Kenya

On Myanmar, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the situation in Rakhine State remains extremely concerning.  There are continued reports of departures from northern Rakhine, and some reports of threats and extortion against Muslim communities.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued protection guidance encouraging States to ensure that Venezuelans seeking asylum had access to territory and refugee procedures. Given the situation in Venezuela, the High Commissioner said it was crucial that people were not deported or forcibly returned.

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

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners have launched a funding appeal for $157 million to help 250,000 people impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin region.  Since it began in 2013, the Boko Haram conflict has internally displaced 2.4 million people.

The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia condemned the murder of Wilman Asprilla Allim and Ansel Montoya Ibarra, two Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) political party members who were participating in electoral activities in Peque municipality.  The Mission urges all the competent institutions to investigate and prosecute those responsible for this crime.

Some 4,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar and crossed the border into Bangladesh in the last 48 hours.  The newly arrived refugees say thousands more people are waiting on Myanmar’s coast to make the crossing.  United Nations agencies and their partners are providing food and other supplies.

It will take more than 100 years to end child marriage in West and Central Africa at current rates of reduction, UNICEF reported today.  The new projections, released during a high-level meeting on ending child marriage in Dakar, Senegal, this week, aim to bring the spotlight on the region where girls face the highest risk of marrying in childhood.

Following is the joint statement of the African Union and the United Nations on the forthcoming presidential election in Kenya, issued today in Addis Ababa and New York:

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it would cut food rations by 30 per cent for the 420,000 refugees living in Dadaab and Kakuma camps in northern Kenya due to insufficient funding.  WFP urgently needs $28.5 million to adequately cover the food assistance needs for the refugees over the next six months.

The United Nations Environment Programme is launching a campaign to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol and its success in protecting Earth against ozone depletion.  The “Ozone Heroes” campaign seeks to raise awareness of collective efforts to tackle climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer.