Myanmar

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

In support of the Lebanese Armed Forces, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) conducted four-day coordinated activities with Lebanese Army personnel to enhance operational readiness and joint capabilities, including foot and vehicle patrols, checkpoints and equipment use.

Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Ramiz Alakbarov has begun a three-day visit to the Gaza Strip. In Khan Younis, he met with displaced families who have been supported by the UN to move away from the flood-prone shoreline to Hamad City. He also visited Asda’a, where the UN has supported thousands of families for more than a year.

Authorities in Somalia estimate that more than 4.6 million people — a quarter of the population — are being impacted by drought. UN partners indicate that at least 120,000 people were displaced between September and December, as water prices soar, food becomes increasingly scarce, livestock die and livelihoods collapse.

In Sikikede and in Sam-Ouandja — both in north-east Central African Republic — the national disarmament body launched new disarmament and demobilization operations, with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) providing logistical, technical and security support.

Air strikes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on 10 December hit the general hospital in Mrauk-U Township, killing more than 30 civilians and injuring more than 70 others, including patients, caregivers and medical staff. The World Health Organization (WHO) says this is the sixty-seventh verified attack on health in Myanmar this year.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published their 2025 Myanmar Opium Survey, and that report found that poppy cultivation is at a 10-year high in the country. The survey analyses data collected in Myanmar during the fourth growing season since the military takeover.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply saddened over the tragic capsizing of a boat off the coast of Malaysia and Thailand carrying up to 70 people from Myanmar, including Rohingya. Some 13 people were brought ashore by Malaysian authorities; at least 21 people died.

A new report from the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), titled “At Risk and Underfunded”, warns that sweeping aid cuts are jeopardizing the organizations essential to ending violence against women and girls.

In Gaza, UN partners report that many people are unable to leave the north due to insecurity, and are struggling to survive amid severe food and shelter shortages. Today, the UN Satellite Centre published a preliminary analysis showing damage to 83 per cent of structures in Gaza City alone.