Syria

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged today the Government of Brunei Darussalam to stop the entry into force of a new penal code which would enshrine in legislation cruel and inhuman punishments in breach of international human rights law, including death by stoning.

With the conflict in Syria having just entered its ninth year, and the country’s people having endured eight years of horrendous suffering, the United Nations is seeking to forge a negotiated political solution, the Organization’s senior political and peacebuilding affairs official told the Security Council today.

In response to Cyclone Idai, the first of three planes carrying relief items from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) landed today in Mozambique; supplies are to be distributed to 30,000 people there and in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says tens of thousands of South Sudanese children in 150 schools will benefit from a just-launched programme for education in emergencies.  Funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by WFP and the United Nations Children’s Fund, it will provide hot meals daily to 75,000 children.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said today that it is concerned that, according to its preliminary findings, an airstrike by international forces against the Taliban carried out overnight between Friday and Saturday in Kunduz killed 13 civilians, 10 of whom were children.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says more measles cases continue to be recorded in the Philippines, with nearly 23,000 so far, including 333 deaths officially reported, a 385 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018.  More than half the cases involve children under the age of five.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is concerned about armed clashes in the southern Philippines between the army and non-State armed groups that have uprooted more than 47,000 people.  The United Nations and humanitarian partners are helping the Government deliver aid to nearly 35,000 displaced people.

The Secretary-General’s report “Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse” is now available, outlining progress made, including a new reporting form, a measure to track victims’ assistance and the launch of a tool to ensure perpetrators are not rehired in any part of the Organization.

A record $7 billion to support millions of people in need of humanitarian aid in Syria, as well as for refugees and host communities in neighbouring countries, was pledged at the donors’ conference in Brussels on 14 March.

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