Tag: UN News

Ugandan woman advocates for her rights after ‘life of pain’ — Global Issues

In the first of a two-part series, Angela Muhindo spoke to UN Women ahead of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, marked annually from 25 November to 10 December, Human Rights Day.

“My life has been full of pain,” she said, surveying the green landscape where she spent her childhood in Kasese, in Uganda’s western region. “In my community, women have less power, but if you are disabled, you are even more vulnerable to exploitation.”

Ms. Muhindo, who has had a physical disability since childhood, said she has faced violence and exclusion throughout her life. Such treatment is the norm for many women and girls with disabilities, she said, noting that they also face challenges accessing education, employment and health care.

Globally, women and girls with disabilities are at least two to three times more likely than other women to experience violence.

People think that “a person with disabilities cannot get married and have children” and that “you are going to stay in your father’s home [forever] because no one is going to take care of you”, Ms. Muhindo said.

Inheritance dispute

When her parents died, a dispute over the inheritance of their property set into motion events that changed how she lived as a person with a disability.

She said she was threatened and intimidated by her male relatives over the inheritance and felt powerless to advocate for herself.

Land disputes can be a catalyst for gender-based violence in Uganda, where it’s not uncommon for widows and children to be evicted from their home after the death of a husband or father, or in the event of a separation.

The effect of this is two-fold – violence may be used to evict women from property by force, and without a place to live or land to farm, they become more vulnerable to violence in the future.

Seeking to better understand her rights, she attended a Spotlight Initiative-supported training course implemented by the National Union of Women with Disabilities Uganda through UN Women.

At the course, she learned about inheritance rights and realized that she was the sole legal heir to the property, and she gained the confidence to stand up to her relatives.

“I realized that as a person living with disabilities, I can do whatever other people can do,” she said. “I can speak up just like any other person. I can buy land, have a job.”

WFP/Marco Frattini

Disputes over land ownership can lead to violence.

Advocating for others

It took over a year, but Ms. Muhindo successfully put the land in her name. She now has a safe place to live, food to eat and earns a living from the crops she grows. She also advocates for other women in her community, including those with disabilities, and speaks about gender-based violence on a local radio station.

“I do not want other women to go through what I went through,” she said.

The Spotlight Initiative aims to eliminate violence against women and girls through comprehensive programming that addresses all the key drivers.

This includes improving laws and policies that prevent violence, strengthening institutions, promoting gender-equitable social norms and strengthening women’s movements and essential services to survivors of violence.

SDG 5

United Nations

SDG 5

SDG 5: EMPOWER ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS

  • End all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls
  • Eliminate such harmful practices as early and forced marriages and female genital mutilation
  • Adapt and strengthen legislation to promote gender equality and empower women and girls
  • Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership in political, economic and public life
  • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care

Globally, almost half of all married women currently lack decision-making power over their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

‘I felt empowered’

Spotlight and UN Women work with local organizations to help to change discriminatory attitudes and support those at risk of, or experiencing, violence. Since 2019, almost 300,000 people in Uganda have attended community programming on women’s rights with Spotlight Initiative support.

UN Women has also supported advocacy to change legislation that advantaged male children in inheritance and land issues. In March 2021, Uganda’s Parliament passed the Succession (Amendment) Bill, formally recognizing the equal rights of women to own land.

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking up, but after the training I felt empowered,” Ms. Muhindo says.

  • The global Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls is a United Nations joint effort with the European Union and other partners.
  • In Uganda, it is implemented by the Government of Uganda, the European Union, UN Women, UN entities for reproductive health (UNFPA), children (UNICEF), development (UNDP) and refugees (UNHCR) in partnership with UN agencies for human rights (OHCHR) and migration (IOM), the UN Pulse Lab in Uganda and civil society.
  • Since 2019, the Spotlight Initiative has supported almost one million women and girls in Uganda to access essential services.

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Gaza: start of truce feeds hopes for respite, access to people in need: UN humanitarians

Trucks with relief supplies continued to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt on Friday after the entry into force of a four-day pause in fighting, UN humanitarians said.

Read the full story, “Gaza: start of truce feeds hopes for respite, access to people in need: UN humanitarians”, on globalissues.org →

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Clashes in eastern DR Congo displace 450,000 in six weeks — Global Issues

Violent clashes between non-state armed groups and government forces have displaced more than 450,000 people in the last six weeks in Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu province.

People arriving in the town of Sake, located near the provincial capital Goma, spoke of having to make harrowing choices, with men risking death to feed starving children and women risking rape to collect firewood.

‘Concerning pattern of abuse’

UNHCRsaid its monitoring in the region has showed over 3,000 reported human rights violations in October, nearly double the figure from the previous month.

“Rape and arbitrary killings feature prominently in these results, along with kidnappings, extortion, and the destruction of property, illustrating a deeply concerning pattern of abuse inflicted upon civilian populations,” the agency said.

The intensification of violence is also having a devastating impact on the lives of children, with protection partners reporting a sharp increase in the number of overall violations against them.

Major roads obstructed

The UN agencies said the severity of the crisis is further exacerbated by the limited humanitarian access to those in dire need, mainly due to the obstruction of major routes, with some 200,000 displaced people cut off from aid.

The disruption also increases the vulnerability of displaced populations, leaving them without essential resources and protection.

Although UNHCR has built shelters in recent months for more than 40,000 people near Goma, and distributed more than 30,000 kits containing tarps, cooking pots, and blankets, the partners more action is needed to ensure that the nearly seven million people affected by conflict receive urgent help.

Humanitarian funding shortfall

UN partners and humanitarian groups are urgently ramping up efforts to tackle urgent needs stemming from overcrowding and inadequate shelter in spontaneous sites, with limited access to food and clean water.

Since June 2023, UNICEF has reached nearly 700,000 people with lifesaving assistance, including clean water and sanitation, child protection, non-food items, health, nutrition and education.

Together with UNHCR, the agency urgently appealed for an end to the violence and underlined their commitment to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the crisis.

However, they stressed that the international community must act swiftly and generously, noting that a $2.3 billion humanitarian response plan for the DRC this year is only 37 per cent funded.

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In visit to Antarctica, Guterres appeals for action to end ‘climate anarchy’ — Global Issues

António Guterres is in Antarctica this week, where he saw first-hand how climate change is impacting the world’s southernmost continent, which is mostly covered in ice.

The heat is on

“Fossil fuel pollution is heating our planet, unleashing climate anarchy in Antarctica,” said Mr. Guterres, adding that the Southern Ocean has taken the majority of the heat from global warming.

“That means ice is melting into the ocean at record rates. Melting ice means sea levels rising at record rates,” he explained.

“That directly endangers the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal communities across the globe. It means homes are no longer insurable. And it threatens the very existence of some small island States.”

Unleashing catastrophe worldwide

Antarctic sea ice is at an all-time low. New figures show that this September, it was 1.5 million square kilometers smaller than the average for the time of year – “an area roughly the size of Portugal, Spain, France and Germany combined.”

Mr. Guterres noted that the Greenland ice sheet is also melting fast, losing over 250 gigatons of ice every year.

“All of this spells catastrophe around the world. What happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica. And what happens thousands of miles away has a direct impact right here,” he said.

Limit temperature rise

The Secretary-General appealed for world leaders attending the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai next week to act now to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

He also urged them to protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age, saying “we must not let all hopes for a sustainable planet melt away.’

The UN chief will visit the Professor Julio Escudero research base on Saturday where he will be briefed by scientists..

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UN delivers more aid into Gaza on first day of humanitarian pause — Global Issues

Gaza has a population of over two million, with the UN agency that assists Palestine refugee, UNRWA, hosting more than a million displaced people in 156 of its installations across the enclave.

The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Friday that 200 trucks were dispatched from Nitzana, a town in Israel, to the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

From there, 137 trucks of goods were offloaded by the UNRWA reception point in Gaza, making it the biggest humanitarian convoy received since the start of hostilities on 7 October.

