Libya

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it’s seeking $107 million to support life-saving humanitarian operations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  There are acute food, nutrition, health, water and sanitation needs, but funding for humanitarian operations there remain historically low.

The Security Council today extended the authorization of measures against the illicit export of crude oil and other petroleum products from Libya until 30 April 2021, continuing to allow Member States to inspect designated vessels on the high seas.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a global research and innovation forum in Geneva tomorrow to mobilize international action on coronavirus, the agency announced today.  WHO has sent diagnostic kits to 14 countries and identified more than 160 laboratories with the technology to diagnose coronavirus.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the African Union Peace and Security Council session on Libya and the Sahel, in Addis Ababa today:

World food prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in January, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Price Index, with vegetable oils, sugar and wheat among the chief drivers of the price increases.  FAO also forecast a record 2.715 billion metric tons of cereal production for 2019.

The World Health Organization today launched a strategic preparedness and response plan to help countries prevent, detect and diagnose transmission of the coronavirus.  The agency is requesting $675 million to fund the plan for the next three months; most of money will support countries particularly at risk.

A medical air bridge operation in Yemen coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and local authorities began today, bringing several Yemeni patients of an initial group of 30 from Sana’a to Amman, with more flights to follow.

Ghassan Salamé, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya,  expressed deep concern to the Security Council today that the truce agreed earlier this month holds only in name.  Fighting and military reinforcements on both sides raise the spectre of a full conflict engulfing the wider region.

The senior United Nations official in Libya expressed outrage in the Security Council today over the conduct of actors inside and outside the country who nod towards peace yet double down on military actions, as delegates called for an end to foreign meddling and for upholding the arms embargo as part of a broader plan to stop the spiralling conflict.

The Government of Ethiopia, the United Nations and humanitarian partners today called for $1 billion to help 7 million of the 8.4 million people in the country identified as requiring humanitarian aid due to conflict, disease outbreaks, rain shortfalls and floods.