Winter Olympics, Humanitarian Needs in Ethiopia…

Today, the Secretary-General attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics Games in Beijing. 

In Ethiopia, clashes in the northern region of Afar are leading to growing humanitarian needs and preventing the delivery of aid into the neighbouring Tigray region.

The UN Refugee Agency and its partners are rushing aid to more than 20,000 refugees after they fled clashes in Ethiopia’s Benishangul Gumuz region, which borders Sudan and South Sudan.

In Malawi, following the passage of Tropical Storm Ana, which caused floods, destruction, and fatalities, our UN team there is working with authorities to assess needs and to provide life-saving assistance.
Emergency evacuation centres constructed by the UN team before the storm are now providing critical shelter.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a new campaign to provide nutritional support to hundreds of pregnant and nursing women in Gaza and the West Bank, aiming to combat malnutrition and high anaemia rates among them.

From Tonga, our team on the ground says the 48-hour lockdown period that started on Wednesday has been extended. This comes after five confirmed cases of COVID-19.

In response to questions about displacement in Colombia, the Spokesperson said humanitarian colleagues say that continuous clashes between non-state armed groups, coupled with violence against civilians and the Armed Forces in the department of Arauca, have led to the displacement of nearly 2,240 people.

At least 25 United Nations staff members and associated personnel – that’s one civilian and 24 peacekeepers, including two women peacekeepers – were killed in deliberate attacks during 2021, according to the Standing Committee for the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service of the United Nations Staff Union.

Today is International Day of Human Fraternity, and the theme this year is “A Pathway to the Future.” In a message, the Secretary-General says that on this Day, we reflect on the importance of cultural and religious understanding, and mutual respect.

And Sunday is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. In a message for the Day, the Secretary-General notes that female genital mutilation is an abhorrent human rights violation that causes profound and permanent harm to women and girls around the world.

Bahrain, Timor-Leste and Zambia have paid their dues and the Honour Roll has climbed to 47.