In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, an elementary school was demolished days before the start of the new school year. It served pupils from the few Palestinian families remaining in the herding community of Ein Samiya, following the displacement of most amid settler violence and diminishing grazing land.
In progress at UNHQ
Nicaragua
Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths today announced an extra $25 million grant to boost aid efforts and address urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of people in the earthquake-stricken parts of Syria. Some 130 search and rescue teams are working in affected areas in Türkiye; another 57 teams are on their way.
After back-to-back droughts in the Horn of Africa, the World Food Programme (WFP) is expanding its assistance as levels of hunger soar. Since the start of the year, 9 million more people have slipped into severe food insecurity across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees today said the number of Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers in Costa Rica has doubled in the last eight months, reaching more than 150,000 people. This represents 3 per cent of Costa Rica’s total population of 5 million.
Amid the continued humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that it provided food to nearly 150,000 people and cash assistance to 6,000 on 14 December. Some 100 food shops and other businesses have closed in Jalalabad city due to currency devaluation and high food and commodity prices.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regained access to two refugee camps previously cut off by clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray Province. It is calling for urgent support amid rising displacement, as well as safe passage to transfer refugees to a safer site, 135 kilometres away.
The onset of winter — compounded by the devastating effects of the coronavirus — poses a direct threat to the health and livelihoods of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, nearly 2 million of whom have settled in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.
In Nicaragua, UNICEF and its partners have prepositioned emergency supplies and developed a joint response plan to address the needs of families impacted by Hurricane Eta, including 10,000 people evacuated from the northern coast, while the World Food Programme has positioned 80 metric tons of food assistance in the region.
The United Nations human rights office said today it is very concerned about repeated attacks against indigenous peoples in Nicaragua, non-protection of their rights and impunity for crimes committed against them. Some 40 indigenous people have been killed, 47 injured, 44 kidnapped and four disappeared since 2015.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says it has reached 1 million people in Mozambique with food assistance in the month since Cyclone Idai made landfall. WFP intends to assist 1.7 million people needing urgent food and nutrition support, but still requires $130 million to implement its response through June.