Noon Briefings

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China today said he is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives and destruction caused by the 5 September earthquake in Sichuan Province. He said the Organization stands ready to assist and support the Government of China’s valiant rescue efforts.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today said that world food commodity prices dipped for a fifth month in a row. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 138 points in August, down 1.9 per cent from July although remaining 7.9 per cent above its value a year before.

In Thailand, the United Nations is helping authorities improve green technologies. The Organization is partnering with nearly 300 companies to cut food waste by up to 10 per cent.

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where 1.3 million Palestinian children will be returning to school this week, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator there issued a statement today in which she said she is concerned that, since the beginning of the year, 20 children were killed in the West Bank.

In Ukraine, a convoy, organized by the United Nations and its partners, recently reached Toretsk in eastern Donetsk Oblast on 26 August. The convoy delivered 56 tons of food and other items for 2,000 people living close to the front line and who are under shelling.

The United Nations is stepping up its response to severe rains and flooding across Pakistan which have reportedly killed over 1,000 people, including hundreds of children. The situation is expected to worsen with more ongoing rainfall.

In Chad, catastrophic flooding in 11 of the country’s 23 provinces has killed 22 people, as of 16 August, and caused extensive damage to homes, infrastructure, agricultural lands and livestock, impacting 340,000 people. The United Nations and aid partners are supporting Government-led efforts to provide lifesaving aid.

In Afghanistan, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a programme to protect rural livelihoods amid continuing drought and extreme economic crisis and will support more than 9 million people across 34 provinces in 2022.

In Algeria, the United Nations team on the ground sent out an appeal for increased support from the international community to boost lifesaving assistance to some 90,000 Sahrawi refugees risking food insecurity and malnutrition.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that this week marks five years since more than 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar for Bangladesh.