Yemen

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 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.

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.

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.

The World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Global Vaccine Alliance and the Sudanese Ministry of Health today launched a vaccination campaign in Sudan to vaccinate over 11 million children against measles and polio.  Measles is the third largest cause of mortality in infants in Sudan.

In response to Cyclone Idai, the first of three planes carrying relief items from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) landed today in Mozambique; supplies are to be distributed to 30,000 people there and in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is concerned about armed clashes in the southern Philippines between the army and non-State armed groups that have uprooted more than 47,000 people.  The United Nations and humanitarian partners are helping the Government deliver aid to nearly 35,000 displaced people.

UNAIDS is concerned that new HIV infections are not declining among people who inject drugs, despite a decline in new infections globally.  A new report also shows that 99 per cent of them live in countries lacking adequate needle and syringe programmes, drug-dependency treatment, and HIV testing and treatment.