Peacekeepers are now patrolling the Central African Republic city of Alindao to protect civilians displaced by violence, including some 400 people who have sought shelter at the United Nations base after deadly clashes last week between the country’s armed forces and an armed group associated with the ex-Seleka coalition.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched a Refugee Response Plan for Sudan today in Khartoum, calling for $477 million to help more than 900,000 refugees and nearly a quarter million of their Sudanese hosts.
The United Nations is in touch with the Government of the Philippines, which is leading the response to the Taal volcano eruption in the Calabarzon region, some 70 kilometres south of Manila. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that 18,000 people have taken shelter in evacuation centres.
The United Nations refugee agency today welcomed El Salvador’s new law that will help protect internally displaced people. The legislation opens the doors for tens of thousands of victims of forced displacement in the country to gain access to life-saving humanitarian assistance and to have their basic rights restored.
Food prices around the world are at their highest levels in five years, the food price index from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says. According to FAO, prices rose for the third consecutive month in December, with vegetable oil, sugar, dairy and cereals among the commodities driving up world food prices.
In Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, more than 4,000 people have died as a result of terrorist attacks in 2019, the head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel told members of the Security Council today. The number of displaced people has increased 10-fold to about half a million, he added.
The death toll from the measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 6,000 people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. The outbreak is currently the worst in the world.
Some 6.7 million people in Zimbabwe urgently need humanitarian aid as drought, crop failure, Cyclone Idai’s aftermath and macroeconomic challenges force many to spend at least 70 per cent of their disposable income on basic food, the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.
In Nigeria, civilians were reportedly executed or abducted by armed groups in northern Borno state and on the Damaturu-Biu road yesterday. Condemning the violence, the United Nations and humanitarian partners have urged Nigerian authorities to prevent further violence and to protect the civilian population, including aid workers.
The World Health Organization announced today that Kenya, Mozambique and Niger have curbed polio outbreaks that erupted in different episodes over the last 24 months, allowing them to regain their polio-free status.