The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ high-level pledging event on the Horn of Africa today raised $2.4 billion. The Secretary-General said action is urgently needed to prevent crises in the region — which are threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people — from turning into catastrophe.

The recent deadly escalation between Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza was yet another reminder of the volatile security situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the United Nations senior official for Middle East peace told the Security Council today, as members urged parties to observe the recent ceasefire and voiced alarm over the continued violence, settlement activities and inflammatory rhetoric.

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

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

A new United Nations report estimates that $15 billion will be needed for Syria to recover, three months after the earthquake. The Syria Earthquake Recovery Needs Assessment, a collaborative effort among 11 United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, puts the total damages and losses at almost $9 billion.

The World Food Programme reports that, starting next month, it will suspend assistance for over 200,000 people in Palestine — 60 per cent of its caseload — due to severe funding shortfalls. It urgently needs $51 million to continue providing life-saving food and cash aid to 350,000 Palestinians until the end of this year.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today elected its Vice-Chair and Rapporteur, as the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine updated the Committee on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and gave a briefing on the guidelines for opinion case submissions to the International Court of Justice.

A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization says that more than one in two preschool-aged children – approximately 372 million children, three quarters who live in South and East Asia, the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa - suffer from the lack of at least one of three micronutrients; iron, vitamin A or zinc.

Even as the holy days of Eid al-Fitr, Passover and Easter overlapped around the world, violence erupted in the holy sites of Jerusalem, the United Nations senior official in charge of the Israel-Palestine peace process told the Security Council today, urging all parties to recommit to the two-State solution.

​​​​​​​The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People: