The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today released the third edition of its World Wildlife Crime Report, which says that wildlife trafficking has not been substantially reduced despite two decades of concerted action.
In progress at UNHQ
Ukraine
On Thursday, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, while UNRWA and other UN agencies’ staff were on the compound. This is the second appalling incident against UNRWA in less than a week.
In Haiti, the UN and its aid partners are responding in the wake of recent attacks in the Port-au-Prince commune of Delmas, providing food, shelter and other supplies. This week, the World Food Programme distributed food to 264,000 schoolchildren and over 5,600 displaced people in the capital.
In a joint statement today, more than 190 organizations, including UN agencies, appealed for sustained support for the more than 18 million people in need in Yemen, warning that the 2024 humanitarian appeal for the country is only 16 per cent funded, with only $400 million received of the total $2.7 billion needed.
At least 11 United Nations personnel — seven military and four civilians — were killed in deliberate attacks in 2023, the UN Staff Union Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service said today.
In Madagascar, following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Gamane in late March, the United Nations continues to support the Government-led response. Focusing on the health response due to the risk of epidemics, humanitarian organizations have provided medicine, mosquito nets and water purification products.
SC/15683
Nineteen months on, the United Nations is not in a position to verify claims or reports made regarding attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, two senior officials told the Security Council today, as many delegates — while condemning attacks against civilian infrastructure and calling for accountability — cautioned that any politicization or speculation on this case is detrimental to revealing the truth.
The Head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) met Thursday at the UNIFIL base in Ibl el-Saqi with the mayors and religious authorities of south-eastern towns to discuss local needs and the UN’s humanitarian support to impacted communities, including to restore stability along the Blue Line.
Following the official installation of the Transitional Presidential Council in Port-au-Prince today, the Secretary-General reiterated his call for the swift deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti to assist the Haitian National Police in addressing the dire security situation in the country.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeess (UNHCR) today launched its Climate Resilience Fund, seeking to raise $100 million by 2025 to boost the protection of refugees and displaced communities who are most threatened by climate change.