Sudan

The United Nations is scaling up life-saving aid for north-west Syria, including health items to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic.  In May alone, it sent 1,781 trucks from Turkey, the highest number since cross-border operations began in 2014, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urged the Security Council and wider international community to encourage Sudan to do more to help bring Darfur war crimes suspects to justice, during a 10 June videoconference meeting that took place a day after the surrender of a key fugitive.

Sudan’s representative urged the Security Council during a videoconference meeting on 9 June to begin lifting the sanctions that it imposed on Khartoum over the conflict in Darfur, as the 15-member organ took up the latest report of its Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) amid concerns over COVID-19’s impact on internally displaced persons in the country.

The Security Council in a 4 June videoconference meeting extended the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) until 31 December, deciding that the peacekeeping mission will maintain its current troop and police ceilings during this period.

In Bangladesh, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed today that a 71-year-old Rohingya man is the first refugee in the Cox’s Bazar camp to die from COVID-19 and some 30 other people have tested positive so far, yet the numbers are likely higher as testing is ramping up.

The Security Council, in a 4 June videoconference meeting, decided to establish a new political mission in Sudan to assist the country in its transition towards democratic governance, provide support for peace negotiations and bolster efforts to maintain accountable rule of law and security institutions.

The Security Council in a 29 May videoconference meeting decided unanimously to maintain current troop and police ceilings of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) until 3 June.

The United Nations and the Government of Bangladesh are making preparations as Super Cyclone Storm Amphan approaches landfall tomorrow, potentially impacting more than 14 million people in the country.  The Humanitarian Coordination Task Team and the Government are working on preparedness and response activities.

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

The Security Council in a 14 May videoconference meeting decided unanimously to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) for an additional six months.