Additionally, 129,000 litres of fuel and four trucks of gas also crossed into Gaza, and 21 critical patients were evacuated in a large-scale medical operation from the north of the enclave.

“Hundreds of thousands of people were assisted with food, water, medical supplies and other essential humanitarian items,” OCHA said.

Hostage release welcomed

The UN welcomed the release of 24 hostages held in Gaza since 7 October and renewed its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Humanitarian teams from the UN and partners will continue to ramp up humanitarian operations to meet the needs of people throughout Gaza in the coming days.

Separately, UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland issued a statement welcoming the start of the implementation of the agreement, while expressing hope for an extended humanitarian ceasefire.

He said the development saw the release of 13 Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas and others, 39 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, and several foreign workers held in Gaza.

Mr. Wennesland – officially the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process – looked forward to additional releases that are expected over the coming days.

‘A significant humanitarian breakthrough’

He noted that the humanitarian pause went into effect with relative calm, allowing truckloads of aid to enter Gaza.

“These developments are a significant humanitarian breakthrough that we need to build on. More assistance and supplies must enter the Strip safely and continuously to alleviate the immense suffering of civilians,” he said.

He again called for the release of all hostages, and commended the Governments of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States for their determined efforts to facilitate the agreement.

“I call on all concerned parties to uphold their commitments and refrain from provocations or any actions that could impact the full implementation of this agreement,” he said, while also urging the parties “to exhaust every effort to achieve an extended humanitarian ceasefire and pursue a more peaceful future.”

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Feminist icon calls out violence against women — Global Issues

Co-founding the groundbreaking magazine Ms. in 1972, Ms. Steinem and her colleagues brought feminist issues to the forefront.

“For the first time, there are fewer females on Earth than males because of all the forms of violence,” Ms. Steinem said at UN Headquarters in 2016 to draw attention to violence against women.

Gloria Steinem: The link between women’s rights and peace

Ahead of UN Women’s 16 Days campaign against gender-based violence, take a front row seat for a look at some of Ms. Steinem’s work here, part of the UN News #ThrowbackThursday series showcasing epic moments across the UN’s past. From the infamous and nearly-forgotten to world leaders and global superstars, stay tuned for a taste of the UN Audiovisual Library’s 49,400 hours of video recordings and 18,000 hours of audio chronicling.

Visit UN Video’s Stories from the UN Archive playlist here and our Podcast Classics series here. Join us next Thursday for another dive into history.

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With Gaza truce on horizon, UN relief teams stand ready to ramp up aid — Global Issues

According to media reports, ongoing negotiations over the Israel-Hamas agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause and the freeing of hostages held by the Palestinian armed group since its 7 October terror attacks indicated that the deal’s entry into force was believed to be unlikely before Friday.

Amid rising hunger, UN World Food Programme (WFP) chief Cindy McCain said that the agency was “rapidly mobilizing to scale up assistance inside Gaza” once safe access is granted. Her comments followed UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths’ statement on the Organisation’s readiness to increase the volume of aid brought into the enclave and distributed across the Strip.

Ms. McCain said that WFP trucks are “waiting at the Rafah crossing, loaded with food slated for families in shelters and homes across Gaza, and wheat flour for bakeries to resume operations”.

Latest UN humanitarian reports indicated that wheat flour is no longer available in markets in the north of Gaza and that no bakeries are functioning owing to a lack of fuel, water, flour and structural damage.

Hopes for a lifeline

Since limited aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing with Egypt resumed on 21 October, just over 73 truckloads of WFP food aid have made it into Gaza, falling far short of needs.

Ms. McCain expressed hope that more fuel will be let into the enclave “so that our trucks can carry in much-needed supplies and that once again bread will be available as a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people every day”.

Some 75,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Wednesday following an Israeli decision last week to allow the “daily entry of small amounts of fuel for essential humanitarian operations”, according to UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA.

