The Government and the United Nations held an event in Mogadishu to celebrate Somalia’s polio-free status of the last three years. The World Health Organization applauded Somalia’s efforts to ward off the highly infectious virus while urging continued caution and vigilance.
Syria
Welcoming a $1 million contribution from the United States in support of Western Sahara refugees in Algeria, the World Food Programme said today it will use the funds to provide staple food items as part of monthly food rations for thousands of refugee families living in extremely harsh conditions for more than 40 years.
Aid workers in Iraq are preparing to bring water, hygiene, sanitation, food and emergency medical care to those in need ahead of the anticipated military campaign to retake the Da’esh-held town of Telafar, some 60 kilometres west of Mosul. Some 60,000 people are believed to remain trapped in the city and its environs.
The World Food Programme in Turkey says more than 850,000 refugees are now receiving cash assistance thanks to the European Union-funded Emergency Social Safety Net, which provides the most vulnerable refugee families with a debit card covering basic needs. It also provides about $35 dollars per family every month.
A new report by UNICEF and the World Health Organization says no country fully meets the recommended breastfeeding standards. The Global Breastfeeding Scorecard evaluated 194 countries and found that only 40 per cent of children under six months are breastfed exclusively, and in only 23 countries do exclusive breastfeeding rates exceed 60 per cent.
The United Nations has allocated $10.5 million to help people in need of life‑saving humanitarian assistance in north-east Nigeria. The humanitarian crisis there and in the Lake Chad region is among the most severe in the world today, with 8.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance in the three worst‑affected Nigerian States of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said today it is deeply concerned about the risk of further violence in Venezuela, where constituent assembly elections will be held on Sunday. It also expressed concern that demonstrations seen as disturbing the constituent assembly elections have been banned until 1 August.
The Secretary-General joins Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, in conveying profound sympathies to the families and loved ones of the two German peacekeepers killed in a helicopter crash near Tabankort, in the Gao region of northern Mali, and offers condolences to the Government of Germany, as well as the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.
Recent developments at Old City holy sites in Jerusalem have shown a grave risk that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will escalate into a religious one and drag both sides into a vortex of violence with the entire region, Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council.
In Ethiopia, the World Food Programme (WFP) said today that their funding — and food stocks — are quickly running out. The country is struggling with the effects of devastating back-to-back droughts. Some 7.8 million people need food assistance right now, and that number is expected to rise in the coming months after another failed rainy season.