South Sudan

Irina Bokova, Executive Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, condemned today the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta yesterday.  She welcomed the Prime Minister’s pledge to ensure justice in the crime against the right of free expression.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that over 509,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar.  Noting the “horrific” living conditions of the refugees, the Emergency Relief Coordinator and UNICEF’s Executive Director called for urgent funding to scale up the response.

Despite initial progress, implementation of the peace accord in South Sudan had been disrupted, the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today, as he urged members to speak in one voice in persuading all parties to lay down their arms and return to negotiations.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the number of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh has surpassed 700,000, with 480,000 arriving since late August.  The United Nations continues to provide aid, but the massive influx of refugees is outpacing the capacity to respond.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the high‑level event on South Sudan, in New York today:

An upsurge of violence in the Central African Republic has caused a 50 per cent increase in the number of internally displaced people this year to a total of nearly 600,000. Fighting has engulfed territories that had been relatively stable, including Basse-Kotto, Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou, with almost 70 per cent of the country now in the hands of armed groups.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), condemned the killing of Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh, shot outside her home on Tuesday.  Ms. Lankesh, editor and publisher of a Kannada-language weekly, was an outspoken critic of right-wing extremism.

OCHA says a cholera outbreak has been reported in Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria, the first case of which was recorded on 16 August.  More than 530 suspected cases had been registered as of yesterday, including 23 deaths, mainly in Muna Garage, a camp hosting about 20,000 internally displaced persons on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the state capital.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Alain Noudéhou of Benin as his Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).  He will also serve as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Noting that “little meaningful progress” had been made in implementing South Sudan’s landmark 2015 peace agreement, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official called on the warring parties today urgently to embark on peaceful negotiations and compromise to “bring the country back from the impending abyss”.