Lebanon

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Jack Christofides of South Africa as the Deputy Head of Mission for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

At least 810 people died in 2019 while crossing deserts, river and remote terrain on different migration routes across the Americas, making the year one of the deadliest on record, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported today.

The United Nations, jointly with the Government of Somalia and humanitarian partners, launched the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan in Mogadishu, calling for $1 billion to provide life-saving assistance and livelihood support for 3 million people, nearly half of whom are internally displaced.

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

The United Nations is in touch with the Government of the Philippines, which is leading the response to the Taal volcano eruption in the Calabarzon region, some 70 kilometres south of Manila.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that 18,000 people have taken shelter in evacuation centres.

During her 10-day visit to Myanmar, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy met with the Union Electoral Commission, representatives of the main political parties in Parliament and Rohingya and Rakhine political [parties] and activists, as well as local officials, community leaders and returnees in northern Rakhine State.

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.

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 Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria launched the Syrian-led, Syrian-owned inclusive Constitutional Committee in Geneva today, bringing together for the first time Government and opposition nominees, with women making up 30 per cent of the 150 participants, following a nearly nine-year-long conflict.