Ukraine

The United Nations’ humanitarian partners have concluded an initial damage assessment following the recent operation by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp. They report that 460 housing units were damaged, at least 40 families remain displaced and the camp remains largely without running water.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan who are seeking shelter in South Sudan. The funds will help provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The World Health Organization announced today that 12 countries across different regions in Africa are set to receive 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine over the next two years. The roll-out is a critical step forward in the fight against one of the leading causes of death on the continent.

The issue of supplying weapons to Ukraine divided both those briefing the Security Council today and the discussion that followed, as contentions that arms transfers have escalated the conflict met assertions that the embattled country has the inherent right to defend itself from the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion.

Over 200,000 people have fled the crisis in Sudan to seek refuge in Chad. United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has allocated $6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to host communities in eastern Chad who need food and livelihood support.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that, halfway into 2023, it has only received 20 per cent of the $54.8 billion needed to help the one in 22 people globally that require assistance. Further, unequal funding across emergencies has challenged the Office’s ability to respond to surging needs.

Since her last briefing to the 15-nation organ, the war in Ukraine has escalated while prospects for peace remain “desperately dim” amid a surge in Russian Federation missile barrages and drone attacks, a senior United Nations official warned the Security Council today, as members called for adherence to international humanitarian law and access to civilians impacted by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.

The country team in Egypt is addressing food insecurity - worsened by disrupted grain exports from the Russian Federation and Ukraine – by supporting vulnerable groups through cash transfers, vouchers, and food distribution, and providing fertilizers, loans and training to improve livelihoods to some 4,600 smallholder farmers.

The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and the mine action partner Foundation Suisse de Déminage have launched a programme for farmers most affected by the war in Ukraine to support smallholder farmers with plots smaller than 300 hectares and rural families growing food for their own consumption.