Syria

In Afghanistan, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed an agreement to provide funds for housing and infrastructure in Khost and Paktika Province.  The programme will assist families impacted by the earthquake there.

With humanitarian needs worsening and hostilities escalating in Syria, the Special Envoy for that country told the Security Council today that renewing the resolution authorizing cross-border humanitarian aid into Syria was absolutely essential to saving lives and would support efforts towards a political solution to the conflict.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Najat Rochdi of Morocco as his Deputy Special Envoy for Syria.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria said today that humanitarian needs there are unprecedented.  Today, 14.6 million men, women and children require aid, which is an increase of 1.2 million people from 2021 and the highest level since the crisis began.

The United Nations Children’s Fund is providing emergency relief in Bangladesh to people stranded by recent floods — including 1.6 million children — and is dispatching, among other things, 400,000 water purification tablets for 80,000 households and emergency medical supplies for district health facilities.

In Ukraine, United Nations humanitarian partners said that intense hostilities were reported over the weekend, across Government and non-Government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations today urged the Security Council to extend the resolution that allows cross-border deliveries of lifesaving aid into north-west Syria for another 12 months, as speakers diverged over what form future assistance should take amidst unprecedented humanitarian need throughout the country.

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

Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and this year’s theme is “Combating Elder Abuse”.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year, one in six people aged 60 and older experience some form of abuse.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today awarded the Population Award for an individual to its youngest‑ever recipient, Emma Theofelus, a 25-year-old Parliamentarian from Namibia for her work advocating for women’s empowerment and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.