According to the World Food Programme, some 7.3 million food-insecure people could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis in Niger. Humanitarian exemptions to sanctions and border closures are required to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation.
Sudan
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations continues to support efforts to protect civilians amid increasing attacks by the CODECO armed group in Ituri Province.
In Ukraine, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator there condemned a new wave of attacks over the weekend, which once again damaged houses, hospitals and schools and killed and injured dozens of people, including children.
Peacekeepers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stopped an attack by CODECO elements on Jissa village in Ituri province. The assailants, who earlier burned homes and made civilians flee, fled upon the arrival of the peacekeepers.
Continued violence in parts of Sudan, particularly sexual and ethnically targeted violence, risks engulfing the country in a prolonged conflict with regional spillover, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, as they warned that the country’s descent into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe continues to deepen.
The United Nations is opening a public call for nominations of experts to serve on the multi-stakeholder High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, which has been convened by the Secretary-General to carry out analysis and advance recommendations for the international governance of artificial intelligence (AI).
The United Nations Children’s Fund says that three in four children in South Asia — 460 million boys and girls — are exposed to extreme high temperature, compared to only one in three children globally, with toddlers, malnourished children and pregnant women most vulnerable to heat stroke and other serious effects.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warns that the Darien jungle crossing between Panama and Colombia is witnessing record numbers of migrants and refugees, with over 250,000 people crossing on foot in the first seven months of 2023 alone, surpassing the total for all of 2022.
In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that hunger and displacement due to the ongoing war are spiraling out of control. More than 6 million people in the country — about 13 per cent of the population — are now one step away from famine.
Despite the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that more than 40 trucks carrying some 1,600 tons of food reached Kassala, Gedaref and White Nile between 22 and 27 July and five trucks delivered roughly 300 tons of relief supplies to West Kordofan.