Yemen

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

United Nations Children’s Fund Representative (UNICEF) in Nigeria Peter Hawkins calls on those responsible for the mass abduction of girls from a State-run school in Zamfara to release them immediately and for the Government to take steps to ensure their safe release and the safety of other schoolchildren in the country.

The Security Council, in a videoconference meeting today, decided to renew for 12 months a travel ban and assets freeze previously imposed on specific individuals and entities threatening Yemen’s peace, security and stability, while also extending for 13 months the mandate of its Panel of Experts on Yemen.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration today began preparing asylum seekers in the Matamoros camp for entry to the United States as the country ends a policy that forced some 25,000 people to wait in Mexico for their immigration hearings.

Cabo Verde is among the first African countries to receive the first allocation of COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX facility, the United Nations team there reports. In the next few weeks, thanks to additional World Bank funding of $5 million, Cabo Verde will be able to buy vaccines for almost 35 per cent of the population.

While fresh violence and a worsening humanitarian situation continues to unfold in Yemen, international efforts to work towards peace are finding fragile inroads, briefers told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today launched the Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative, with 15 leading airlines supporting the prioritization of the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and other critical supplies.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed David Gressly of the United States as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Yemen, with the host Government’s approval.  Mr. Gressly will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator.

The period following the start of Afghanistan’s peace negotiations in September 2020 has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of human rights defenders and media professionals killed in the country, a new report issued today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says.

Humanitarian officials are seriously concerned about the rapidly deteriorating food security situation in southern and eastern Madagascar, where more than 1.3 million people face severe hunger.  The third drought in a row is compounding the effects of COVID-19 and the extremely limited access to essential services.