Yemen

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the pledging conference for Yemen, in Geneva today:

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that $148 million is urgently needed to continue the response to the unprecedented Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or risk backsliding.  Less than $10 million of the required funds have been pledged so far.

The Security Council today authorized a one-year extension of the financial and travel bans that have been in place since February 2014 against individuals or entities threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a new report today which presents mounting evidence that the biodiversity underpinning global food systems is disappearing, putting the future of food, livelihoods, health and environment under severe threat, according to information from 91 reporting countries.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Anatolio Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea):

A measles and rubella vaccination campaign in Yemen led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has now reached nearly 12 million children, including in high-risk areas, marginalized communities and camps for internally displaced people.

The United Nations and humanitarian partners today appealed for $4.2 billion to help up to 19 million people in need in Yemen, including 10 million on the brink of famine.  Mark Lowcock, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said he expects current aid funding to run out by the end of March.

Significant progress in implementing recent agreements in Yemen represents an opportunity for that country to move away from the “logic of war” towards one of peace, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that heavy rains and cyclones have caused an outbreak of desert locusts in Sudan and Eritrea that is rapidly spreading to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, potentially causing a major threat to agricultural production and food security.

The United Nations refugee agency, International Migration Agency (IOM) and their partners today launched the 2019 response plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.  It seeks to raise $920 million to meet the needs of over 900,000 refugees from Myanmar and over 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in host communities.