Two years since the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, the United Nations will remain fully committed to the latter’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, its senior official told the Security Council today, as Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of violating the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements aimed at ending the conflict in Donbas.
In war-torn Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 3.5 million children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year. The Agency and its partners have secured ready-to-use therapeutic foods through July and are scaling up their response to prevent a massive loss of lives.
In Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator there denounced a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns that took place overnight. The attacks reportedly caused scores of civilian casualties in six regions of Ukraine and have massively disrupted essential services at the height of winter.
In a meeting called by the Russian Federation to discuss an attack on a bakery in a region in Ukraine presently under Moscow’s control, many speakers in the Security Council today noted that the tragic loss of civilian lives would have never occurred had it not been for that country invading its smaller neighbour.
In Ethiopia, the World Food Programme (WFP) today said that it is scaling up its operations to deliver food assistance to up to 3 million people in the country in the coming weeks; 2 million of those are in Tigray.
The massive humanitarian needs of over 2 million people in Gaza risk deepening, and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will likely be forced to close operations by the end of the month if donor funding remains suspended, UNRWA Head Philippe Lazzarini warned today.
On the borders along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel, United Nations peacekeepers report that they continue to carry out their tasks, including patrols and other activities, amid daily exchanges of fire along the Line.
In the Republic of Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 520,000 people need life-saving assistance following severe floods in country. A joint UN-Government assessment found that nine of the country’s 12 departments are now impacted, since the floods started in October.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today said that nearly 100 people have died or disappeared in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of 2024. The toll is over twice as high as the figure for the same period of 2023.
The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Mali was launched Thursday in Bamako. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners will need over $700 million to assist more than 4.1 million people across the country this year to complement response activities implemented by national authorities.