The fuel is being distributed by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, to support food distribution and the operation of generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters, and other critical services in the south of the Strip, as access to the north has been cut off by Israeli military operations.

OCHA head and UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths said last week that some 200,000 litres of fuel per day were needed.

Hospital evacuation update

A new evacuation of 190 wounded and sick people, their companions and medical workers from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City was completed on Wednesday.

The development was announced by UN health agency WHO as a joint effort between UN agencies and humanitarian partners led by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The evacuees were transported in an ambulance convoy to the south.

OCHA quoted PRCS reports stating that the evacuation “lasted for almost 20 hours as the convoy was obstructed and subjected to inspection while passing through the checkpoint that separates northern and southern Gaza” and deploring the fact that the lives of patients had been endangered.

Evacuated dialysis patients were transferred to Abu Youssef An Najjar Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, while other patients were transported to the Strip’s European hospital in Khan Younis. An estimated 250 patients and staff are believed to be at Al-Shifa, which is no longer operational, OCHA said.

Meanwhile, Wednesday saw the lowest number yet of displaced people leaving northern Gaza to cross to the south using the “corridor” opened by the Israeli Defense Forces along the Strip’s main traffic artery, Salah Ad Deen Road.

According to OCHA monitoring only some 250 people moved south. The UN Office said that the decline is “largely attributed to the expectations generated by the humanitarian pause” which is yet to be implemented.

To date, over 1.7 million people in Gaza are internally displaced.

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Aid cut threat for Afghan deportees, saving Rohingya lives at sea, China respiratory illness spike, new rail transport treaty — Global Issues

Pakistan announced in October that it would begin deporting “undocumented” foreign nationals starting on 1 November, affecting thousands of Afghans who have found refuge in the country.

WFP said most families crossing the border are arriving hungry, desperate and in need of immediate support.

The UN agency continues to supply them with fortified biscuits and cash to buy food or other basic necessities, and has assisted 250,000 people so far this month.

Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP Afghanistan Country Director said its programme there is already critically underfunded.

He warned that without additional resources “we will not be able to continue our support to these families who are arriving at the border with nothing but a few basics and some bread for their journey.”

WFP is urgently seeking $27.5 million to support one million returnees and help them get through the winter.

Rights expert: Emergency response needed to save Rohingya refugees at sea

A UN independent expert has called for action to save the lives of Rohingya refugees making dangerous sea journeys to Indonesia as conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh continue to deteriorate.

“The crisis will only worsen without addressing its root cause – the illegal military junta of Myanmar,” Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the country, said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Bangladesh is hosting more than one million Rohingya refugees, who have fled waves of violence in Myanmar.

More than 1,000 refugees arrived by boat in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh over the past week.

Mr. Andrews commended the Government of Indonesia for offering safety, shelter and support to the arrivals, and urged other countries in the region to follow suit

“This is an emergency, and an emergency response is required, including a coordinated search and rescue operation to save the lives of those who may be stranded on overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels,” he said.

Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. They serve in their individual capacity, are not UN staff, and do not receive a salary.

China: WHO requests data on spread of respiratory diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) has made an official request to China for detailed information on a spike in respiratory illnesses in children.

The Chinese authorities reported the increase 10 days ago, WHO said, and attributed it to “the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens” including the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus itself, influenza and a bacterium that causes pneumonia.

Other reports of “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China” followed earlier this week.

WHO said that it had asked China for laboratory results from the pneumonia clusters as well as insight into the other respiratory diseases which are spreading and the impact on the health system.

The UN agency stressed that it was also in contact with clinicians and scientists through its existing technical partnerships and networks in China.

In the meantime, WHO advised people in China follow measures to reduce the risk of respiratory illness, such as recommended vaccination, testing and staying home when ill, masks, ventilation and hand-washing.

New rail transport treaty also has ‘green’ benefits

A new UN convention that promises to boost transport of goods by rail will also bring major environmental benefits.

