Humanitarian issues

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that repeated waves of displacement — combined with overcrowding, insecurity, crumbling infrastructure, active hostilities and limited services — is worsening the humanitarian situation there, which is already catastrophic.

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

Calling on the Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, for the immediate release of all detained humanitarian and diplomatic staff in Yemen, the United Nations’ top official in that country underscored today that the Security Council must continue supporting its political transition.

As South Sudan takes steps to implement the 2018 peace agreement, it is vital to create an enabling environment for elections in that country, the UN’s top official in the strife-torn country told the Security Council today, as delegates expressed concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is concerned about flooding in West and Central Africa that, just two months into the rainy season, has impacted over 700,000 people. The Central Emergency Response Fund allocated $10 million this year to Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reports that following negotiations it dismantled a militia camp set up by the CODECO armed group in a school in Fataki, in Ituri Province. Nearly 450 students that had been forced to relocate can now return to school for the upcoming year.

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

In Libya, the United Nations Mission there expressed its concern at the recent mobilization of forces in various parts of the country, particularly in the southern and western regions.

At least 53 Palestinian detainees are known to have died in Israeli military facilities and prisons since last October, according to a UN human rights office report published today on arbitrary, prolonged and incommunicado detentions, impacting thousands of Palestinians, including UN staff.

Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya has allocated $5.3 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support some 195,000 vulnerable Sudanese refugees and host communities in Libya. More than 15 months of conflict in Sudan has forced one fifth of the country’s population to flee.