Sudan

The UN Secretary-General has issued a statement of deep concern over the Israeli Knesset’s adoption Monday of two laws, which if implemented, would likely prevent the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

At an emergency meeting held at the Security Council, on the heels of reported mass casualty incidents in villages in eastern Sudan, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres voiced alarm over the “utter humanitarian catastrophe” engulfing the country, underscoring the urgent need for “decisive action”, including an immediate cessation of hostilities and unfettered humanitarian access.

Peacekeepers, supporting flood response, have airlifted medical supplies from Agok airstrip in the southern part of Abyei to other parts of the region, to ensure medical stocks, and the Mission is doing weekly flights to multiple areas in Abyei helping to provide humanitarian assistance to communities that are cut off because of flooding.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council on Sudan, in New York today:

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today released its annual Emissions Gap report. This year’s report says that nations must deliver dramatically stronger ambition and action in the next round of nationally determined contributions or the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal will be gone within a few years.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) says that one year into the Gaza war, the humanitarian crisis has reached a catastrophic level — with unprecedented casualties, widespread destruction and severe food insecurity.

In Sudan, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that due to the intensifying conflict in Darfur, nearly 25,000 people have arrived in Chad in the first week of October. According to UNHCR, nearly 3 million refugees and returnees have now fled Sudan over the last 18 months, crossing borders to seek safety in neighbouring States.

In Myanmar, amid an expanding conflict, an estimated 1 million people are also suffering from the impacts of deadly flooding. To bolster emergency relief efforts, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, allocated $4 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund at the end of September.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that intense attacks in the south and east of the country this week have killed and injured dozens of civilians and damaged homes, a hospital and schools.

Marking one year since Hamas attacked Israel and killed over 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals, the Secretary-General urged the global community to condemn “in the loudest voice” Hamas’s acts, demanded the immediate release of all hostages and called for the Red Cross to be allowed to visit the hostages.