Humanitarian issues

Ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) ministerial meeting on global food security, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today appealed for $1.2 billion to meet urgent needs of 8 million children at risk of death from severe wasting.

The Economic and Social Council concluded its humanitarian segment today, holding its third and final panel, titled “Humanitarian impacts of the climate crisis:  escalating risks, challenges and actions” — and also adopting the humanitarian resolution titled “Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations” (document E/2022/L.11).

In Yemen, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that aid agencies remain concerned that the humanitarian crisis there will deteriorate sharply in the coming months largely due to economic problems, including a weaker currency and higher prices due to the Ukraine war.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message at the opening of the Economic and Social Council Humanitarian Affairs Segment, in New York today:

The United Nations Children’s Fund is providing emergency relief in Bangladesh to people stranded by recent floods — including 1.6 million children — and is dispatching, among other things, 400,000 water purification tablets for 80,000 households and emergency medical supplies for district health facilities.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria, in New York today:

In Ukraine, United Nations humanitarian partners said that intense hostilities were reported over the weekend, across Government and non-Government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

A newly released World Health Organization report finds that nearly a billion people worldwide live with a mental disorder.  It identifies public health crises, inequality, war and climate change as major health threats, and shows that depression and anxiety spiked more than 25 per cent in 2020.

In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP) is launching its emergency response in the country amid the escalating food crisis.  WFP is working to provide life-saving food, cash and voucher assistance to 3 million of the most vulnerable people who can no longer meet their food needs due to the economic crisis there.

Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and this year’s theme is “Combating Elder Abuse”.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year, one in six people aged 60 and older experience some form of abuse.