Peacebuilding

Heavy rains and flooding have claimed dozens of lives in Chad and Niger, impacting over 100,000 people in recent weeks.  The United Nations is supporting Governments in providing health care, food, shelter, water, hygiene and sanitation, and warns that the Sahel region’s weather variability has been worsened by climate change.

The General Assembly, acting without a vote, adopted two resolutions and three decisions today after debating the annual report on the Peacebuilding Commission and Peacebuilding Fund.  Meanwhile, consideration of a draft resolution to establish a Permanent Forum of People of African Descent was rolled back to a later date.

The World Health Organization today said that more than 1.2 million people urgently need health assistance in Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, where recent armed attacks sparked further population displacement and deepened a protracted humanitarian crisis.

Aid workers in Ethiopia report rising incidents of denial of relief cargo, and the confiscation of humanitarian vehicles and supplies, by parties to the conflict in the Tigray region.  While over 5 million people are targeted for food assistance, only about 1.8 million have been reached since late March amid limited access.

The Peacebuilding Commission will seek to strengthen its advisory, bridging and convening roles, with a focus on engaging all actors to prioritize “impact” in support of national peacebuilding objectives, its new Chair said today, outlining the body’s work plan for 2021.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as delivered, to the High-Level Replenishment Conference for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, today:

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports rising hunger and malnutrition in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where months of conflict have worsened a dire situation caused by COVID-19 and locusts.  Nearly 80 per cent of hospitals in Tigray are not functional, according to the World Health Organization.

NEW YORK, 25 January 2021 (Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs) — At 9 a.m., on Tuesday, 26 January, Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a virtual High-Level Replenishment Conference for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.  

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that 250,000 children have been displaced by the crisis in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.  UNICEF is concerned that safe water, sanitation and hygiene services are insufficient to meet the growing needs in overcrowded temporary accommodation centres and host communities.