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UNICEF chief: Closing schools should be ‘measure of last resort’
12 January 2021
The head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) underscored on Tuesday that “no effort should be spared” to keep children in school, as the coronavirus pandemic continues into a second year.
“Despite overwhelming evidence of the impact of school closures on children, and despite increasing evidence that schools are not drivers of the pandemic, too many countries have opted to keep schools…
7 months ago
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Humanitarian crisis looms in Madagascar amid drought and pandemic
12 January 2021
In southern Madagascar, “famine-like conditions” have doubled the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance compared with last year, to more than 1.3 million. Successive droughts and a lack of jobs linked to COVID-19 restrictions are to blame, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
“We have seen the doubling of the numbers of food-insecure between the data we had in July…
7 months ago
REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
12 January 2021
Bi-Weekly Briefing
Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the International Labour Organization, the World Food Programme, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Unitaid.
Food security situation in southern Madagascar
Lola Castro, Regional director for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean States for the World Food Programme (WFP), said three consecutive years of drought coupled with a sharp recession…
7 months ago
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Humanitarians seek $1.3 billion to help millions in war-weary Afghanistan
12 January 2021
The UN and humanitarian partners in Afghanistan are seeking $1.3 billion to assist almost 16 million people in need of life-saving assistance as a result of decades of conflict, recurrent natural disasters, and the added impact of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of people targeted for assistance is over a six-fold increase compared to four years ago, when 2.3 million…
7 months ago
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UN agencies and partners establish global Ebola vaccine stockpile
12 January 2021
In a major milestone in the fight against deadly diseases, United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners announced on Tuesday, the establishment of a global Ebola vaccine stockpile, to help control future epidemics by ensuring timely access to vaccines for populations at risk, during outbreaks.
Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness, with fatality rates varying from 25…
7 months 1 week ago
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Get COVID-19 vaccinations for ‘high-risk’ populations underway within 100 days worldwide, Tedros urges
11 January 2021
There needs to be a “collective commitment” to get vaccinations underway worldwide for health workers and others who are at high risk of catching COVID-19, within the next 100 days, said the UN health agency chief on Monday.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) was briefing journalists in Geneva, a year on…
7 months 1 week ago
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Close ‘disgraceful’ Guantánamo camp – UN experts urge incoming US administration
11 January 2021
Exactly 19 years after the Guantánamo Bay detention centre first opened, UN independent human rights experts on Monday urged the incoming United States administration of Joe Biden, to close the notorious military prison as soon as possible.
Citing the rapidly deteriorating health of detainees who remain, along with the mental and physical harm inflicted on them in cruel and…
7 months 1 week ago
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Guterres to seek second five-year term as UN Secretary-General
11 January 2021
António Guterres confirmed on Monday that he will be seeking a second five-year term as UN Secretary-General, which would begin in January 2022.
Briefing correspondents at UN Headquarters in New York, his Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, confirmed that the President of the General Assembly, had written to the UN chief, asking if he intended to run for the top job again.
In accordance with…
7 months 1 week ago
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Serious repercussions likely to follow US plan to designate Yemen combatants terrorists, UN warns
11 January 2021
The United States government’s decision to designate Ansar Allah, more commonly known as the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, as terrorists, is likely to have “serious humanitarian and political repercussions”, the UN spokesperson said on Monday.
The decision over the designation was announced by US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who issued a statement on Sunday…
7 months 1 week ago
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West Africa: Democracy ‘a constant process’ top UN official tells Security Council
11 January 2021
While elections are one-time events, “democracy is a constant process of deliberation and consultation” where dialogue provides an “important arena for the building of national consensus”, the top UN official in West Africa told the Security Council on Monday.
Against the backdrop of five presidential, three legislative and two local elections in the region which have…
