Yemen

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President José Singer Weisinger (Dominican Republic):

Today marks 100 days since the World Health Organization was notified of the first COVID-19 cases, with UN agency leaders and the Secretary-General calling on Governments to pay special attention to the most vulnerable, particularly women and children, as the pandemic continues to affect populations worldwide.

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

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the second report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Yemen (document S/2019/453), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

The Education Cannot Wait Fund, which promotes education in emergencies, announced $23 million in grants to support vulnerable girls and boys facing the COVID-19 pandemic in 26 crisis-affected countries.  The funding will support children’s continued learning while their schools are closed, including by scaling up distance education.

A new United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report based on data from 57 countries finds that a quarter of women are not able to make their own decisions about accessing health care, and nearly one in ten is unable to make her own choices about using contraception.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is sending equipment to more than 40 countries to help them use nuclear-derived technology to rapidly detect COVID‑19.  Dozens of labs will receive diagnostic machines to speed up national testing, biosafety supplies and personal protection equipment.

The United Nations donated 250,000 surplus protective face masks to the United States for New York City’s health workers who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, as agencies called for a $2.5 trillion assistance package for developing countries, who face an estimated $220 billion in income losses.

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

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees airlifted emergency relief items to Chad on 19 March, responding to the humanitarian needs of some 10,000 Sudanese refugees.  Clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur region since late 2019 have forced more than 16,000 people, mostly women and children, to cross the border into Chad.