Lebanon

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon expressed deep regret over the inability of Lebanon’s leaders to reach agreement on the formation of a new Government that is urgently needed to address the country’s numerous challenges.

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat has a new draft Global Biodiversity Framework to guide actions worldwide through 2030 to preserve and protect nature, and its essential services to people.  It will serve as the basis for negotiations at the Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, in October.

Humanitarian officials say the security and access situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region remains complex and extremely fluid, with active hostilities impeding people’s access to assistance and the movement of aid workers.  They say more than 500 cases of gender-based violence, including rape, were reported in May.

A new World Health Organization (WHO) report calls for immediate, binding action to protect children, adolescents and expectant mothers at risk from exposure to toxins in discarded electrical or electronic devices, or e-waste.  As many as 12.9 million women and some 18 million young people work in the informal waste sector.

The Federal Government of Somalia, in consultation with the United Nations, declared a drought on 25 April, with moderate to severe drought conditions impacting 80 per cent of the country.  Seasonal rains then began in late April and early May, triggering flash flooding that impacted 400,000 people, of whom 101,300 were displaced.

UNICEF announced today it has signed a long-term agreement with Moderna to supply vaccine for the COVAX facility.  Through the agreement, the agency and its partners will have access to up to 34 million doses for some 92 countries and territories in 2021.  This is the fifth vaccine-supply agreement it has signed.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is calling for more international support for the people of Afghanistan amid continued violence that has internally displaced over 100,000 people so far this year.  UNHCR’s $123.5 million humanitarian appeal for 2021 is only 24 per cent funded. 

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that in Niger’s western Tillabery region, 10,000 people have fled their homes since 14 May, following attacks by non-State armed groups in the Anzourou district, near the border with Mali.  The number of internally displaced persons in Tillabery has nearly doubled in 18 months to 102,000.

United Nations officials in the Central African Republic report that 300 peacekeepers have been deployed to Bakouma, one of several places where security concerns prevented the holding of elections in 2020.  They will protect the civilian population and help organize legislative elections later in May.

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