a stalling global economy this year, with growth slowing in most regions and only a few countries bucking the trend. The agency calls for a change in policy direction and institutional reforms to avert a lost decade.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has launched a joint operation in Djugu Territory, in Ituri Province, with the Congolese Armed Forces against the armed group CODECO in response to recent attacks against civilians and the presence of CODECO members in the area.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that more than 11,600 children crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea to Italy without a parent or legal guardian. That’s between January and mid-September 2023. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to the same period last year.

An ever-deepening economic, humanitarian and security crisis in Syria is leading to widespread hopelessness and suffering, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the country informed the Council today, underscoring the urgent need for a political process to resume.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that intense clashes in Khartoum over the weekend resulted in civilian casualties. Furthermore, the UN’s humanitarian partners report that renewed clashes in South Darfur have displaced many people in the city of Nyala.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today released a report showing that halfway into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a lot of the progress made towards its food- and agriculture-related targets has stagnated or reversed.