28 April 2015 – Southern Africa’s maize harvest is expected to shrink this year by some 26 per cent, a situation that could trigger food price increases and adversely affect recent food security gains, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today. For 2015, the early production forecast for maize – a staple food throughout the subregion – stands at about 21.1 million tonnes, some 15 per cent lower than the average for the last five years, FAO noted . The fall is mostly due to the impact of erratic weather conditions, including the late start of seasonal…
Author: UN News
27 April 2015 – Civil unrest erupted in Burundi this weekend after the ruling party overwhelmingly elected President Pierre Nkurunziza on Saturday as its candidate for the 26 June presidential election, the humanitarian wing of the United Nations reported today, appealing for $11.6 million dollars to plan a response for the influx of people seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. President Nkurunziza, who was elected by the ruling party¬ CNDD-FDD with 88 per cent of the vote, has been in office for two terms since 2005, and a broad array of actors has warned that an attempt to seek a third…
26 April 2015 – As the United Nations agency tasked with supporting Palestine refugees continued today to provide essential humanitarian assistance to civilians who have been displaced from Yarmouk and to those hosting them, evidence of acute malnutrition was found in a large number of children. “We are extremely concerned about the patients we are seeing from Yarmouk and what it suggests about health situation inside the camp,” said Christopher Gunness, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). “UNRWA medical personnel established a mobile health point in Yalda near Yarmouk, treating…
25 April 2015 – The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) today reiterated that its peacekeepers responded proportionately to two attacks launched against them by armed men in Kass, South Darfur, this week. “In both incidents, UNAMID troops returned fire but did not initiate any shooting; they only acted to protect themselves,” said African Union-United Nations Acting Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Abiodun Bashua denying recent media misreporting of the incidents, which took place on 23 and 24 April. The first attack, on 23 April, took place at around 6:00 p.m., when around 40 gunmen on horses and camels…
23 April 2015 – With fresh statistics on the Ebola outbreak reflecting a halt in the decline in West Africa, the United Nations today began a campaign to engage more women – who have been disproportionately affected by the disease – as well as local traditional healers, to encourage communities to become more involved to bring down infection rates to zero. “The decline in confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease has halted over the last three weeks,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update. “To accelerate the decline towards zero cases will require stronger community engagement, improved…
23 April 2015 – Escalating conflict in Yemen over the past month has worsened the already large-scale humanitarian crisis, the top United Nations relief official for the country said today, warning that the upsurge in violence has further deepened the hardships faced by ordinary Yemenis. “Fighting and coalition airstrikes have impacted virtually the entire country. The toll on civilians has been immense,” said a press statement from Johannes Van Der Klaauw, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. Since 19 March 2015, conservative estimates indicate that over 1,080 people have been killed, with some 4,350 people injured, and more than 150,000 people…
22 April 2015 – As the United Nations humanitarian wing appealed for “any initiative that can reduce the violence” in Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) office in the country reported that the death toll from the fighting topped 1,000 over the past month and warned that main hospitals face shutting down because of critical shortages of power, lack of fuel and oxygen. Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen said there were 7.9 million children among the 15.9 million people – or some 60 per cent of the total population – in need of humanitarian assistance in the…
22 April 2015 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa that has resulted in the deaths of at least seven people in the past few weeks. “He expresses his condolences to the families of the victims,” said a statement released today in New York by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson. “The Secretary-General notes the actions and statements of the President of South Africa and the Government to address the violence,” that statement added. Mr. Ban in the statement also welcomed the public expressions of the many South Africans who have been calling for…
22 April 2015 – The World Food Programme today drew attention to the disappearance of three of its staff members who went missing earlier this month when fighting reportedly erupted along their food distribution route in volatile Malakal South Sudan, where more than 2 million people are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. “We are extremely worried about the fate of our missing colleagues and are working hard for their safe return,” WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said in a press release issued today. “Our staff take enormous risks every day to bring vital aid to people…
20 April 2015 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned in the strongest terms the killing of a number of Ethiopian nationals in Libya by extremists affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to a United Nations spokesperson. In a statement released earlier today, Mr. Ban said he “utterly deplores” the targeting of people on the basis of their religious affiliation and expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of the attack. The Secretary-General reaffirmed that the UN-backed political talks remained “the best chance” for Libyans to overcome…
