Yemen

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

A report released today by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan says that community-based militias in the country were responsible for 78 per cent of the 2,421 civilians killed in 2020, more than double than in 2019, as well as for abductions, which tripled in 2020, and conflict-related sexual violence.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Myanmar strongly condemns attacks on health-care providers and sites since the military takeover on 1 February.  WHO says 32 attacks on health-care facilities and staff resulted in two deaths and six injuries between 1 February and 24 March.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, today released $14 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to provide shelter and emergency services to over 45,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh displaced by a devastating fire which destroyed critical infrastructure in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar.

The World Food Programme said today it has begun providing emergency food aid to vulnerable people in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and urgently needs $170 million to meet critical food and nutrition needs over the next six months.  The agency noted that the outbreak of conflict there coincided with the peak harvest period.

The following statement was issued by the Spokesperson of UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Acute hunger could soar in more than 20 countries over the coming months without urgent, scaled-up assistance, a report issued today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme warns.  Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria top the list, according to the “Hunger Hotspots” report.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has received its first shipment of more than 130,000 doses from the global COVAX Facility — the first batch of a total of 480,000 doses to arrive in the country this year to vaccinate approximately 20 per cent of the population.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Linda Thomas-Greenfield (United States):

The 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan seeks $3.85 billion to provide urgent lifesaving help to 16 million people.  Some 20.7 million people need some kind of humanitarian assistance, including 12.1 million people in acute need, as Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and largest aid operation.