The crisis in Yemen has never been worse, United Nations experts told the Security Council today, as delegates — meeting in person for the second time in four months — addressed the unrelenting violence, uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 and efforts to both right the peace process and pull the economy from the brink of collapse.
United Nations teams in Brazil, Colombia and Peru issued a joint statement calling for increased COVID-19 pandemic-related support and response efforts in the Amazon region. The pandemic is impacting hundreds of thousands of indigenous people, including 170,000 people living in remote areas along the Amazon River.
A UNICEF research brief published today warns that at least 40 million children around the world have missed out on early childhood education in their critical pre-school year as COVID-19 shuttered childcare and early education facilities. Lockdowns also left parents struggling to balance childcare and paid employment.
Officials at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) say locust swarms linked to climate change remain a serious threat to food security in parts of East Africa, India and Pakistan. United Nations agencies are helping affected areas by providing data on weather, climate and the desert locust life cycle.
Severe flooding in Bangladesh is currently affecting some 1.4 million people, with United Nations agencies providing $5.2 million in early funding. In China, heavy rains have impacted more than 38 million people, while floods and landslides in Nepal have led to more than 100 deaths.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s 2020 Multidimensional Poverty Index reveals progress in tackling poverty before the onset of COVID-19, with 65 out of 75 countries showing significant reductions. However, experts warn the pandemic now threatens to set back development gains by up to 10 years.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund warned today that disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is causing an alarming decline in the number of life-saving vaccines for children around the world, threatening hard-won progress.
War-torn Yemen and the wider Red Sea region face an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions if United Nations experts fail to get swift access to the ageing — and now leaking — offshore oil storage vessel FSO Safer, briefers warned during a 15 July videoconference meeting of the Security Council.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of a United Nations political mission overseeing a peace agreement between the Government of Yemen and the Houthi militia in the port city of Hudaydah.
The local de facto authorities in Yemen have officially communicated to the United Nations their approval for a UN-led technical assessment and repair mission on board the oil tanker Safer off the coast of Ras Isa. The experts will advise on any remaining measures that would be needed to avoid a catastrophic oil spill.
