South Sudan

The World Food Programme today urgently called for $26.7 million to support 541,000 people impacted by Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique who have no alternative for meeting their basic needs. This crisis is unfolding at the beginning of the main harvest season, exacerbating the already high levels of hunger.

In Vanuatu, the World Food Programme’s Pacific Humanitarian Air Service today transported 15 metric tons of critical medical and food supplies for over 250,000 people, about 80 per cent of the population, that have been impacted by the two category 4 cyclones and earthquakes that hit the country in early March.

Since last month’s earthquakes, more than 1,070 trucks have crossed into the north-west of Syria from southern Türkiye, carrying aid provided by seven United Nations agencies. Staff have now completed 37 cross-border missions into the north-west since the first inter-agency visit to Idlib on 14 February.

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 United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported today that they have initiated steps to help the country address potential challenges from the onset of this year’s rainy season.

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 Afghanistan, due to lack of funds, the World Food Programme (WFP) today said that it has been forced to drastically reduce critical lifesaving assistance in March to millions of vulnerable Afghanis. In March, at least 4 million people will receive just half of what they need to get by.

The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for one year, as two delegates abstained over the incorporation of certain language while raising issues regarding the penholder’s approach.

Six months after devastating floods struck Pakistan, the United Nations and its partners have reached more than 7 million people with food and other essential services, including life-saving interventions for children. Yet only 30 per cent of the Floods Response Plan has been funded so far.

The current year will be a “make-or-break” one for South Sudan, marking the start of a recent — and singular — 24-month extension of its transition process, United Nations officials told the Security Council today, warning against any further delays in implementing the young nation’s Revitalized Peace Agreement.