Public information

The United Nations human rights office called today for urgent action to address the dire situation of migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean Sea in search of safety in Europe, and to tackle the shocking conditions they face in Libya, at sea, and frequently, upon their reception in Europe.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the World Health Organization (WHO) event on “Infodemic Management:  Promoting healthy behaviours in the time of COVID-19 and mitigating the harm from misinformation and disinformation”, held today:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the high-level event on “Digital Cooperation:  Action for Future Generations”, held today:

Disarmament is at the heart of the collective security system set out in the Charter of the United Nations, with its goal to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.

The Secretary-General expressed concern over the number of restrictions and attacks against journalists, as many face harassment, intimidation, killing and arbitrary detention.  He called on Governments to immediately release journalists detained while exercising their profession, stressing:  “No democracy can function without press freedom.”

A record 13.4 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger need humanitarian assistance and protection, as fast-growing crises spread across the Central Sahel region.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the number of internally displaced people has grown 20-fold to 1.4 million in less than two years.

In Sudan, nearly 720,000 people have been affected by floods, with more than 100 deaths reported, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  While the United Nations and its partners have reached 200,000 with health, food and other assistance, the $1.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan is less than half funded.

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

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are helping the Government of Cambodia with distance learning programmes for the more than 3 million students who are out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee on Information closed its annual session during a videoconference meeting today, approving two hallmark draft resolutions, one focused on core questions of press freedom and the second laying out its requests and expectations for the newly reformed Department of Global Communications.