Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s keynote address, as prepared for delivery, at the side event of the second regular session 2020 of the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) — “UN-Women at 10 Years”, in New York today:
In Yemen, the United Nations and its aid partners report they have distributed emergency food, hygiene kits and other essential items to over 7,600 families impacted by deadly floods and torrential rains that destroyed homes, crops and livestock in July and August. An estimated 62,000 families have been affected.
The COVID-19 pandemic will push 47 million more women and girls below the poverty line by 2021, reversing decades of progress to eradicate extreme poverty, according to new data released today by the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Virtual Town Hall with Young Women from Civil Society Organizations, in New York today:
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.
The Security Council, in a videoconference meeting on 28 August, announced its adoption of a resolution calling for greater action to bolster the role of women — both uniformed and civilian — in all levels of peacekeeping.
Fighting in Afghanistan’s Kunduz Province has displaced 52,000 people since 16 August following attacks by a non-State armed group and responsive strikes by national security forces. A surge of United Nations staff is under way to boost humanitarian capacity in Kunduz and a joint assessment team was deployed.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called on Guatemalan authorities to fully investigate the violent death of a transgender woman found dead at her home on Saturday in Guatemala City. She had sought asylum in Guatemala after fleeing violence in El Salvador due to her gender identity.
Sexual violence is used as a war tactic and a political tool to dehumanize, destabilize and forcibly displace populations across the globe, the United Nations expert on the issue told the Security Council in a 17 July videoconference meeting, pressing countries to adopt a survivor-centred approach that ensures victims will not be forgotten.
Severe flooding in Bangladesh is currently affecting some 1.4 million people, with United Nations agencies providing $5.2 million in early funding. In China, heavy rains have impacted more than 38 million people, while floods and landslides in Nepal have led to more than 100 deaths.
