Somalia

A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and the European Union, finds that 113 million people in 53 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2018, down slightly from 124 million in 2017.  Nearly two thirds of those suffering are in just eight countries.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of George Conway of Canada as Acting Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), where he will also serve as United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.

The Security Council decided today to extend until 31 March 2020 the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), as previously set out in resolution 2158 (2014), and requested the Mission to maintain and strengthen its presence throughout the country, as the security situation allows.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President François Delattre (France):

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

On 1 February 2019, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia held its first informal consultations of the year to meet with the Panel of Experts on Somalia established by resolution 2444 (2018).

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon visited the Goura refugee site, which is hosting 35,000 Nigerian refugees following clashes between non-State armed groups and the Nigerian military.  The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Cameroon seeks nearly $300 million to assist 2.3 million vulnerable people.

In Bangladesh, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Oxfam have installed the largest human waste treatment facility ever built in a refugee settlement, in Cox’s Bazar, which is home to nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees.

Following a sea tragedy on Tuesday off Djibouti’s Red Sea coast, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that 16 survivors have been recovered, as well as the remains of 43 victims.  IOM staff have been helping the Djibouti authorities patrolling the shorelines in search of other survivors.

Some 170 people either died or went missing in two separate shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea, according to UNHCR.  NGO sources said that some 53 people died on the Alborán Sea in the western Mediterranean, while Italy’s navy reported 117 out of 120 people dead or missing in an additional shipwreck on the central Mediterranean.