United Arab Emirates

After a volcanic eruption and tsunami caused significant infrastructure damage in Tonga, the World Food Programme said it is exploring ways to bring in aid and the United Nations Children’s Fund is ready to send emergency water, sanitation and other supplies from warehouses in Fiji and Brisbane.

The United Nations team in Timor-Leste, led by Roy Trivedy, the Resident Coordinator, is supporting local authorities following floods that have impacted Díli and other parts of the country.  The Government says there have been more than 30 deaths and over 13,500 people are living in evacuation sites.

On International Women’s Day, peacekeeping colleagues report that Bangladesh, for the first time, is deploying four justice government-provided personnel, all women, to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), later this month.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today launched the Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative, with 15 leading airlines supporting the prioritization of the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and other critical supplies.

Marking the twentieth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, the Secretary-General told the Security Council today that the world has a choice: continue down the path of increasing militarization, conflict and inter-generational losses or work towards greater inclusion and gender equality.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed deep concern over death threats against Congolese rights defender and Nobel Prize Laureate Denis Mukwege, calling for a swift investigation and action to bring the perpetrators to justice.  The threats followed his condemnation of the killing of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Following explosions in Beirut on 4 August, the United Nations is requesting $565 million to help Lebanon move towards recovery and reconstruction.  Peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are also donating blood and have joined the “#UN4Beirut” initiative to clean up devastated city streets.

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

On Saturday evening, 29 June, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres travelled from Japan to the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, where, on 30 June, he took part in the Climate Summit Preparatory Meeting ahead of the Climate Action Summit he has convened for September.

Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the interfaith Iftar dinner organized by the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates, in New York today: