Lebanon

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Edward Kallon, expressed grave concern following the upsurge in violence in the country’s north-east that has led to massive displacement and created “a humanitarian tragedy”.  Some 260 aid workers have been withdrawn from impacted areas since last November.

In Yemen, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic, with 24 million people – or 80 per cent of the population – needing aid, Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock told the Security Council this morning.  The World Food Programme is expanding assistance to soon reach 12 million people a month.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Ján Kubiš of Slovakia as his Special Coordinator for Lebanon.

In Afghanistan, humanitarian organizations in Herat City have started distributing food and non-food items to displaced people who have been affected by drought.  As part of the ongoing full-scale drought response, WFP and its partners reached nearly 287,000 affected people from 6 to 12 December with food and cash assistance.

Confirming the existence of tunnels dug under the “Blue Line” separating Lebanon and Israel, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today that they represent a violation of Council resolution 1701 (2006).

The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the State of Palestine’s Minister for Social Development launched a $350 million humanitarian response plan today aimed at providing critical aid to 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, amid rising challenges.

Special projects funded by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan are improving the lives of communities countrywide by providing access to clean water, education and health care as well as safe houses for vulnerable women, and by strengthening the justice system to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today it had evacuated 133 refugees from Libya to Niger, most of them women and children who were previously detained in Libya.

In Katowice, Poland, today the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a report which says that meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement could save about a million lives a year worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone.

UNESCO today launched its Atlas on the retreat of Andean glaciers and reduction of glacial waters.  The atlas shows that if trends continue, some of the lower-altitude glaciers of the tropical Andes could lose 78 to 97 per cent of their volume by the end of the century, reducing the region’s freshwater resources.