South Sudan

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (Guyana):

In Abyei, located along South Sudan’s border with Sudan and which has been the site of violence recently, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners have been providing food and shelter materials to displaced men, women and children, despite major access and logistical challenges.

In the Republic of Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 520,000 people need life-saving assistance following severe floods in country. A joint UN-Government assessment found that nine of the country’s 12 departments are now impacted, since the floods started in October.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is strengthening its presence near the borders with Sudan, and peacekeepers are intensifying their patrols in Abiemnom County in Ruweng State and in Mayom County. A priority is to enhance security along the main supply route, which is vital for the transport of humanitarian aid.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today said that nearly 100 people have died or disappeared in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of 2024. The toll is over twice as high as the figure for the same period of 2023.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General informed that the first phase of the disengagement of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from South Kivu has begun, with a plan to complete its withdrawal from the area by June 2024.

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is extremely concerned about the well-being of refugees and returnees fleeing the current hostilities in Sudan — as South Sudan continues to see an influx of new arrivals from across the border.

The acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen has called for a thorough and expeditious investigation into the killing of an aid worker on 5 January

In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today expressed concern about the impact on civilians of escalating hostilities in the north-west of the country — as well as the potential for the violence to jeopardize cross-border missions by United Nations staff.