Russian Federation

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

An estimated 8 million people die annually in 137 low- and middle-income countries from poor-quality health care; that’s according to a new joint report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Peru today, the United Nations and local partners redirected $3 million to support the Government’s efforts to protect 140,000 people impacted by El Niño, which has brought torrential rains to the country. Over 711,000 people require urgent food, water services, sanitation and health aid.

In Sudan, the World Food Programme says it has now reached over 300,000 people since restarting emergency food distributions there two weeks ago. Two cargo planes from the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service carrying critical supplies for United Nations agencies and aid partners have arrived in Port Sudan.

In Somalia, the United Nations and the Government have just unveiled a revamped multi-donor trust fund in support of the country’s development priorities. The Somalia Joint Fund will provide flexible funding to address key challenges facing the country and its people.

The Russian Federation’s recent announcement of plans to station non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus represents the first “nuclear sharing” agreement made since the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons entered into force in 1970, the senior United Nations disarmament official told the Security Council today, emphasizing that — against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict — the risk such arms will be used is higher today than at any time since the end of the cold war.

A report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services suggests that an estimated 43,000 excess deaths may have occurred in the country in 2022 due to the deepening drought.

United Nations humanitarian partners are providing water, hygiene and sanitation services, and shelter materials to temporary displacement sites in Malawi, and food and water treatment chemicals to Mozambique, following the destruction wrought by Tropical Cyclone Freddy. Heavy rain and wind continue to hamper those operations.

The Security Council heard today dissenting assertions from three briefers — two calling attention to Russophobia in Ukraine and one countering that claim as a colonial endeavour to justify war crimes — in a meeting requested by the Russian Federation, as delegates weighed in with their own prescriptions.

In the Central African Republic, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there launched a countrywide campaign on 16 January to promote efforts to protect civilians and to build confidence between the internal security forces and the population.