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Martin Griffiths, the Special Envoy for Yemen, told Security Council Members that, starting this morning, the skies of Yemen have seen an airlift of hope. The parties have started releasing prisoners and detainees, in a process that will lead to the release of over a thousand individuals.
A statement was issued earlier today from the Secretary-General on corruption in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Guterres said the response to the virus is creating new opportunities to exploit weak oversight and inadequate transparency, diverting funds away from people in their hour of greatest need.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, is in Khartoum today to engage with Sudanese authorities in advance of next week’s Security Council session on resolution 2046, and that is scheduled for Thursday, 22 October.
800,000 people in South Sudan have been affected by flooding since July. The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated $10 million to provide life-saving assistance to 360,000 of the most vulnerable people.
In answer to questions asked on the situation in Afghanistan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that fighting that began on 11 October between the Afghan National Security Forces and a non-state armed group continued with sporadic clashes reported today, near Lashkargah city in Helmand Province.
In answer to questions about the ongoing protests in Nigeria, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General is following the protests in Nigeria calling for the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and an end to human rights violations allegedly committed by security agencies.
The UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Sen Pang, is supporting authorities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and address its socio-economic impacts. The UN has secured nearly $2 million to support the health response through procuring medical supplies and boosting treatment capacity.
From the Asia-Pacific region, a new UN report says that comprehensive social protection systems are necessary in the fight against COVID-19, but are lacking in many countries of the region, despite their rapid socioeconomic ascent.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today warned that although handwashing with soap is critical in the fight against the virus, millions of people around the world have no ready access to a place to wash their hands.
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, today noted Israel’s advance of nearly 5,000 housing units in the West Bank and he said that settlement construction is illegal under international law and is one of the major obstacles to peace.
Yesterday a statement was issued from the Secretary-General welcoming the launch of discussions on the delineation of the Lebanon-Israel maritime boundary, following the framework agreement announced on 1 October of this year.
Yesterday afternoon the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, briefed members of the Security Council. He said that after almost four years after the conclusion of the negotiations that led to the Final Peace Agreement, there have been historic and undeniable achievements along the way, but enormous challenges remain.
Today is the International Day of Rural Women. This year’s theme is “Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19.”
Tomorrow, the guest will be David Beasley, the head of the World Food Programme. At 1.30 p.m., there will be a virtual briefing by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
For further details please see SOURCE below.
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General