Iraq

Following earthquakes that struck Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina this morning, two United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination technical support members will be deployed to Albania.  The United Nations stands ready to provide assistance if required, and is in contact with local authorities.

The United Nations Environment Programme and its partners released a report stating that countries plan to produce 120 per cent more fossil fuels by 2030 than can be burned under the 1.5°C warming limit, creating a “production gap” that makes climate goals more difficult to reach.  The report also details options for closing the gap.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a pilot programme to prequalify human insulin to increase treatment for diabetes in low- and middle-income countries — part of WHO’s efforts to address the growing diabetes burden.  Some 65 million people with type 2 diabetes need insulin, but only half of them can access it, largely due to high prices.

Pneumonia is preventable but this forgotten epidemic remains the leading killer of children under the age of five, claiming  more than 800,000 lives last year, or one child every 39 seconds, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today, which is World Pneumonia Day.

The Food and Agriculture Organization launched a $7.1 million project supported by the Global Environment Facility to make forest data more accessible, transparent and available.  The project aims to help developing countries to meet the Paris Climate Agreement's enhanced transparency requirements, and will benefit 26 targeted countries.

Food prices rose in October for the first time in five months as international sugar and cereal quotations climbed significantly, FAO reports.  Wheat and maize export prices increased sharply due to reduced crop prospects as rice prices slipped, owing to subdued demand and prospects of an abundant basmati harvest, FAO said.

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

The first flight of humanitarian aid organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arrived in Somalia today to help more than 20,000 people cut off by the worst flooding in years.

A record 45 million people across southern Africa will be severely food insecure in the next six months, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme, who are calling for funding to prevent a major hunger crisis.

On 30 October 2019, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003) approved the removal of the following entities from its List of Individuals and Entities subject to the assets freeze set out by paragraphs 19 and 23 of Security Council resolution 1483 (2003) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.