South Sudan

The United Nations team, led by Resident Coordinator Stefan Priesner, is helping authorities in Malaysia launch a national COVID-19 vaccination programme.  More than 500,000 people have registered to receive the vaccine, which aims to reach 80 per cent of the population, 24 million people, by March 2022.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has asked for $1.5 billion to fund its education, health, social services, infrastructure and other essential services, as well as emergency appeals and priority projects for 2021.

The World Food Programme, with support from the United Kingdom, is accelerating global cooperation on the use of humanitarian drones.  While calling for their ethical and responsible use, officials say drones can be a game-changer for fast, accurate, low-cost disaster assessment and response.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the European Union have launched a programme to protect migrant children in Central America and Southern Africa.  It will work with Governments and civil society groups to provide care alternatives to immigration detention.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, raised concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic’s adverse impact on children in conflict zones.  In her annual report to the Human Rights Council, she urged States to incorporate child rights in virus containment plans and ensure that protection services continue to operate.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports rising hunger and malnutrition in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where months of conflict have worsened a dire situation caused by COVID-19 and locusts.  Nearly 80 per cent of hospitals in Tigray are not functional, according to the World Health Organization.

From Madagascar, the United Nations is issuing a flash appeal for $76 million to support more than 1 million people in the south who face a potentially life-threatening lack of food, nutrition, water and sanitation, and health assistance due to the region’s worst drought in 10 years coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Nicholas Haysom of South Africa as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Despite a significant drop in violations against children since the 2018 peace agreement was signed in South Sudan, continuing grave violations are mostly attributed to opposition and Government troops, including the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, the latest report on children and armed conflict says.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports it is providing supplies such as mosquito nets, solar lamps, and blankets for 36,000 people in Somalia’s Puntland region who have been affected by Cyclone Gati, the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the country, which made landfall in November.