Ukraine

Stephanie Williams, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Libya, welcomed in Tunis today members of the High Council of State, who will participate in determining the constitutional basis for national elections.  It is extremely important to respect the will of 2.8 million registered Libyan voters, she said.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today released a report that says that groundwater, which accounts for 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater on Earth, is being undervalued, mismanaged and even abused.

The United Nations is still not aware of any biological weapons programme being conducted in Ukraine, the senior disarmament official told the Security Council today, responding to fresh allegations by the Russian Federation of the existence of such research.

United Nations staff in Myanmar report that civilians continue to suffer amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and continued fighting.  Nearly 890,000 people are displaced across the country, humanitarian needs are rising and aid workers face limited access, which is hampering the planned scale-up of assistance for 2022.

The magnitude of the civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine cannot be denied, the head of United Nations political affairs told the Security Council today, demanding accountability and a thorough investigation.

A total of 36 donors at yesterday’s pledging event for Yemen pledged nearly $1.3 billion, only 30 per cent of the roughly $4.3 billion required for an efficient and effective response to the humanitarian crisis.  Unprecedented funding shortages are forcing reductions and closures of life-saving aid.

Four peacekeepers were injured near Tessalit yesterday, following an attack on their convoy using an improvised explosive device, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) reports.  They were evacuated to Bamako, the capital, for medical treatment.

Humanitarian affairs officials in Somalia say an estimated 4.5 million people — including 671,000 who are internally displaced — are affected by the intensifying drought emergency.  Health authorities have reported a measles outbreak, and at least nine related deaths in Jubaland state.

More than 70 per cent of South Sudan’s people will struggle to survive the peak of the 2022 lean season, amid unprecedented food insecurity due to conflict, climate shocks, COVID-19 and rising costs, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned today.  WFP says 8.3 million people could face extreme hunger within months.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the global community have a moral obligation to support the people of Ukraine and not to stand silent in the face of the ongoing Russian aggression against them, the Head of that regional group told the Security Council today, warning that “we will be judged by the way we respond to these horrors”.