While South Sudan anticipates holding its first elections in December 2024, key institutions and legal frameworks are yet to be established and critical questions remain unanswered, the top United Nations official for the country told the Security Council today, as speakers warned that intercommunal violence and a massive influx of returnees and refugees continue to worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene its first-ever global summit on ways to scale up scientific advances and realize evidence-based knowledge in the use of traditional medicine, which can play an important and catalytic role in achieving the goal of universal health coverage.
In Lebanon, after a week-long suspension of services in Ein el Hilweh camp due to armed clashes, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has resumed operations. Health Centre II reopened today. UNRWA is also preparing to assess and clear remnants of war from affected zones.
In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that hunger and displacement due to the ongoing war are spiraling out of control. More than 6 million people in the country — about 13 per cent of the population — are now one step away from famine.
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.
The United Nations Mission Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization in the Central African Republic announced today a plan to dedicate about $3 million to finance quick-impact projects intended to support the reconciliation, political process and peace process, improve security and help restore State authority.
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.
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.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan who are seeking shelter in South Sudan. The funds will help provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence.
The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and the mine action partner Foundation Suisse de Déminage have launched a programme for farmers most affected by the war in Ukraine to support smallholder farmers with plots smaller than 300 hectares and rural families growing food for their own consumption.
