Michael Bloomberg, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Climate Action, today announced the founding members of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative, who will help facilitate the private financing objectives of the Paris Agreement.
In progress at UNHQ
Syria
The United Nations system in Syria says it is gravely concerned about the protection of thousands of people who are estimated to remain trapped by ongoing fighting in Da’esh-held areas of Hajin in south-eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, as well as for some 11,000 who have fled these areas since December 2018.
The UN mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is conducting an operation to restore order in Bambari, Ouaka Prefecture, in coordination with the country’s security forces. The operation is in response to attacks by Union pour la paix en Centrafrique against the local population and peacekeepers.
In Yemen, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic, with 24 million people – or 80 per cent of the population – needing aid, Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock told the Security Council this morning. The World Food Programme is expanding assistance to soon reach 12 million people a month.
The World Health Organization reports that full operations in response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North Kivu Province, which were disrupted by civil unrest in late December, have resumed across all locations. It warns that further interruptions could have serious consequences.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released a report that says the number of human trafficking victims is on the rise and calls on countries to strengthen their cooperation to protect victims and bring criminals to justice.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Nabeel Rajab and ensure that all Bahrainis are able to exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression without fear of arbitrary detention. She urges Bahrain to stop criminalizing dissenting voices.
In Myanmar’s central Rakhine State, some 2,500 people were forced to flee fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military that began last month. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs led a team to the area to look into what the uprooted people and host communities need.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to take a toll on civilians, with more than 5 million people affected and 3.5 million people in need of aid. The 2018 response plan is only 38 per cent funded and disbursement of $162 million urgently needed for 2019 is now crucial as winter temperatures drop.
The WFP reached 5 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018, double the number reached last year. WFP significantly expanded its operations there due to widening violence and displacement, poor harvest and endemic poverty, with scaled up interventions in Ituri, Tanganyika and North and South Kivu.