#COVID-19

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regained access to two refugee camps previously cut off by clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray Province.  It is calling for urgent support amid rising displacement, as well as safe passage to transfer refugees to a safer site, 135 kilometres away.

The United Nations refugee agency said today it is deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of six Rohingya refugees following heavy monsoon rains and strong winds which pelted refugee sites in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, causing flash floods and landslides.  More than 12,000 refugees have been affected, initial reports say.

The Economic and Social Council continued its 2021 Management Segment today, adopting 12 resolutions, nine decisions and three recommendations — as well as several texts to be forwarded to the General Assembly — recommended by subsidiary bodies working on issues ranging from the global HIV/AIDS response to crime prevention to science and technology for development, much of which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched a new project to improve emergency response to health crises.   The project, called INITIATE², will develop solutions such as disease-specific field facilities and kits and train logistics and health responders on their use.

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat has a new draft Global Biodiversity Framework to guide actions worldwide through 2030 to preserve and protect nature, and its essential services to people.  It will serve as the basis for negotiations at the Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, in October.

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

The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning today that, without urgent funding, the displacement crisis in the north of Mozambique could become a hunger emergency.  Displacement has left at least 730,000 people in Cabo Delgado without access to their land and no means of earning a living.

As the COVID-19 crisis has pushed between 119 and 124 million people into extreme poverty, Governments around the world must enact policies that are coherent, inclusive and informed by high-quality data as they emerge from the pandemic and refocus their sights on achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, speakers in the Economic and Social Council integration segment stressed today.

Humanitarian officials say the security and access situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region remains complex and extremely fluid, with active hostilities impeding people’s access to assistance and the movement of aid workers.  They say more than 500 cases of gender-based violence, including rape, were reported in May.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit, held today: