Today is the International Day of the Tropics. As you know, the Tropics are the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and host approximately 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity.
Yemen
The number of children affected by armed conflict and the severity of grave violations affecting them increased in the past year, according to the Secretary‑General’s annual report on the issue, which was presented today by the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, says cholera tops the list of concerns over Hodeidah, an epicentre of the 2017 outbreak, among the worst in modern history. Meanwhile, 25 per cent of children in the city are suffering from acute malnutrition, and without nutritional support, 100,000 will be at risk.
A concert to benefit Rohingya refugees will be performed at the Baruch Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Monday, 25 June. Masud Bin Momen, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, and Ninette Kelley, Director of the High Commissioner for Refugees New York Office, will attend.
Today is World Refugee Day, and the Secretary-General says in a message he is deeply concerned to see more and more situations where refugees are not receiving the protection they need and to which they are entitled. Also, FAO and UNHCR launched a new handbook to help restore forests in displacement-affected areas.
The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process briefed the Security Council this morning and said that settlement activity has continued in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He reiterated that all settlement activity is illegal under international law.
The Chef de Cabinet to UN Secretary-General António Guterres read out a message on his behalf to the third Review Conference on the Programme of Action on Small Arms, telling the delegates that every year, over half a million people are killed violently around the world, mostly through small arms fire.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said he is increasingly concerned by the situation in the Sahel, where nearly 6 million people are struggling to meet their daily food needs. The crisis has been triggered by scarce rainfall in 2017, which resulted in acute water, crop and pasture shortages and livestock losses.
Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan are responding to urgent needs of the estimated 50,000 people displaced in Leer, Mayendit and Koch Counties in Unity state amid a sharp escalation in fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), SPLA-in-Opposition and armed groups.
A humanitarian coordination team of 60 experts from United Nations agencies and aid partners is traveling to Guatemala today to assess the immediate humanitarian needs of more than 1.7 million people impacted by the eruption of volcano Fuego two days ago.