The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is appealing for calm and an easing of tensions on Turkey’s borders with the European Union, following a recent increase in movements of people. Groups arriving at Turkey’s borders have included Syrians, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese and other nationalities.
In progress at UNHQ
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The Middle East Peace Process Special Coordinator said today he was very concerned about Israel’s announcements regarding advancement of settlement construction in many areas in the occupied West Bank. He said that all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace.
The border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has become the epicentre of a fast-growing crisis marked by unprecedented levels of armed violence, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. Armed assailants have forced more than 3,600 schools and 241 health centres in those countries to close.
Almost 300,000 people in Burkina Faso have been forced to flee their homes since last December and nearly 766,000 in total are displaced as of today. More than half the internally displaced have inadequate shelter or none at all, and $10 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Fund to help them.
The Secretary-General visited the World Health Organization (WHO) crisis centre, praising the agency’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, urging countries to do their utmost to be prepared, and calling on donors to support WHO. “If there is truly something stupid to do, it is to not fully fund WHO appeals,” he said.
Today, a Commission convened by the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and The Lancet said that no single country is adequately protecting children’s health or their environment to ensure a healthy future, warning that climate change and processed food intake are set to reverse child health gains.
The United Nations is alarmed by reports of an artillery shell explosion that injured up to 17 children at a school in Myanmar’s Rakhine State last Thursday. The incident is part of an escalation of hostilities between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military across much of Rakhine.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) says it will deploy 34 electoral advisers in Bangui and 16 prefectures to help the country as it prepares for presidential and legislative elections late this year and early 2021.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it’s seeking $107 million to support life-saving humanitarian operations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. There are acute food, nutrition, health, water and sanitation needs, but funding for humanitarian operations there remain historically low.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a global research and innovation forum in Geneva tomorrow to mobilize international action on coronavirus, the agency announced today. WHO has sent diagnostic kits to 14 countries and identified more than 160 laboratories with the technology to diagnose coronavirus.