Yemen

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched a Refugee Response Plan for Sudan today in Khartoum, calling for $477 million to help more than 900,000 refugees and nearly a quarter million of their Sudanese hosts. 

The Security Council today decided to extend for six months 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 United Nations is in touch with the Government of the Philippines, which is leading the response to the Taal volcano eruption in the Calabarzon region, some 70 kilometres south of Manila.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that 18,000 people have taken shelter in evacuation centres.

In Syria, the World Food Programme is now bringing aid to 1 million people per month through cross-border mechanisms.  The situation in the north-west remains alarming, with families in Idlib burning tires and old clothes to stay warm, reports Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller.

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified its first biosimilar medicine, Trastuzumab, that could broaden access to this life-saving breast cancer treatment.  In 2018, 2.1 million women contracted breast cancer, and 630,000 of them died from it, many due to the lack of access to affordable treatment.

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus announced today the clearance of nine suspected hazardous areas on both sides of the island, amounting to a total area of 210 square meters.  This confidence-building measure was agreed upon by both leaders on 26 February as part of their commitment towards a mine-free Cyprus.

The Qatar Fund for Development and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees signed an agreement yesterday under which Qatar will contribute $20.7 million to support Palestine refugees’ access to basic services in Syria.  This contribution brings the Qatar Fund’s total support to the Agency to $40 million.

Following earthquakes that struck Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina this morning, two United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination technical support members will be deployed to Albania.  The United Nations stands ready to provide assistance if required, and is in contact with local authorities.

Parties to the conflict in Yemen – still home to one of the world’s most brutal conflicts and its worst humanitarian crisis – have reached several key compromise agreements, which has led to a dramatic drop in the tempo of war, the senior United Nations official in the country reported today, as he urged the Security Council to do everything possible to sustain that crucial momentum.

More than 210,000 people in Chad have been affected by widespread flooding following heavy rains over the past few months and need food, shelter and non-food items, according to the Chadian Red Cross.  The United Nations and humanitarian partners plan to scale up the aid response, but have very limited resources.