Venezuela

The United Nations refugee agency said today that more than 2,000 Somalis have returned home from Yemen since 2017, as part of an assistance programme carried out jointly with the International Organization for Migration and authorities in Yemen and Somalia.  Yemen currently hosts more than 270,000 refugees, the vast majority of them Somalis.

Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, says cholera tops the list of concerns over Hodeidah, an epicentre of the 2017 outbreak, among the worst in modern history.  Meanwhile, 25 per cent of children in the city are suffering from acute malnutrition, and without nutritional support, 100,000 will be at risk.

A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme found that solar energy dominated global investment like never before in 2017.  Investment in solar power grew by 18 per cent to $160.8 billion, surpassing new investments in coal and gas.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued protection guidance encouraging States to ensure that Venezuelans seeking asylum had access to territory and refugee procedures. Given the situation in Venezuela, the High Commissioner said it was crucial that people were not deported or forcibly returned.

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

The Governments of Brazil and Nigeria launched mass immunization campaigns to protect people against yellow fever.  With support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, an estimated 23.8 million people in Brazil, and 25 million people in Nigeria, are expected to be vaccinated.

The new Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada Acosta, presented his credentials to United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres today.

The United Nations stands ready to support repair of Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouses hit by two mortar shells in Quneitra, in southern Syria, and replenish the destroyed aid.  Some 13.1 million people in Syria require assistance, according to the 2018 humanitarian needs assessment released today.  

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned today that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached a level not seen in 800,000 years, rising at record speed in 2016.  The WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reported that globally averaged carbon dioxide concentrations reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400 parts per million in 2015 due to human activities and a strong El Niño.

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