Ukraine

The UN, along with humanitarian aid partners, last night launched a response plan calling for $9 million to support 43,000 people impacted by Hurricane Beryl in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Immediate action is crucial, particularly in light of what is expected to be a very intense hurricane season.

The United Nations continues to support countries in the Caribbean that have been impacted by Hurricane Beryl. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that most of the health facilities assessed in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are now operational, despite sustaining damage.

Amid a wave of the Russian Federation’s deadly missile attacks, targeting multiple cities across Ukraine on 8 July — including a strike that hit the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv — the United Nations top humanitarian official warned against a deeply concerning pattern of systematic attacks harming health-care and other civilian infrastructure.

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

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen said that negotiations held in Oman over the weekend led to a significant breakthrough, where the Yemeni parties reached an understanding on releasing Mohamed Qahtan, a prominent politician who has been held incommunicado by the Houthis since 2015.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) reports that 311 weapons collected from former combatants were handed over to the Government on Tuesday as part of the National Programme for Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation.

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), General Aroldo Lázaro, met over the weekend with 13 mayors of the Al Qalaa Union representing communities in the south-west to discuss the situation due to the ongoing exchanges of fire along the Blue Line and its severe impact on the local population.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says its operations are being severely hindered by the escalation of fighting in south and central Gaza, as well as the limited flow of humanitarian assistance and the lack of public order and safety in the south. Despite this, WFP has reached more than 766,000 people in Gaza with food in June.

Following the completion of a technical assessment, the Secretariat of the United Nations has responded positively to a request of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela to deploy a UN Panel of Electoral Experts for the July 2024 presidential elections there.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the Health Effects Institute, an independent United States-based nonprofit organization, today released a report that says air pollution is having an increasing impact on human health, becoming the second leading global risk factor for death.