Thailand


Although hand-washing with soap is critical to anti-coronavirus efforts, millions of people around the world lack ready access to a place to wash their hands, UNICEF) warned today, reporting that, according to the latest estimates, only three out of five people worldwide have basic hand-washing facilities.

Despite steady progress against tuberculosis in many countries before the COVID-19 pandemic — with a 9 per cent reduction in incidence and a 14 per cent drop in deaths between 2015 and 2019 — a World Health Organization report released today warns that global prevention and treatment targets are likely to be missed.

The Secretary-General and top UN officials held a virtual briefing for Member States to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as his call for global ceasefires saw positive gains in Colombia, Syria and Yemen and UNICEF continued to procure and ship protective equipment and other vital supplies to affected countries.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it is gravely concerned about reports of Zambia’s forced return of a Zimbabwean asylum-seeker to his home country.  A senior Zimbabwean politician expressed his intention to seek asylum at the border yesterday, but Zambia reportedly handed him over to Zimbabwe authorities today despite a court order to the contrary.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has temporarily deployed 40 peacekeepers to Bijombo, South Kivu, where violent clashes between local armed groups have reportedly destroyed entire villages, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee to such areas as Uvira.