Ahead of an international summit for peace in Ukraine to be held in Switzerland on 15-16 June, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today that May saw the highest number of civilian casualties in a single month since June 2023 as she detailed the humanitarian situation amidst ongoing offensives in the country’s north-east.
In Sri Lanka, the United Nations is supporting the Government in assessing and meeting the immediate needs of over 250,000 people impacted by the ongoing severe floods and landslides since 2 June.
In Ukraine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that attacks on Kharkiv, in the east of the country, continued over the weekend and today. Local authorities report civilian casualties, including among children, and damage to civilian infrastructure.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, today expressed serious concern at the recent rise in killings of civilians across Burkina Faso, with allegations of responsibility pointing to both armed groups and State actors.
Results from the Global We the Women survey, produced by the UN Office for Partnerships and the polling company John Zogby Strategies, show that 86 per cent of women from 185 countries cite climate change and more than 50 per cent identify conflict as primary concerns for the next decade.
In Bangladesh, prior to the anticipated landfall of a cyclone in the southern parts of the country, the World Food Programme (WFP) swiftly dispatched cash assistance to 30,000 families — about 150,000 people — most at risk, as part of WFP’s flagship programme “Anticipatory Action” for climate shocks.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN peacekeepers are conducting day and night joint patrols with the Congolese armed forces in several areas in North Kivu province to ensure the protection of civilians and prevent the free movement of armed groups, particularly the Allied Democratic Forces.
In Burkina Faso, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator has allocated $5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support the emergency response there. The funds will support 150,000 people in the Sahel, Centre-Nord and Est regions with life-saving assistance.
The large-scale influx of arms and ammunition into any armed conflict raises significant concerns for peace and security, even after the conflict has ended, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as many delegates underscored that the Russian Federation — while urging Western countries to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine — has itself violated the 15-member organ’s resolutions by procuring weapons from Pyongyang and Tehran to use in the conflict.
In Myanmar, the United Nations continues to follow closely the situation in Rakhine State, which is worsening the vulnerabilities of all communities in one of the country’s poorest regions.
