Organization matters

United Nations officials in Myanmar report worsening humanitarian conditions due to conflict, political instability and COVID-19 since the military seized control of the Government in February.  More than 230,000 people have been displaced since then, with food running desperately short in some host communities.

The United Nations Department of Peace Operations announced that Superintendent Sangya Malla of Nepal, currently serving in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), will be named the 2021 United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year.  Superintendent Malla will be presented the award by United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres at a virtual ceremony on 9 November.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new crisis response initiative in Afghanistan, known as ABADEI, as part of efforts to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.  Among other things, it provides grants to small businesses, cash-for-work projects and support to marginalized individuals.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the United Nations Day concert, held today:

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for United Nations Day, observed on 24 October:

Today marks three years since the death of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan.  As the current Secretary-General said, Kofi was one-of-a-kind, a man who embodied United Nations values.  Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said that, on this day three years ago, the world lost one of its moral voices.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its fifty-fifth session from 21 to 23 July.

The United Nations and the Russian Federation held the Seventh Annual Aviation Talks on 21 and 22 July as part of the official business programme of the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2021.

The United Nations Board of Auditors approved 23 reports at their regular session at United Nations Headquarters in New York and remotely from Santiago, Bonn and Beijing on 22 July.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning today that, without urgent funding, the displacement crisis in the north of Mozambique could become a hunger emergency.  Displacement has left at least 730,000 people in Cabo Delgado without access to their land and no means of earning a living.