That’s the message from the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which said that moving cargo by rail between Europe and Asia will be easier, quicker and cheaper after the adoption last week of the international treaty to streamline cross-border rail trade.

UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean said the treaty also means good news for climate action given that rail freight emits 5.7 times less greenhouse gases than road transport per tonne-kilometre, which is a unit of measure of freight transport.

Rail freight between China and Europe has already seen a major increase in recent years as it is much faster than shipping and less expensive than air transport.

The new treaty will open for signature in February.

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UN welcomes deal for pause in fighting, hostage-release pact — Global Issues

“This is an important step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done,” Mr. Guterres said via a statement from his spokesperson Farhan Haq.

The top UN official leading efforts to secure a lasting peace in the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, echoed those comments and also welcomed the announced 96-hour “humanitarian pause” in war-shattered Gaza.

“This pause must be used to its fullest extent to facilitate the release of hostages and alleviate the dire needs of Palestinians in Gaza.”

The development comes as UN humanitarians reiterated that they remain ready to seize the opportunity to ramp up lifesaving aid to the enclave.

‘Ocean of need’

Following the four-day ceasefire announcement the UN World Health Organization (WHO) issued fresh calls for safe, unimpeded humanitarian access in the Strip.

“The fighting needs to stop so that we can quickly scale up our response,” said Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “We cannot keep providing drops of aid in Gaza in an ocean of need.”

Meanwhile, WHO said that a new evacuation was under way at Gaza City’s embattled Al-Shifa hospital, with more to follow in northern Gaza.

‘Senseless conflict’

According to media reports, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was due to begin within 24 hours of its announcement. In his statement, Mr. Wennesland welcomed the efforts of the Governments of Egypt, Qatar and the United States in “facilitating” the agreement.

WHO’s representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, said that any news of a humanitarian pause and of a release of hostages was welcome, but that a true end to the fighting was needed.

At the same WHO press conference in Cairo, Dr. Al-Mandhari called for a “permanent ceasefire” and said that the parties to the conflict should “put the welfare and health of their people as their first priority”.

The UN health agency official also led a minute of silence to honour WHO staffer Dima Alhaj, killed in Gaza on Tuesday, along with many relatives. “As we grieve, we are reminded of the senseless nature of this conflict and of the fact that in Gaza today nowhere is safe for civilians, including our own UN colleagues,” he said.

Since the start of Israel’s retaliation of Hamas’ 7 October massacres which left 1,200 dead in southern Israel and some 240 hostages abducted, 108 UN staff members have been killed in the Strip.

New hospital evacuations under way

Dr. Peeperkorn revealed on Wednesday that a mission was under way in close coordination with humanitarian partners the Palestinian Red Crescent and Médecins Sans Frontières, to evacuate patients and health workers remaining in Al-Shifa.

The mission follows the initial inter-agency evacuation of 31 premature babies on Sunday. Out of the 220 patients and 200 health workers still at the hospital, the priority evacuees would be 21 dialysis patients, 29 patients with spinal injuries and those in intensive care, Dr. Peeperkorn said.

He also informed that in the meantime, the UN health agency has received evacuation requests from three other hospitals in northern Gaza: Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Al-Awda Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital, and planning was under way, with WHO and its partners sparing no efforts to “make sure this happens in the coming days”.

He explained that such evacuations are only undertaken upon request and as a last resort.

Attacks on healthcare

Dr. Al-Mandhari deplored the fact that even hospitals are not being protected from the “horrors” of the conflict in Gaza. WHO has documented 178 attacks on healthcare in the Strip since 7 October and out of the enclave’s 36 hospitals 28 are not functional anymore, his colleague Dr. Peeperkorn told journalists.

The eight remaining hospitals, all in the south, are “overwhelmed”, he said, and all efforts must be made to keep them functional and expand their bed capacity.

The enclave had some 3,500 hospital beds prior to the current escalation and that number is now down to less than 1,400.

WHO

People seek refuge in the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza. (file)

Much more aid required

The perspective of a ceasefire has raised hopes for improved access to desperate Gazan civilians and an increase in the volume of relief items coming through.

