Myanmar

The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Nabeel Rajab and ensure that all Bahrainis are able to exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression without fear of arbitrary detention.  She urges Bahrain to stop criminalizing dissenting voices.

In Myanmar’s central Rakhine State, some 2,500 people were forced to flee fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military that began last month.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs led a team to the area to look into what the uprooted people and host communities need.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to take a toll on civilians, with more than 5 million people affected and 3.5 million people in need of aid.  The 2018 response plan is only 38 per cent funded and disbursement of $162 million urgently needed for 2019 is now crucial as winter temperatures drop.

A peacekeeper from Malawi was found alive in the Beni area of North Kivu Province on Friday, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reports.  He went missing on 14 November after the launch of the mission’s joint operation with Congolese forces to neutralize rebel fighters.

The World Health Organization’s World Malaria Report reveals that in 2017, there were about 219 million cases, compared with 217 million in 2016.  About 70 per cent of all cases occurred in 10 African countries and India.  To boost prevention and treatment, WHO and partners launched a new country-led response.

Marking International Day of Tolerance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded its UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize to social entrepreneur and filmmaker Manon Barbeau of Canada, and to the Coexist Initiative, a non-profit organization working to end violence against women in Kenya.

The World Health Organization reports that new measures to overcome challenges in the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are having a positive impact through the use of targeted, multidisciplinary teams to accelerate community engagement in North Kivu province.

Arguing that impunity for horrific violations against the Rohingya in Myanmar is a threat to international peace and security, the head of a human rights fact‑finding mission this afternoon urged the Security Council to ensure accountability for the crimes.

Amid a relatively calm and peaceful security situation in Darfur, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation there has embarked earnestly on its drawdown and is in the process of relocating its headquarters from El Fasher to Zalingei, Mission Head Jeremiah Mamabolo reported to the Security Council this morning.

At the launch of the United Nations System Workplace Mental Health and Well-being Strategy, the Secretary-General highlighted the importance of ensuring the well-being of staff, many of whom work in increasingly dangerous environments, and the need to fight the stigma of talking about mental health issues in the workplace.