Syria

Food prices around the world are at their highest levels in five years, the food price index from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says.  According to FAO, prices rose for the third consecutive month in December, with vegetable oil, sugar, dairy and cereals among the commodities driving up world food prices.

The death toll from the measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 6,000 people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.  The outbreak is currently the worst in the world.

Some 6.7 million people in Zimbabwe urgently need humanitarian aid as drought, crop failure, Cyclone Idai’s aftermath and macroeconomic challenges force many to spend at least 70 per cent of their disposable income on basic food, the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.

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

The Special Envoy for Syria told the Security Council today that he is forging ahead with efforts to unify Government and opposition representatives around an agreed agenda for the newly launched Constitutional Committee, aiming to bring the protracted political process back on track.

The Security Council today failed to adopt two draft resolutions on extending the authorization for the mechanism that allows cross‑border delivery of humanitarian aid in Syria today — one tabled by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait; the other by the Russian Federation.

The United Nations and its partners launched a $34 million Flash Appeal to help 260,000 people facing food insecurity in Lesotho due to a severe drought.  The Government declared a national disaster on 30 October.  Between January and March, an estimated 71,000 people will be one step away from famine.

In Syria, the World Food Programme is now bringing aid to 1 million people per month through cross-border mechanisms.  The situation in the north-west remains alarming, with families in Idlib burning tires and old clothes to stay warm, reports Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller.

The scale of humanitarian needs in Syria will remain vast in 2020, with an estimated 11 million civilians projected to require assistance on a regular basis and 5 million in acute need of help, a senior humanitarian official told the Security Council today, urging that a mandate for the cross-border delivery of vital aid through neighbouring countries be renewed.

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified its first biosimilar medicine, Trastuzumab, that could broaden access to this life-saving breast cancer treatment.  In 2018, 2.1 million women contracted breast cancer, and 630,000 of them died from it, many due to the lack of access to affordable treatment.