The Secretary-General continues to follow the developments in Sudan very closely and reiterates his call for calm and utmost restraint by all. The Secretary‑General reaffirms that the United Nations stands ready to support the Sudanese people as they chart a new way forward.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Two jailed Reuters journalists from Myanmar will share the 2019 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s press freedom prize. Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone were reporting on alleged human rights violations in Myanmar’s Rakhine State when they were arrested in December 2017.
Briefing the Security Council, the High Commissioner for Refugees stressed today that there is an unprecedented stigmatization of refugees and migrants in the media and in politics, and that this should concern us all as it is creating a toxic environment that makes it increasingly difficult to tackle this issue.
The World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Global Vaccine Alliance and the Sudanese Ministry of Health today launched a vaccination campaign in Sudan to vaccinate over 11 million children against measles and polio. Measles is the third largest cause of mortality in infants in Sudan.
With Bangladesh expecting its first monsoon of the year in the coming weeks, the United Nations refugee agency is ramping up emergency preparations and training of Rohingya refugees as first responders. Last year, more than 740,000 refugees fleeing Myanmar into Bangladesh experienced their first monsoon.
The World Health Statistics 2019 — disaggregated by sex for the first time — found that women outlive men everywhere, particularly in wealthy countries. The gap in life expectancy is narrowest where women lack access to health services. WHO published the report to coincide with World Health Day on 7 April.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund issued the first comprehensive global report on water, noting that one in four health facilities around the world lack basic water services. In the least developed countries, that number rises to 55 per cent of health facilities lacking services.
A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and the European Union, finds that 113 million people in 53 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2018, down slightly from 124 million in 2017. Nearly two thirds of those suffering are in just eight countries.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged today the Government of Brunei Darussalam to stop the entry into force of a new penal code which would enshrine in legislation cruel and inhuman punishments in breach of international human rights law, including death by stoning.
Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, calls upon all parties to avoid further deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the “Great March of Return” demonstrations in the enclave.