Nigeria

Humanitarian operations for over 800,000 people have resumed in Rann town, in Nigeria’s Borno State following several United Nations security assessments, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  However, aid workers have not yet been authorized to stay overnight.

A United Nations human rights office report issued today states there are strong grounds to believe that some of the people detained in Mexico in the early stages of the investigation into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students were arbitrarily detained and tortured and those serious violations were covered up.  

The Secretary-General is encouraged by the announcement of an agreement between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to hold a summit meeting by May.  He reiterates his support for all efforts towards peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

In Syria, a United Nations‑Syrian Arab Red Crescent‑International Committee of the Red Cross inter‑agency convoy entered Douma, in besieged eastern Ghouta, for the first time since 15 November 2017.  Teams delivered food for 27,500 people, along with health and nutrition supplies, while fighting and air strikes continued.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Karel Jan Gustaaf van Oosterom (Netherlands):

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the arrival of migrants in Italy — the most active route for those leaving North Africa for Europe — hit a five-year low:  5,247 for the first two months of 2018, versus some 13,000 for the same period last year.  IOM attributed the drop, in part, to voluntary humanitarian returns from detention centres in Libya.

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

The United Nations Children’s Fund expressed deep sadness over the killing of its colleague, along with five other education workers, on 25 February in the north-western region of the Central African Republic, near Markounda, a remote area close to the Chadian border.

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

The Food and Agriculture Organization launched a $1.06 billion appeal to help vulnerable communities in 26 countries fight hunger, seeking to reach 30 million people who rely on agriculture and have been affected by climate-related shocks, notably in Bangladesh, Somalia and Yemen.