The Qatar Fund for Development and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees signed an agreement yesterday under which Qatar will contribute $20.7 million to support Palestine refugees’ access to basic services in Syria. This contribution brings the Qatar Fund’s total support to the Agency to $40 million.
In progress at UNHQ
Philippines
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said at least 58 people died after a vessel from the Gambia carrying some 150 migrants sank as it approached Mauritania, while 83 others who swam ashore are receiving medical assistance. IOM is providing first aid kits and blankets to those injured.
The Special Representative for Iraq told the Security Council that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis - from all walks of life – have taken to the streets out of love for their homeland, expressing frustration for the lack of progress and calling for the country to reach its full potential for the benefit of all Iraqis.
A record 45 million people across southern Africa will be severely food insecure in the next six months, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme, who are calling for funding to prevent a major hunger crisis.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria launched the Syrian-led, Syrian-owned inclusive Constitutional Committee in Geneva today, bringing together for the first time Government and opposition nominees, with women making up 30 per cent of the 150 participants, following a nearly nine-year-long conflict.
Figures released today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan show record-high levels of civilian casualties in the country during the third quarter of 2019, including 2,563 killed and 5,676 injured, a 42 per cent increase from the same period in 2018.
In the Central African Republic, violence in the town of Birao has displaced more than 14,000 people, who are now being protected by United Nations peacekeepers in a camp next to the United Nations base and airstrip. The United Nations Mission has taken additional steps to prevent new clashes and restore calm.
United Nations humanitarian officials in the Philippines report that the Government declared a national dengue epidemic yesterday. There have now been more than 146,000 reported cases of dengue fever and 622 confirmed fatalities since the beginning of 2019, mostly affecting children between 5 and 9 years old.
The United Nations Children’s Fund announced a partnership to build a first-of-its-kind factory to convert plastic waste in Côte d’Ivoire into modular plastic bricks, which will be used to build classrooms. Côte d’Ivoire needs 15,000 classrooms; 500 will be constructed through the partnership in the next two years.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says more measles cases continue to be recorded in the Philippines, with nearly 23,000 so far, including 333 deaths officially reported, a 385 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018. More than half the cases involve children under the age of five.