World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking to the press, said there are almost 600 suspected Ebola cases and 139 suspected fatalities reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. He has released an additional $3.4 million from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, bringing the total to $3.9 million.
In Uganda, the UN system has already repurposed $3.5 million in existing resources to support the Government-led response to contain the Ebola outbreak and stop its further spread. The World Health Organization is supporting greater surveillance, contact tracing, testing, clinical care and cross-border preparedness.
Following one of the largest aerial attacks against Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began, United Nations officials warned the Security Council today that civilian casualties are rising sharply, humanitarian operations are coming under direct attack and only renewed diplomacy and a full ceasefire can halt the worsening toll.
After 14 weeks of intensive negotiations under UN auspices in Amman, the parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed to release over 1,600 conflict-related detainees — the largest such release deal since the start of the conflict, and a profound relief for thousands of Yemenis enduring long, painful waits for family members.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, aid partners operating a toll-free counselling hotline report cases involving suicide ideation rose by 90 per cent. In Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 43,000 people have potentially life-changing injuries.
In Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports an surge in gender-based violence in the first three months of this year. Almost 2,000 incidents — or about 21 cases per day — were recorded. More than 70 per cent of the cases involved rape, up from 49 per cent the previous quarter.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
In Ukraine, humanitarian convoys continue to reach hard-to-access communities near the front line, even as heavy bombardment in urban centres across the east are causing civilian casualties, including among first responders. In the last two days, the UN and its partners delivered two convoys to the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Food Programme and aid partners today resumed food distribution to over 71,000 people at the Plaine Savo displacement site in Ituri, the first delivery since December, after weeks of negotiations led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs secured better access.
