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Press Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
I wanted to update you on the situation in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, following the eruption of the Soufriere volcano: We have about 30 of our staff from seven different UN agencies there. They are supporting relief and recovery efforts on the ground in close collaboration with the Government, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and other partners.
From Myanmar, the UN Country Team says today it remains deeply concerned about continued reports of violence used by the security forces against demonstrators. There are reports of death and injuries amongst demonstrators and bystanders on a daily basis.
In Madagascar, the desperate humanitarian situation continues in the Grand Sud part of the country, which is experiencing its most acute drought in four decades, and the situation is sadly deteriorating rapidly. More than 1.1 million people – about two out of every five people there – are severely food insecure.
As you may have seen, the head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros, has just announced that the WHO has given Emergency Use Listing to Sinopharm Beijing’s COVID-19 vaccine. This brings the number of vaccines receiving WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality to six.
From Papua New Guinea, where our UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Gianluca Rampolla, continues to step up their support to authorities to respond to the pandemic. As of yesterday, more than 4,000 people received their first dose of the vaccine. This effort includes the use of 132,000 COVAX-backed doses which arrived last month.
For further details please see SOURCE below.
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General
