Mauritius

In Armenia, the UN, led by acting Resident Coordinator Natia Natsvlishvili, is boosting support to national authorities to address the needs of over 100,000 refugees, who recently arrived. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to distribute locally procured core relief items requested by local municipalities.

​​​​​​​United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Lisa Singh of Nepal as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mauritius and Seychelles, with the host Government’s approval.  She will take up her post on 11 November.

In Mauritius and the Seychelles, the United Nations is ramping up its support to authorities to address the impacts of the rising costs of fertilizers. This is urgent for both countries, which are currently 100 per cent dependent on imported chemical fertilizers.

Secretary-General António Guterres praised the impactful first decade of the “Every Woman Every Child” campaign, which mobilized more than $180 billion in investments.  While maternal and child deaths have declined significantly in that time, he cautioned that COVID-19 has revealed the fragility of those advances.

A group of regional United Nations entities launched a $2.5 million recovery fund to support Mauritius as it responds to the oil spill caused by a shipwreck off its coast in July, with efforts focused on the livelihoods impacted.  United Nations regional directors for eastern and southern Africa have pooled $250,000 to kick-start the fund.

In Asia, a strong monsoon season has caused floods and landslides over the past week, killing hundreds of people, displacing millions and destroying infrastructure.  The United Nations and aid partners are supporting Government-led responses in several countries despite COVID-19-related logistical challenges.

In a note issued on Friday, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Bolivia, Jean Arnault, welcomed the agreement reached among the Executive Branch, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and the Plurinational Electoral Organ regarding the 2020 general elections.

An inter-agency United Nations team arrived in Mauritius yesterday to support the Government-led response to the oil spill that is impacting the country, Christine Umutoni, Resident Coordinator in the island nation says.  They will also engage local communities and the private sector.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan reported today that its engineering troops, together with local youth, are repairing flood-damaged levees in Jonglei state, already saving Bor’s main market and hospital from being submerged by flooding, which has so far displaced an estimated 135,000 people in the area.

The General Assembly requested today that the International Court of Justice render an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius before that Indian Ocean island nation’s independence in the 1960s.