State of Palestine

The UN team in Costa Rica is presenting a “Preparedness and Response Plan for People in Transit” to partners this week, which aims to boost assistance to vulnerable refugees and migrants. Over 500,000 people entered Costa Rica from Panama in 2023 — more than double the number of those who did so in 2022.

The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza owing to a negative vote of the United States — a permanent member of the Council — marking the second time Washington, D.C., has blocked such a text since early December 2023.

The UN team in Papua New Guinea condemned the killing of over 53 people in Enga Province, calling for an immediate cessation of violence and warning against possible retaliation. The UN remains committed to assisting the Government in eliminating tribal violence and bringing lasting peace to the Highlands.

Following a surge of hostilities in Ukraine over the weekend, humanitarian organizations have provided materials for emergency repairs to houses. Meanwhile, the UN and its partners are addressing the impact of oil spillage on water sources in Kharkiv after a strike on an oil storage facility in that area on 9 February.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that as intensified air strikes on Rafah continue, people are reportedly moving out of Gaza’s southern-most governorate towards Deir al Balah.

A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Save the Children and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that globally, 1.4 billion children from the day they are born to the age of 15 lack any form of social protection, leaving them vulnerable to disease, poor nutrition and poverty.

The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:

The Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, today echoed the concerns of other senior UN officials about the reported plans for a full military incursion in Rafah, stressing the risk it would create for the commission of atrocity crimes is serious, real and high.

In Haiti, the Humanitarian Coordinator there condemned the violence that has further escalated in the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as across the country. She said that civilians — particularly children — are bearing the brunt of the recent violence.

The first State of the World’s Migratory Species report was launched today by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, which is a UN biodiversity treaty. The report shows that while some migratory species listed under the treaty are improving, 44 per cent are showing population declines.