The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that three consecutive years of severe drought in the Grand Sud of Madagascar have led to the country’s worst food crisis in 20 years, exacerbating the vulnerabilities of already poor populations.
In progress at UNHQ
Humanitarian issues
In Chad, torrential rains have killed 22 people and destroyed more than 2,000 hectares of farmland since June. The United Nations, along with its partners, are supporting the Government in providing emergency assistance of food, shelter, malaria management and other critical help.
Today marks five years since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force. The Convention protects human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) administers the agreement, which has 137 parties.
A United Nations-chartered vessel carrying the first shipment of humanitarian food under the Black Sea Grain Initiative is expected to berth soon at Ukraine’s Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) port to collect Ukrainian wheat purchased by the World Food Programme in support of the drought-stricken Horn of Africa where there is risk of famine.
In Senegal, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN-Women and United Nations Population Fund are helping national authorities tackle the effects of fuel and food price hikes due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and climate change, with a joint programme benefiting over 14,000 food-insecure households in eight regions.
The ceasefire in Gaza, brokered by the United Nations and Egypt, still holds. Humanitarian partners are responding to the needs of affected families and the United Nation Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is providing services, as usual. Meanwhile, Israel has reopened the crossings with Gaza yesterday.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched an appeal for $10.7 million to deliver life-saving health care in the next six months to over 2 million women and girls in Sri Lanka, where the health system risks collapsing amid debilitating power shortages and a lack of critical supplies and equipment.
In Mauritius and the Seychelles, the United Nations is ramping up its support to authorities to address the impacts of the rising costs of fertilizers. This is urgent for both countries, which are currently 100 per cent dependent on imported chemical fertilizers.
The Secretary-General expressed his concern about legal actions being carried out against justice officials in Guatemala. He is also following recent developments regarding the arrest of José Rubén Zamora, a journalist and founder of a newspaper that has played an important role in exposing corruption.
In Sudan, according to preliminary reports from local authorities and United Nations partners, over 31,000 people have been displaced following intercommunal violence in Ganis town in Blue Nile State. Humanitarian organizations continue to provide the displaced and other affected people with assistance.