18 April 2015 – The head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Bernardino León has strongly condemned the renewed outbreak of violence in the Libyan capital of Tripoli amid ongoing political dialogue aimed at resolving the crisis in the country. According to a press release issued by UNSMIL this afternoon, the outburst of violence in the Tripoli neighbourhood of Fashloum has already caused “many casualties and endangered the lives of civilians” with initial reports suggesting that three civilians were killed, including a young girl, since the resumption of hostilities. There have also been reports of abductions of…
16 April 2015 – During a speech delivered at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. this evening, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underlined the gravity of the situation in Yemen, saying the country in “in flames” and pointing out how the current crisis is multiplying the already high levels of suffering and insecurity faced by many in the population. “Even before the latest escalation, two out of three Yemenis relied on humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Ban said. “Levels of food insecurity were higher than the in the poorest stretches of Africa.” Hundreds have been killed while deliveries of humanitarian supplies…
17 April 2015 – The United Nations refugee agency has today welcomed efforts by South Africa’s Government to contain a recent wave of xenophobic violence that has accounted for the deaths of six people in the past three weeks in South Africa. However, Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the agency remains concerned about the attacks, which have also led to displacement of more than 5,000 foreigners, some of whom included refugees and asylum-seekers. “The attacks in KwaZulu-Natal province began in late March following an apparent labour dispute involving…
16 April 2015 – Intense efforts to control the Ebola outbreak in the three most-affected West African countries in will continue, the United Nations health chief said in Washington, DC today, adding that the international community is also looking for ways to build on dramatic recent progress by aiding with efforts aimed at recovery from the outbreak. “The goal is to help people and their communities to return to a normal life again,” said Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “It means that children are going back to school, women can once again shop in their local…
15 April 2015 – A new round of political dialogue on Libya, hosted by Morocco and facilitated by the United Nations Support Mission (UNSMIL) in the country began in Skhirat, Morocco, today, aiming to end the crisis in the country. Since the last round of talks ended on 26 March, participants have had the opportunity to consult with their constituencies and key stakeholders on a proposal on a comprehensive solution to end the conflict in Libya and in Skhirat, parties are expected to present their remarks regarding the overall framework outlined in the Draft Agreement on the Political Transition in…
15 April 2015 – The United Nations refugee chief called today on the international community to step-up its efforts to ease the plight of Syrian refugees who continue to live in harsh conditions in informal settlements in southern Lebanon. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), António Guterres, made his comments, while in Debane, close to the southern city of Ghaziye, where he was visiting some of the 1.2 million Syrians who have sought refuge in Lebanon because of fighting in their country. “The equivalent of what we have in Lebanon in the United States would be [equivalent to] more…
15 April 2015 – The United Nations in Mali condemned today’s deadly attack on its Gao area compound that injured nine peacekeepers, killed at least three civilians and injured seven others, calling it a “cowardly and heinous” act. According to the UN, at around 11:30 a.m. this morning, a suicide vehicle exploded at the entrance to the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) camp in Ansongo, in the Gao region, as it tried to enter. The attack injured nine peacekeepers from the contingent of Niger, two of them seriously. Medical evaluations are underway. “I am shocked that valiant peacekeepers, as…
15 April 2015 – The top United Nations official in Somalia condemned yesterday a terrorist attack against the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education in Mogadishu city that resulted in the death and injuries of civilians, members of the security forces and Government workers. “I condemn today’s terrible terrorist attack in Mogadishu in the strongest terms and am appalled by the complete disregard for the lives of innocent people shown by the attackers,” said Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Nicholas Kay. “An attack on the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education is an assault on Somalis’ brave efforts…
14 April 2015 – The United Nations refugee agency today urged Kenyan authorities to reconsider their decision to shut down within the next three months Dadaab refugee camps, a decision that would require some 350,000 Somalis to return to their country and would cause “extreme” humanitarian consequences. “Large-scale returns are still not possible in many parts of the country, in particular to South Central Somalia,” spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Karin de Gruijl, told journalists in Geneva. The Government’s decision was announced this past weekend following the horrific attack at Garissa University…
13 April 2015 – Libyan stakeholders must give the country’s United Nations-facilitated peace process a chance in order for a political solution to take hold and end the ongoing fighting in the North African nation, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has declared. “We are here today to send a strong message that no more Libyans should be killed. No more Libyans should lose their lives,” Special Representative of the Secretary General for Libya and head of UNSMIL, Bernardino León said today in his opening remarks to the latest meeting of Libyan political leaders and activists…