Humanitarian issues

Responding to the violent clashes in Beirut today, Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, condemned the use of armed violence outside of State authority and underscored the need for restraint, maintaining calm and stability and ensuring the protection of civilians.

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Daniel Endres of Switzerland as Assistant Secretary-General to serve as the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for East Africa.

During a briefing today in which senior United Nations officials detailed the recent intensified conflict and the deepening humanitarian crisis situation in Yemen, a speaker from an independent think tank told the Security Council that international organizations have failed to ensure aid reaches Yemenis in need, describing this dereliction as “the worst international response” to a humanitarian crisis in the world.

The United Nations and partners are launching a new flagship financing instrument — known as the Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF’d) — to provide data in support of all stakeholders in crisis anticipation, prevention and response.

United Nations humanitarian personnel in Yemen report escalating clashes in recent weeks, with more than 10,000 people displaced in Marib Governorate in September.  They warned of devastating impacts on civilians and expressed particular concern over the situation in Al Abdiyah district, home to an estimated 35,000 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released the latest edition of its Mental Health Atlas, which cites a worldwide failure to provide people with the services they need.  It comes as the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts continue to spotlight a growing need for mental health support in countries across the globe.

Matthew Hollingworth, Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim in South Sudan condemned a letter, reportedly from a youth group in Pibor, demanding that at least 30 humanitarian workers leave the area within 72 hours.  More than 80 humanitarian workers were relocated and non-life-saving aid activities suspended for 48 hours.

In northern Syria, a reported 5 million people lack reliable access to and suffer from insufficient levels of safe water due to low water levels and disruptions to water systems.  The United Nations and aid partners have released a plan to target 3.4 million of those most affected by the water crisis in the next six months.

The humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia is spiralling out of control, with 5.3 million people requiring food aid and 400,000 in famine-like conditions, according to United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths.  In the past week, 79 trucks carrying aid arrived in Tigray, but 100 truckloads are needed daily.

The Office for Children and Armed Conflict have released a new report covering 2019 and 2020 which documents grave violations committed against 3,500 children in Yemen, the most prevalent being the denial of humanitarian access, killing and maiming, and the recruitment and use of children.