Myanmar

A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, released today, finds that one in five people globally do not expect to have the number of children they desire. Key drivers include the prohibitive cost of parenthood, job insecurity, housing, concerns over the state of the world and the lack of a suitable partner.

In Myanmar, a new report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the vast majority of the country’s people are united in their defiance of military authoritarianism and violence.

In Chad, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Thomas Fletcher has allocated $2.5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to urgently respond to the massive influx of refugees and returnees in the east of the country from Sudan. This brings CERF's total allocation to Chad this year to $16 million.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that, yesterday and today, Israeli authorities granted access to Kerem Shalom so that UN teams could reach additional humanitarian supplies that crossed into the Strip on Monday and Tuesday.

The Secretary-General has appointed experts to develop recommendations for measures that complement or go beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is a way to recognize that GDP — relied upon as a gauge of prosperity — provides an incomplete picture of the different dimensions of sustainable development.

In Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called today on that country’s military to stop all attacks on civilians and civilian objects. He said the unremitting violence inflicted on civilians underscores the need for the parties to commit to a genuine and permanent nationwide halt to hostilities.

In the Central African Republic, the Special Representative there welcomed the decision by the leaders of the two armed groups, Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation (3R) and UPC — Unité pour la Paix en Centrafrique — to rejoin the Political Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation, signed in 2019.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs notes that the depletion of critical stocks there goes far beyond food. One example is trauma-related medical supplies, which are running out at a time when the number of people injured in mass casualty incidents continues to increase.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that there’s been an increase in the number of vulnerable individuals among those deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, particularly women — including pregnant and lactating women.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that escalating violence continue to harm civilians there. In North Kivu province, partners estimate that more than 2,300 people fled clashes between armed groups in the Kibua area of Walikale Territory on 15 April.