Peacekeeping


The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported that 220,000 internally displaced people are sheltering in 88 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip, also noting that numerous personnel, teachers and students have been killed. Agency staff are working around the clock, caring for the people in the shelters.

In Afghanistan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that aftershocks continue three days after the earthquake which struck Herat Province and affected over 12,000 people. The UN and its partners are on the ground providing emergency food, shelter, health care and household aid.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun rolling out food distributions to nearly 900,000 refugees in Ethiopia following a full revamp of the safeguards and controls at its refugee operations, with refugee camps across five regions receiving food parcels for the first time since WFP paused food distributions in June.

In Armenia, the UN, led by acting Resident Coordinator Natia Natsvlishvili, is boosting support to national authorities to address the needs of over 100,000 refugees, who recently arrived. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to distribute locally procured core relief items requested by local municipalities.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has launched a joint operation in Djugu Territory, in Ituri Province, with the Congolese Armed Forces against the armed group CODECO in response to recent attacks against civilians and the presence of CODECO members in the area.

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While peacekeeping is not a panacea for converging crises, it does support political processes and protect civilians, the United Nations senior peace operations official told the Security Council today, as members considered the factors necessary for the success of such operations amidst the drawdown of the UN’s presence in Mali and the questioning of its utility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.