Indonesia

Today marks the International Day of the Girl Child.  Under the 2018 theme “With Her: A Skilled Girl Force”, it celebrates today’s generation of girls preparing to enter a world of work being transformed by innovation and automation.  In his message, the Secretary-General noted that his Youth2030 strategy aims to work with girls.

Civilians continue to suffer high casualties, with the combined use of suicide and non-suicide improvised explosive devices by non-government fighters remaining the leading cause, according to the latest report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reports that it has managed, for the first time since civil war broke out in South Sudan almost five years ago, to send a food-assistance boat convoy up the Sobat River, a tributary of the White Nile in the Upper Nile region, with enough food to sustain 40,000 people for one month.

The Secretary-General extended his condolences on Sunday to the Government of Haiti and the families of the victims of the earthquake that struck north of Port-de-Paix.  The United Nations and its partners are helping the Government assess the needs of the population impacted by the quake.

One week after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, the humanitarian country team has launched a $50 million response plan.  The United Nations resident coordinator there said the plan will provide immediate relief items, and the logistical support needed to provide aid to those in need.

In Madagascar, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 31 cases of plague, including six confirmed cases and six deaths, have been reported as of 30 September. There is concern that without early action, the outbreak could spread and reach emergency levels.

Amid Chad’s worst nutrition crisis, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator will visit a centre in N’Djamena to highlight joint aid efforts.  They will also travel to Borno State, Nigeria, to visit a site for internally displaced persons.

The Indonesian Government has confirmed that 1,234 people have died following last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.  United Nations agencies and others are on the ground or en route to the affected areas to provide assistance and assess needs.

The World Health Organization today launched its first global guidelines on sanitation and health, warning that the world will not achieve universal sanitation coverage by 2030 without comprehensive policy shifts and more investment.

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