Yemen

The World Food Programme (WFP) reached an agreement with Venezuela to begin operations to serve nutritious meals to the most vulnerable children, particularly in pre-primary and special education schools, reaching up to 185,000 children by year-end.  WFP aims to provide daily meals to 1.5 million students by the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Dinh Quy Dang (Viet Nam):

With a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping over Yemen, and as Houthi rebels pursue their offensive in the oil-rich Marib region, more must be done — urgently and with greater international funding — to ease what is still the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today as the 15-member organ, meeting via videoconference, conducted its monthly debate on the conflict in that Middle East country.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says 71 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar, with more than half of them still detained since the beginning of February.  Some 24 people have been charged for allegedly spreading fake news.

Nearly half of women in 57 developing countries are denied the right to decide whether to have sex with their partners, use contraception or seek health care, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s 2021 flagship “State of World Population” report, released today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warned today that Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is facing a large and likely long-lasting humanitarian situation.  The agency said it is concerned about the rising rate of malnutrition, and about cholera, which is not yet under control and is spreading to other provinces.

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.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that, due to significant funding gaps, it is cutting food rations for refugees and internally displaced people in South Sudan.  The cuts will affect nearly 700,000 of them and they will now receive 50 per cent of a full ration, down from 70 per cent.

On 5 April 2021, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) enacted the amendments, specified with strikethrough and underline, in the entry below on its Sanctions List of individuals and entities.

The United Nations Human Rights Office in South-East Asia reports that 500 peaceful protesters have been killed and 2,600 others detained by security forces in Myanmar since 1 February.  It is asking States in the region to protect people fleeing violence and ensure that refugees and migrants are not forcibly returned.