Iraq

Millions of refugees across Eastern Africa who rely on the World Food Programme (WFP) to survive will face serious hunger and malnutrition, the agency warned today, citing reduced donor funding due to the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  WFP needs $323 million to assist refugees over the next six months.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan reported today that its engineering troops, together with local youth, are repairing flood-damaged levees in Jonglei state, already saving Bor’s main market and hospital from being submerged by flooding, which has so far displaced an estimated 135,000 people in the area.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called on Guatemalan authorities to fully investigate the violent death of a transgender woman found dead at her home on Saturday in Guatemala City.  She had sought asylum in Guatemala after fleeing violence in El Salvador due to her gender identity.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the third report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (document S/2019/984), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

The World Food Programme (WFP) today said swift action is needed to avoid severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, the world’s most coronavirus‑affected region that also faces a relentless rise of hunger, deepening inequality and an active hurricane season.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s 2020 Multidimensional Poverty Index reveals progress in tackling poverty before the onset of COVID-19, with 65 out of 75 countries showing significant reductions.  However, experts warn the pandemic now threatens to set back development gains by up to 10 years.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Irena Vojáčková-Sollorano of Germany as his new Deputy Special Representative for Iraq in the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and Resident Coordinator.  Ms. Vojáčková-Sollorano will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator.

In Kenya, the World Food Programme (WFP) has launched cash transfers and nutrition support for nearly 280,000 people struggling to survive from the impact of the virus on informal settlements in Nairobi.

The United Nations team that is assisting Iraq to investigate atrocities committed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) is making “significant progress” in gathering evidence with the potential of marking a paradigm shift in the prosecution of members of the terrorist group, its chief told a Security Council videoconference meeting on 15 June.

The Security Council decided unanimously to extend the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) until 31 May 2021, during a 29 May videoconference meeting.