2 November 2014 – Witnessing yet again the challenging dynamics of the Ebola outbreak unfolding in West Africa, the United Nations envoy coordinating the global response visited Sierra Leone today, where he reported efforts to halt the virus in former hotspot Kenema are starting to pay off, while some 200 kilometres away, Port Loko is now “getting slammed”. Continuing his tour through the front lines of the crisis, Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), stopped in Kenema, Sierra Leone’s third largest city, where he said the strategy to defeat the disease is having some…
Author: UN News
1 November 2014 – Visiting Guéckédou, Guinea, where the unprecedented outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is believed to have started, the United Nations envoy coordinating the massive global crisis response said that while there are now “basically zero” cases in the town, the challenge will be to replicate the strategy to defeat the disease throughout the country and the wider region. In the middle of his third trip to Guinea this month, Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), told reporters that he had visited Guéckédou, in an area in the southern part of…
1 November 2014 – The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has welcomed the Government’s request for more “blue helmets” to backstop Congolese troops fighting to protect civilians from armed rebels that have carried out a spate of attacks in and around the eastern town of Beni over the past month. “I welcome the request made by President [Joseph] Kabila yesterday morning in Beni asking MONUSCO to strengthen its presence in the region,” said Martin Kobler in a press release, referring to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the country by…
31 October 2014 – The United Nations Mission in South sudan (UNMISS) extracted 30 civilians from the Rubkona airstrip yesterday and brought them to the Protection of Civilians site in the UN compound, the Secretary-General said today. Civilian casualties so far from the week’s fighting include one dead and eight wounded, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement today, as a result of a renewed outbreak of violence in two towns in the country’s North. In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the resumption of hostilities between the sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA)…
31 October 2014 – Fresh fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) has aggravated the humanitarian situation across the country, UN humanitarian officials warned today, adding that amid the upsurge in violence, aid workers were now facing unprecedented attacks. At a press briefing held at UN headquarters in Geneva this morning, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that despite the lack of media interest in the Car crisis, the displacement of people was still being considered a “massive humanitarian emergency,” with 410,000 people displaced overall. The flare-up in violence has also heightened…
30 October 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged an immediate end of all hostilities in South sudan amid a renewed outbreak of violence in two towns in the country’s North, the United Nations confirmed today. In a statement attributable to UN his spokesperson, Mr. Ban today strongly condemned the flare-up in hostilities between the sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and Opposition forces in the towns of Bentiu and Rubkona, located in Unity State. South Sudan has experienced several bouts of violence over the past few months, including an incident in which the UN base in Bentiu came under fire…
30 October 2014 – Greatly concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for an end to the violence and announced that he is dispatching his special envoy for West Africa to the crisis-gripped country. According to a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York, the Secretary-General is following with great concern the deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso. Media reports suggest that thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the capital, Ouagadougou, facing off with security forces outside the presidential palace amid deadly violence that included ransacking Government…
29 October 2014 – The ongoing civil war in Syria and its spillover effects continue to inflict a devastating human and humanitarian toll on neighbouring Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, a senior United Nations relief official said today, warning that rising numbers of displaced persons, increasing pressure on refugee hosting countries and dwindling international support left the UN “racing against the clock” to meet the needs on the ground. Describing the Syria crisis and its fallout as “the biggest humanitarian crisis we face today in the world,” John Ging, Operations Director for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs…
29 October 2014 – Learning from the experiences of the Eastern and South Africa region will be vital in global efforts to reform humanitarian action, a top United Nations humanitarian official said today in Pretoria, South Africa, at the opening of the regional consultation for Eastern and Southern Africa of the World Humanitarian Summit. “Humanitarian needs around the world are growing as a result of conflicts, natural disasters and other factors, said Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in her remarks at the regional consultation, which South Africa co-hosted with Ethiopia. “South Africa has the resources and capacity to be…
29 October 2014 – The United Nations stands ready to support the Government of South sudan in its renewed commitment to end the recruitment and use of children in the army, top UN officials declared today as the Organization launched a new initiative in the country. “It’s encouraging to see that the Government is taking steps to protect the country’s children and the United Nations will continue to support them,” said Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, in a message read during the launch of the Children, Not Soldiers campaign in South sudan. “Everyone…