Somalia

Officials with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) say they have asked all staff - both men and women - to work from home, following the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from employment with the Organization. An operational review is under way to plan for all possible outcomes.

The United Nations resident coordinator’s team in Peru is responding to ongoing heavy rains and floods, which have left more than 500,000 people in need of aid. The World Food Programme (WFP) is also providing emergency cash transfers and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is treating cases of acute malnutrition.

United Nations humanitarian partners in Somalia have reported an early start to the country’s annual rainy season, which has brought flash floods, killing 14 people, destroying property and displacing thousands. The rains also come amid several disease outbreaks, including cholera, which are now likely to increase.

The World Health Organization’s new report on the effect of COVID-19 on people living with non-communicable disease said such people had difficulty accessing routine medicines and experienced disrupted treatments, thus underlining the importance of including such treatment and care into national preparedness plans responses.

A joint operation between the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and the country’s internal security forces has led to the arrest of Hussein Damboucha, regional commander of the armed group Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique and member of the Coalition des Patriotes pour le Changement.

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.

In Mongolia, the United Nations and humanitarian partners are appealing for an additional $3.5 million for a humanitarian response plan to reach 53,000 people in communities affected by Dzud — a severe winter weather event that follows a summer drought, freezing or starving large numbers of livestock to death.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, through the Resident Coordinator in Fiji, offered support to Vanuatu amid a state of emergency sparked by Tropical Cyclone Judy. A second storm system is now bearing down on the country, and may impact 95 per cent of the population.

On 17 February 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Al-Shabaab held its first informal consultations of the year to meet with the Panel of Experts on Somalia renewed by resolution 2662 (2022).

In Iraq, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair reports that is has launched a humanitarian transition overview to encapsulate critical residual humanitarian needs and help donors and agencies prioritize support in 2023.