Libya

Due to sporadic rainfall in Bangladesh’s Teknaf peninsula, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and aid partners will truck water in the coming days to 140,000 Rohingya refugees, where water rationing due to limited supply has raised concern about the potential for water-borne diseases.

Algeria and Argentina have been certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as being malaria-free.  The head of WHO said today that the nations have eliminated malaria thanks to the unwavering commitment and perseverance of the people and leaders of both countries.

Libya is on the verge of a civil war that could split the country permanently, the senior United Nations official in that country warned the Security Council today, as that body’s members sounded the alarm over the rapid proliferation of weapons and the prospect of a major humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that the number of attacks on schools in eastern Ukraine increased four-fold during the first four months of 2019, versus the same period in 2018, with schools attacked 12 times between January and April.

A new United Nations report on Afghanistan has found that continued focus and efforts are needed to advance the nation’s anti-corruption reforms.  It describes how corruption there is eroding public trust and confidence in Government institutions and hindering efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the country.

Briefing the Security Council today on Syria, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs expressed concern at the escalation of fighting in the country’s north-west.  She said that, on 6 May, Government forces began ground offensives there, and, as of 15 May, they seized many towns in Hama.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, continues to cause civilian casualties, with at least six killed and five others injured in an apparent air strike in Qasr bin Ghashir on Tuesday, according to staff of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In Sudan, the African Union-United Nation Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) condemned an incident that took place on 14 May in its El Geneina camp, when a crowd forcefully entered, looting Organization property and contingent-owned equipment, vandalizing premises and putting lives of staff and personnel at risk.

As of yesterday, some 1,705 probable and confirmed cases of Ebola have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the outbreak was declared on 1 August 2018, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.  About 1,122 people, or two thirds of reported cases, have died since then.

The first day for redeploying Ansar Allah forces from Yemen’s three ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras-Issa went according to established plans on Saturday, Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee, said yesterday.  Formal verification is expected on Tuesday.