The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reports that it has managed, for the first time since civil war broke out in South Sudan almost five years ago, to send a food-assistance boat convoy up the Sobat River, a tributary of the White Nile in the Upper Nile region, with enough food to sustain 40,000 people for one month.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General extended his condolences on Sunday to the Government of Haiti and the families of the victims of the earthquake that struck north of Port-de-Paix. The United Nations and its partners are helping the Government assess the needs of the population impacted by the quake.
One week after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, the humanitarian country team has launched a $50 million response plan. The United Nations resident coordinator there said the plan will provide immediate relief items, and the logistical support needed to provide aid to those in need.
In Madagascar, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 31 cases of plague, including six confirmed cases and six deaths, have been reported as of 30 September. There is concern that without early action, the outbreak could spread and reach emergency levels.
Amid Chad’s worst nutrition crisis, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator will visit a centre in N’Djamena to highlight joint aid efforts. They will also travel to Borno State, Nigeria, to visit a site for internally displaced persons.
The Indonesian Government has confirmed that 1,234 people have died following last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports. United Nations agencies and others are on the ground or en route to the affected areas to provide assistance and assess needs.
The World Health Organization today launched its first global guidelines on sanitation and health, warning that the world will not achieve universal sanitation coverage by 2030 without comprehensive policy shifts and more investment.
Relentless conflict and insecurity during South Sudan’s annual lean season have pushed 6.1 million people — nearly 60 per cent of the population – into extreme hunger, the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme say in a new report.
For the first time in several years, the United Nations has been able to deliver humanitarian assistance to Togolay village in South Darfur’s eastern Jebel Marra area, following the 20 September announcement of a three-month unilateral ceasefire by the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) faction.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 40,000 people have been displaced after violent clashes between the army and Mai Mai Yakutumba militia on 15 September in South Kivu and Maniema Provinces.