According to UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA, the aid trucks which have been entering Gaza since 21 October represent barely 14 per cent of the monthly volume of humanitarian and commercial transport reaching the enclave before the start of the current hostilities; this excludes fuel, which had been completely banned by the Israeli authorities until just a few days ago.

OCHA said that on Tuesday, 63,800 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt, following an Israeli decision from 18 November to “allow the daily entry of small amounts of fuel for essential humanitarian operations”.

The incoming fuel is being distributed by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to support food distribution and the operation of generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters and other critical services.

No food in the north

News of the ceasefire agreement came amid fears of hunger spreading in the north, which has been sealed off from the south by Israeli military operations. Humanitarian agencies have been unable to deliver assistance there since 7 November. Due to the lack of cooking facilities and fuel, “people are resorting to consuming the few raw vegetables or unripe fruits that remain available to them”, OCHA said, while no bakeries are open.

OCHA also warned that livestock in the north “is facing starvation and the risk of death” due to the shortage of fodder and water, and crops are being “increasingly abandoned”.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said 10 days ago that it considered the entire civilian population in Gaza to be food insecure.

Mental health needs ‘skyrocketing’

The distress caused by constant bombing, displacement and massive overcrowding in the UNRWA shelters, in some of which 400 people have to share a toilet, has been taking a heavy psychological toll on Gazans. OCHA said that mental health care needs are “skyrocketing”, especially for the most vulnerable: children, persons with disabilities and those with pre-existing complex conditions.

“Only limited psychosocial support services and psychological first aid is being provided in some shelters across Gaza where protection actors are sheltering and have capacity to respond”, OCHA said. Many services have reportedly been destroyed and many staff are unable to work.

OCHA also highlighted an increase in the movement of unaccompanied children and separated families. The UN Office said that an interagency plan is being developed to respond to this situation, including the registration of cases.

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DPR Korea missile launch, malaria vaccines in Cameroon, solidarity with Haiti — Global Issues

The country, known colloquially as North Korea, claimed to have carried out a third attempt to launch a ballistic missile on Tuesday, according to media reports.

Comply with obligations

Any such launch is contrary to relevant Security Council resolutions, Mr. Guterres said in a statement issued later that day by his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

The Secretary-General reiterated his call on the DPRK “to fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions and to return to dialogue without preconditions to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Cameroon receives WHO-approved malaria vaccine

The arrival in Cameroon of the world’s first malaria vaccine recommended by UN health agency WHO has been hailed as a significant step toward broader vaccination against one of the deadliest diseases for African children.

More than 330,000 doses of the RTS,S vaccine landed in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, on Tuesday night, as announced by WHO; Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Nearly every minute, a child under five dies of malaria, which is spread by infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. There were 247 million cases globally in 2021, and nearly 620,000 deaths, mostly among under-fives in Africa.

“This is another breakthrough moment for malaria vaccines and malaria control, and a ray of light in a dark time for so many vulnerable children in the world,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who called for vaccines to be scaled up.

The RTS,S vaccine has been administered to more than two million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi through a pilot programme that started in 2019.

The delivery to Cameroon is the first to a country not previously involved in the pilot programme, signalling that the scale-up of malaria vaccination across the highest-risk areas in Africa will begin shortly.

UN General Assembly President expresses solidarity with Haiti

The President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, concluded a two-day official visit to Haiti on Tuesday, where he expressed support and solidarity for its people as the country faces multiple challenges.

The security situation in the Caribbean country has deteriorated due to rampant gang violence. Last month, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of an international mission to support the national police.

Kenya has offered to lead the non-UN force.

Mr. Francis and his delegation were received in the capital, Port-au-Prince by Prime Minister Ariel Henry and other senior officials.

During his meeting with the Prime Minister, he emphasized that the international community had not forgotten about the country and its citizens.

The Assembly President also met with representatives of political parties, civil society and UN officials, in addition to visiting a primary school.

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