Ukraine

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the press on the Easter appeal for Ukraine today:

The number of hungry people in the Horn of Africa could soar from 14 million to 20 million by the end of 2022 without desperately needed rains and urgent humanitarian funding, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned today.  Somalia faces famine, half a million Kenyans are a step away from catastrophic hunger, and Ethiopia is already well above emergency thresholds.

The Houthis movement — also known as Ansar Allah — have signed an action plan with the United Nations to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, the killing and maiming of boys and girls, attacks on schools and hospitals and other grave violations.  Virginia Gamba, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, signed the action plan as a witness in New York.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says its operational costs for West Africa are expected to expand by $136 million as a result of rising fuel and food prices.  Some 43 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity by June.  Before the Ukraine conflict WFP had already forced to cut rations in Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali and Niger.

Following is the transcript of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ press conference with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to launch the report on “Global Impact of War in Ukraine on Food, Energy and Finance Systems”, in New York today:

United Nations humanitarian officials say an estimated 7.7 million people in South Sudan — that is about 63 per cent of the population — are likely to face crisis or worse levels of food insecurity through July, according to the latest food security analysis.  In 2021, 5.3 million people received food, health, water and sanitation, nutrition assistance and other critical services.

The United Nations team in Myanmar remains alarmed by deteriorating humanitarian conditions amid continued fighting, particularly in the country’s south-east and north-west.  Across Myanmar, more than 900,000 people are displaced, including more than 560,000 people who remain uprooted since the military takeover in February 2021.

Increasing reports of sexual violence and human trafficking in Ukraine — allegedly committed against women and children in the context of massive displacement and ongoing fighting — are raising “all the red flags” about a potential protection crisis, the Executive Director of the United Nations gender agency warned the Security Council today.

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

Somalia faces a risk of famine in six areas through June 2022 if the rainy season from April to June fails as predicted, if food prices continue to rise, and if humanitarian assistance is not scaled up to reach the most vulnerable populations.  An estimated 4.9 million people across Somalia have been impacted.