Russian Federation

The UN Children’s Fund reports that in Sudan at least 2 million children have been forced from their homes since the hostilities erupted four months ago, with an average of more than 700 children being newly displaced every hour. In areas with high internal displacement, disease outbreaks, including measles, are resurfacing.

The United Nations remains committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity amidst indefensible attacks on civilians and infrastructure, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers took stock of the war’s impact on Ukraine’s children on the thirty-second anniversary of that country’s independence.

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, speakers in the Security Council today examined the justification and consequences of arms supplies from the West to Kyiv, with many arguing that these weapons support that country’s self-defence against the Russian Federation’s invasion and others expressing concern that such military assistance makes a peaceful settlement a distant hope.

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the risk of famine still lingers among communities of displaced people in parts of the country. This is despite the scale-up of humanitarian assistance and better-than-forecast rains which have brought some relief from the devastating drought.

Ukraine is forced to choose between its legitimate right to self-defence and its annihilation, several delegates told the Security Council today, as they contested the pretext under which today’s meeting was convened, noting its detrimental effect on the 15-member organ’s work.

Despite the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that more than 40 trucks carrying some 1,600 tons of food reached Kassala, Gedaref and White Nile between 22 and 27 July and five trucks delivered roughly 300 tons of relief supplies to West Kordofan.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) have provided support to the Central African and Ugandan Governments as they carried out the voluntary repatriation of 61 Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) ex-combatants and their families to Entebbe, Uganda.

Wrapping up her visit, Bintou Keita, Head of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, met with representatives of displaced communities, civil society and the local community in Bukavu, South Kivu, to discuss ways to strengthen partnerships to support provincial peace and security efforts.

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

One truck carrying humanitarian assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund crossed into north-west Syria from Türkiye through the Bab al-Salam crossing, making it a total of 18 trucks this week delivering life-saving relief items from United Nations agencies via that crossing.