Yemen

Following is UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ statement on the second anniversary of the Stockholm Agreement, today:

Ethiopia is facing dire shortages of food, water, fuel, cash and electricity, as well as telecoms services in the Tigray region, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  More than 63,000 people are recorded as internally displaced in Tigray, including some who fled towards Afar and Amhara.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Jerry Matthews Matjila (South Africa):

Children make up nearly half the people who have fled Ethiopia’s Tigray region for Sudan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports.  Their most urgent needs are clean water and sanitation, as well as child-protection and gender-based violence services for the most vulnerable and at-risk refugees, the agency says.

This morning, David Beasley, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Executive Director, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on his organization’s behalf.  With 270 million people approaching starvation and only $5 billion needed to save 30 million from famine, he said, in the Nobel spirit of peace and brotherhood, let’s feed them all.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched its largest ever humanitarian appeal, $818 million, to fund critical assistance for 54 million women, girls and young people in 68 countries, including for sexual and reproductive health care as well as services to prevent gender-based violence.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today issued its largest ever emergency funding appeal, seeking $6.4 billion to reach 300 million people, including more than 190 million children.  An estimated 36 million children, more than ever before, are living in displacement due to conflict, violence and disaster.

The Mission in South Sudan deployed a Nepalese Quick Reaction Force Team to Cueibet to support local police protecting civilians from a potential conflict between armed groups, following the killing of a young man.  The peacekeepers intercepted the groups and remained in the area until the situation was stable. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) still desperately needs $70 million in contributions to avoid painful measures in the coming weeks and to limit the amount of liabilities carried over into 2021, Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini has told the Agency’s Advisory Board.

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