Myanmar

United Nations agencies and their partners have dramatically scaled up the relief operation in Dominica as access improves across the island, OCHA reports.  And in Antigua and Barbuda, $2 million has been mobilized to help provide permanent roofing on Barbuda.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that over 509,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar.  Noting the “horrific” living conditions of the refugees, the Emergency Relief Coordinator and UNICEF’s Executive Director called for urgent funding to scale up the response.

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it would cut food rations by 30 per cent for the 420,000 refugees living in Dadaab and Kakuma camps in northern Kenya due to insufficient funding.  WFP urgently needs $28.5 million to adequately cover the food assistance needs for the refugees over the next six months.

UNICEF in Nigeria said today that the crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in north-east Nigeria has left more than 57 per cent of schools in Borno State closed as the new [school] year begins.  UNICEF and partners have enrolled nearly 750,000 children and established more than 350 temporary learning spaces.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the open debate of the Security Council on Myanmar, in New York today:

Amid an escalating crisis in northern Rakhine state in Myanmar, United Nations Secretary-General today urged its Government to end military operations, allow unfettered access to those in need, and ensure the safe and voluntary return of displaced Rohingya to their homes.

About the response to the cholera outbreak in Yemen, medicines procured by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the treatment of 30,000 patients have been airlifted to Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, for transfer across the Red Sea to the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

As of 25 September, two days ago, there were nearly 740,000 suspected cholera cases in Yemen and more than 2,100 associated deaths recorded, with children accounting for more than half, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  Aid workers have set up 250 diarrhoea treatment centres.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the number of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh has surpassed 700,000, with 480,000 arriving since late August.  The United Nations continues to provide aid, but the massive influx of refugees is outpacing the capacity to respond.

The number of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar and arrived in Bangladesh in the past month has reached 436,000.  Aid agencies have reached more than 80 per cent of these people with food aid and are scaling up their support.