The country team in Egypt is addressing food insecurity - worsened by disrupted grain exports from the Russian Federation and Ukraine – by supporting vulnerable groups through cash transfers, vouchers, and food distribution, and providing fertilizers, loans and training to improve livelihoods to some 4,600 smallholder farmers.

The Secretary-General said he was deeply saddened by the death of three peacekeepers from Bangladesh in the Central African Republic when their convoy was hit by an explosive ordnance while on patrol in the evening. One critically injured peacekeeper is in stable condition and receiving medical treatment.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has launched an investigation following reports that civilians were killed during clashes last week between the national armed forces and militants in Mourrah, about 400 kilometres north-east of Bamako, the capital.

As Ramadan begins, the soaring cost of food staples in import-dependent Middle Eastern and North African countries is creating ever greater challenges for millions of families already struggling to keep hunger at bay, the World Food Programme said, warning that millions will struggle to buy even basic foods.

UNICEF released a report today showing there are nearly 240 million children with disabilities around the world, a new global approximation higher than previous estimates which considers symptoms of anxiety and depression, among other difficulties across several domains of functioning.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that the number of people teetering on the edge of famine in 43 countries has risen from 42 to 45 million people, as acute hunger spikes around the world.  The agency said needs are vastly surpassing available resources at a time when traditional funding streams are overstretched.

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

Fanday Turay, the new Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning today that, without urgent funding, the displacement crisis in the north of Mozambique could become a hunger emergency.  Displacement has left at least 730,000 people in Cabo Delgado without access to their land and no means of earning a living.

Food systems caused more than one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new Food and Agriculture Organization/European Commission study, which says food system emissions are estimated at 34 per cent of the total.  Top emitters are China, Indonesia, United States, Brazil, European Union and India.