Russian Federation

The United Nations learned with deep sadness that Edward Mortimer, Head Speechwriter and Director of Communications for Secretary-General Kofi Annan, died at the weekend.  During a tumultuous period in world affairs, Mr. Mortimer made an imprint on many of the Secretary-General’s signature achievements and initiatives.

Humanitarian officials say the security and access situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region remains complex and extremely fluid, with active hostilities impeding people’s access to assistance and the movement of aid workers.  They say more than 500 cases of gender-based violence, including rape, were reported in May.

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

On Tuesday, 11 May, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres travelled to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Government.

The 2021 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis will be launched on 18 May, hosted by Bangladesh, along with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration, targeting 1.4 million people.  “This must not become a forgotten crisis,” UNHCR stated.

Humanitarian officials in Somalia say a “double climate disaster”, marked by drought followed by torrential rains, has killed at least 25 people in two weeks.  Warning that 2.7 million people in the country are already food insecure, they note that the Humanitarian Response Plan is currently only 19 per cent funded.

Secretary-General António Guterres praised the impactful first decade of the “Every Woman Every Child” campaign, which mobilized more than $180 billion in investments.  While maternal and child deaths have declined significantly in that time, he cautioned that COVID-19 has revealed the fragility of those advances.

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

Unrelenting drought in southern Madagascar is forcing hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports.  At least 1.35 million people need emergency food and nutrition assistance.  Acute malnutrition in children under 5 has almost doubled over the last four months.

A report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan finds increasing reports of torture in that country’s detention facilities.  Almost a third of those detained for security or terrorism-related offences reported torture or other ill-treatment.