Syria

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said he is increasingly concerned by the situation in the Sahel, where nearly 6 million people are struggling to meet their daily food needs.  The crisis has been triggered by scarce rainfall in 2017, which resulted in acute water, crop and pasture shortages and livestock losses.

Heavy rains marking the start of the monsoon season in Bangladesh have impacted nearly 2,500 families in the Rohingya refugee settlements in the Cox’s Bazar district, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is continuing aid distribution and prepositioning more supplies.

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

Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan are responding to urgent needs of the estimated 50,000 people displaced in Leer, Mayendit and Koch Counties in Unity state amid a sharp escalation in fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), SPLA-in-Opposition and armed groups.

The World Food Programme has begun distributing food rations to people affected by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Equateur Province.  The World Health Organization is helping the nine surrounding countries scale up national emergency preparedness and response capacities.

The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack today that killed and injured religious scholars gathered in Kabul who were there to promote peace in Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a study that found nearly half of Afghan children are missing out on school.

The unemployment rate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is now the highest in the world, peaking at 27.4 per cent in 2017, according to a report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO).  It says women and young people are particularly affected, with almost half of women being unemployed.

In Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is delivering United Nations humanitarian aid for more than 92,000 people to Talbiseh in northern rural Homs and Tlul Elhomor in southern Hama.  This is the first convoy to northern rural Homs since a convoy reached Dar al‑Kabira and surrounding areas on 4 March.

The 2 million people in northern rural Homs, Douma and southern Damascus were among the most desperate in Syria, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs told the Security Council today, adding that only six inter‑agency aid convoys had reached those areas this year.

The World Health Organization reports that they have deployed 39 staff members, with plans under way for an additional 15 personnel, to rapidly contain a confirmed outbreak of cholera in Nigeria’s Adamawa State.  As of 26 May, 434 suspected cases, including 13 deaths, have been reported.