Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan & other topics - Daily…

This morning, the Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, Amin Awad, and the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Osnat Lubrani, briefed the media in Kyiv. Mr. Awad noted that 15.7 million people in Ukraine now need humanitarian assistance and protection. Ms. Lubrani announced an additional $50 million from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund to support NGOs and UN agencies in the country.  The UN welcomes the announcement of the planned first commercial flight from Sana'a airport in six years, in Yemen. It is scheduled to take off from Sana'a to reach Amman, in Jordan, this coming Sunday, the 24th of April.   United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned in the strongest terms today's horrendous attack in Mazar-e Sharif, targeting civilians in a place of worship.  This morning, the Security Council held an open meeting on the situation in Abyei. Speaking by videoconference, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said the overall security situation in the Abyei Administrative Area has remained calm, but the trust deficit between the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka communities remains of great concern.   The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is concerned by reports of alleged human rights violations committed on Tuesday, during the weekly market in Hombori, in the Mopti Region.  The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is working with national authorities on disarmament and demobilization operations in the prefectures of Vakaga and Nana-Mambere.  In Myanmar, the UN team say they remain alarmed by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, where civilians continue to suffer due to the continued fighting, in the northwest and southeast.  More than 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have now received one or more doses of the world's first malaria vaccine, thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO).   The UN team in Peru, led by Resident Coordinator Igor Garafulic, continue to support authorities to address the impacts of the pandemic. To date, the country has received over 8.2 million doses through COVAX alone; with over 26 million people fully vaccinated.  The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today named Sir David Attenborough as the recipient of the Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to research, documentation, and advocacy for the protection of nature and its restoration. The Champions of the Earth Award is the UN's highest environmental honour, recognizing outstanding leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector. I would like to issue a clarification, following the publication of an article alleging that the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, privately "applauded" the recent Spanish announcement as "clearer" than the previous position. Statements about Mr. de Mistura's positions or his activities that are not released by him or my office are all too often a distortion of the facts.  Tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. there will be a press briefing by the President of the Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas.  He will brief reporters on the latest Session of the Human Rights Council.  The guest at the Noon Briefing was Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme's Regional Director for East Africa.  He briefed reporters remotely from Nairobi to discuss the current drought in the Horn of Africa.