Yemen

The World Food Programme says it reached 10.6 million people with emergency food assistance across Yemen in March – more than in any other month.  An estimated 10 million people in the country are one step away from famine, and the United Nations and partners are doing everything to help them and roll back the risk.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a report today saying that the demand for sand has led to pollution, flooding, drought, beach erosion and reduced deposits in river deltas.  With global demands at 40-50 billion tonnes a year, UNEP warned that sand is being used faster than it can be replenished.

Around 1 million species are threatened with extinction as nature declines at unprecedented rates, a global assessment launched today by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services warns, listing amphibians, corals and marine mammals as among the most threatened.

The United Nations refugee agency said today it is deeply concerned about the fate of at least 21 Venezuelans missing after their boat sank yesterday morning on the way to Trinidad and Tobago.  It was carrying at least 25 people, and the Trinidad and Tobago authorities said four were rescued.

The World Health Organization today welcomed the launch of the world’s first malaria vaccine.  It will be made available in Malawi, followed by Ghana and Kenya, through a pilot programme aimed at reaching 360,000 children under the age of 2 every year.

UNICEF is launching a global campaign to emphasize the power and safety of vaccines, primarily aimed at parents, the agency announced today.  Launching next Wednesday, the campaign will coincide with the start of World Immunization Week.  The campaign will be conducted on social media with the hashtag #VaccinesWork.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Christoph Heusgen (Germany):

The Government of Yemen and the Houthi militia forces fighting it have accepted a detailed plan for phase one of the redeployment of their respective forces from the vital port city of Hodeidah, as stipulated in the December 2018 Stockholm Agreement, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy told the Security Council today.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that thousands of civilians in Libya remain trapped in conflict-affected areas on the southern outskirts of Tripoli.  United Nations political and humanitarian teams continue to operate there, providing urgent humanitarian assistance.

Briefing the Security Council, the High Commissioner for Refugees stressed today that there is an unprecedented stigmatization of refugees and migrants in the media and in politics, and that this should concern us all as it is creating a toxic environment that makes it increasingly difficult to tackle this issue.