Amid the clashes in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, 149 vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia, were safely evacuated today to Rome, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
World Health Organization experts arrived in Pakistan following an HIV outbreak in Sindh province, where some 600 cases — more than half of them children under age five — have been identified. The outbreak was first reported on 25 April, with a major HIV screening programme having started three days later.
A recent spike in clashes in north-western Nigeria has forced some 20,000 people to flee to neighbouring Niger since April, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today. UNHCR is working closely with authorities in Niger to provide basic assistance and register these people.
Due to sporadic rainfall in Bangladesh’s Teknaf peninsula, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and aid partners will truck water in the coming days to 140,000 Rohingya refugees, where water rationing due to limited supply has raised concern about the potential for water-borne diseases.
The United Nations is stepping up its response to the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is now in its tenth month and has claimed more than 1,200 lives. The Secretary-General has appointed David Gressly, Deputy Head of mission, as the Organization’s Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator.
Algeria and Argentina have been certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as being malaria-free. The head of WHO said today that the nations have eliminated malaria thanks to the unwavering commitment and perseverance of the people and leaders of both countries.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that the number of attacks on schools in eastern Ukraine increased four-fold during the first four months of 2019, versus the same period in 2018, with schools attacked 12 times between January and April.
A new United Nations report on Afghanistan has found that continued focus and efforts are needed to advance the nation’s anti-corruption reforms. It describes how corruption there is eroding public trust and confidence in Government institutions and hindering efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the country.
Briefing the Security Council today on Syria, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs expressed concern at the escalation of fighting in the country’s north-west. She said that, on 6 May, Government forces began ground offensives there, and, as of 15 May, they seized many towns in Hama.
The use of explosive weapons in populated areas of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, continues to cause civilian casualties, with at least six killed and five others injured in an apparent air strike in Qasr bin Ghashir on Tuesday, according to staff of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.