Yemen

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ statement on the death of a World Food Programme (WFP) staff member in detention in Yemen:

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that drought conditions are looming in several areas of the country due to prolonged extreme dry conditions, with hundreds of thousands of families likely to be impacted.

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

In Nigeria, the United Nations and our humanitarian partners today launched the 2025 response plan in Abuja, calling for $910 million. This year’s plan aims to reach 3.6 million people in the north-east with health services, food, water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition for children, protection, education and other vital support.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 armed group reportedly seized Minova in North Kivu province yesterday. Minova is a critical hub along the supply route to Goma. Since Saturday, the armed group has captured other localities in South Kivu, where UN peacekeepers are no longer present, resulting in casualties and the displacement of over 250,000 people.

The Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) expressed concern about recent actions against Serbia-funded institutions there. UNMIK notes that the actions resulted in the closure of several institutions, including post offices, provisional institutions’ buildings and social welfare centres.

The conflict in Yemen has become increasingly internationalized, with the escalating cycle of strikes and counter-strikes hindering the prospects of peace, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, warning that the improved security conditions for civilians that have existed since the 2022 truce could be lost.

One year after adopting a text demanding that the Houthis immediately cease all attacks on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the Security Council today reiterated that demand in a new resolution and called for ongoing monitoring of the situation as these attacks continue with increasing sophistication.

In Haiti, over 1 million people are now internally displaced, three times more than a year ago, with displacement nearly doubling in the capital Port-au-Prince, the International Organization for Migration reports. In 2025, the UN and its partners will need $900 million to support 4 million people across the country.

The United Nations Children’s Fund today released a report warning that the world is facing a new, intensifying era of crisis for children, with those impacted by conflict nearly doubling to almost 19 per cent today from around 10 per cent in the 1990s.