Syria

Since 11 March, 30 deaths have been recorded and more than 93,000 households have been impacted by heavy rains and flooding in Malawi, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which stands ready to support Malawi authorities as they respond to humanitarian needs.

A new ILO report finds that women in 2018 were 26 percentage points less likely to be employed than men, despite 70 per cent of women saying they would rather be employed than stay at home.  This marks an improvement of only two percentage points in closing the work-gender gap over nearly three decades.

Helsinki, Finland, hosted the inaugural International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes today, with the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth in attendance.  It aims to boost young people ’s participation in efforts to build and sustain peace, even as their contributions remain undervalued.

Humanitarian officials are concerned by reports of civilian casualties in Syria due to both continued hostilities and unexploded ordinance left behind in the country’s north-west.  At least four civilians were reported killed and many more hurt by shelling in Idleb, Hama and Aleppo in the first three days of March.

An estimated 30,000 refugees have returned to the north-eastern Nigerian town of Rann from Cameroon since Wednesday and are in dire need of aid, according to humanitarian colleagues.  International and national humanitarian organizations have not returned to Rann since 17 January due to ongoing insecurity.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, Mamadou Diallo, and Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant have launched the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti.  It seeks $126 million to provide critical humanitarian assistance and protection services for 1.3 million Haitians.

Opening a door to peace in Syria hinges on creating a constitutional committee that can forge ways to advance the political process with a view to ending the eight-year-long conflict, the new Special Envoy of the Secretary‑General for that country told the Security Council today.

To assist 2.3 million people in Mali, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners today launched the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan requesting $296 million.  The situation there has deteriorated in recent years due to increased conflict and intercommunal clashes, as well as a high level of food insecurity.

Gravely concerned about serious suffering among civilians in Syria, exacerbated by severe weather, flooding and a spike in fighting, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator briefed the Security Council today, underlining the urgency of facilitating aid deliveries and preventing a humanitarian catastrophe.

More civilians were killed in the conflict in Afghanistan in 2018 than at any other time since records have been kept, according to a new report by the United Nations, which documented 3,804 deaths.  The report attributed nearly two thirds of the casualties to anti-Government elements.