Tag: United Nations news

Record profits, while COVID treatment often ‘out of reach’ for the poor — Global Issues

Despite weekly fatalities being at their lowest since March 2020, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at the weekly briefing in Geneva that “these trends, while welcome, don’t tell the full story.”

More sub-variants

The South African scientists who identified Omicron late last year have now reported two more Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, as the reason for a spike in cases there.

While it is too soon to know whether the sub-variants can cause more severe disease than others linked to Omicron, early data suggest that the best way to protect people remains vaccination, alongside tried and tested public health and social measures.

“This is another sign that the pandemic is not done with us,” warned Tedros.

Address ‘bottlenecks’

He reiterated that the best way to save lives, protect health systems and minimize cases of “long COVID” is by vaccinating at least 70 per cent of every country’s population – and 100 per cent of most at-risk groups.

Although more jabs have become available, a lack of political commitment, operational capacity problems, financial constraints, misinformation and disinformation, are limiting vaccine demand.

“We urge all countries to address these bottlenecks to provide protection to their populations,” the top WHO official said.  

Crucial testing

“Testing and sequencing remain absolutely critical,” he continued, noting that both sub-variants were identified because “South Africa is still doing the vital genetic sequencing that many other countries have stopped”.

Tedros cautioned that many countries are blind to how the virus is mutating – not knowing what lies ahead.

And the scant availability and high prices of effective antivirals continue to render them inaccessible to low and middle-income countries.

“Coupled with low investment in early diagnosis, it is simply not acceptable that in the worst pandemic in a century, innovative treatments that can save lives are not reaching those that need them,” underscored the WHO chief.

Playing with fire

While “we’re playing with a fire that continues to burn us”, he said that “manufacturers are posting record profits”.

WHO supports fair reward for innovation and while ACT Accelerator partners are negotiating lower costs and increased availability, he stressed that “we cannot accept prices that make life-saving treatments available to the rich and out of reach for the poor”.

“This is a moral failing”.

Ukraine

Tedros informed the journalists he would be traveling to Poland on Thursday, for the International Donors’ Conference for Ukraine.

“The health challenges in Ukraine are worsening by the day, especially in the country’s east,” said, noting that WHO had now verified 186 attacks on healthcare in the country.

He highlighted the importance of humanitarian corridors by pointing out that WHO and its partners were able to receive and provide healthcare to scores of civilians fleeing Mariupol.

He urged Russia to allow all remaining civilians to leave the shattered port city, and all other areas where they are “at great risk”.

WHO is responding to a huge range of challenges around the world – WHO chief

Africa

Turning to the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, Tedros spelled out that the climate crisis, spiking food prices and food shortages are threatening to cause famine and further insecurity.

With the vast region experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, 15 million people are estimated to be severely food insecure in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and repeated attacks on scarce water resources in Burkina Faso are depriving citizens of access to the minimum amount of water they need just to survive.

Meanwhile in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO is supporting vaccinations for an Ebola outbreak. 

“WHO is responding to a huge range of challenges around the world – to say nothing of our work outside of emergencies to strengthen health systems and promote the conditions in which people can live healthy lives,” said Tedros, reminding that “all of this work costs money”.

Hand washing, not hand wringing

One the eve of World Hand Hygiene Day, and the International Day of the Midwife, Tedros told reporters that WHO was launching its first Global Report on Infection Prevention and Control.

“The simple act of cleaning hands can save lives, especially in healthcare facilities, where vulnerable patients can be exposed to infection.”

He said an astonishing 70 per cent of infections can be prevented where good hand hygiene and other “cost-effective practices are followed”.

He said simply cleaning your hands regularly, “can be the difference between life and death, for you and for others.”

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Better prevention and targeting of root causes needed to combat food crises — Global Issues

“Acute hunger is soaring to unprecedented levels and the global situation just keeps on getting worse,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). 

The annual report from the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) – an international alliance of the UN, European Union (EU), governmental and non-governmental agencies – shines a light on the urgency of tackling root causes rather than just responding to emergencies after the fact.

Acute hunger is soaring to unprecedented levels – WFP chief

Most in need

The report focuses on countries and territories where the severity of the food crisis is outstripping local resources and capacities. 

It reveals that some 193 million people in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels (IPC/CH Phase 3-5) in 2021, representing an increase of nearly 40 million people compared with 2020’s already record numbers.

Of those, 570,000 people in Ethiopia, southern Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen, were classified in the most severe phase of acute food insecurity, “catastrophe” phase 5, and required urgent action to avert widespread collapse of livelihoods, starvation and death. 

When looking at the same 39 countries or territories featured in all editions of the report, the number of people facing Phase 3 levels or above, nearly doubled between 2016 and 2021, rising unabatedly each year since 2018.

“The results of this year’s Global Report further demonstrate the need to collectively address acute food insecurity at the global level across humanitarian, development and peace context,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

© FAO/Sonia Nguyen.

Conflict remains the main driver of acute food insecurity.

Root causes

From conflict to environmental and climate crises, and economic to health crises with poverty and inequality as undelaying causes, these worrying trends are the result of multiple drivers feeding into one another.

Weather extremes have crippled over 23 million people in eight countries/territories, an increase from 15.7 million in 15 countries/territories.

And economic shocks have affected over 30 million people in 21 countries/territories, down from over 40 million people in 17 countries/territories in 2020 – mainly due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Conflict main driver

However, conflict remains the main driver of food insecurity, having pushed 139 million in 24 countries/territories into acute food insecurity – up from around 99 million in 23 countries/territories in in 2020.

“Conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and surging food and fuel costs have created a perfect storm,” said Mr. Beasley.

“Millions of people in dozens of countries are being driven to the edge of starvation,” he added appealing for “urgently need emergency funding to pull them back from the brink and turn this global crisis around before it’s too late”. 

Ukraine repercussions

While the analysis predates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the report finds that the war has already exposed the interconnected nature and fragility of global food systems, with serious consequences for global food and nutrition security.

Countries already coping with high levels of acute hunger are particularly vulnerable to the risks created by the war in Eastern Europe, notably due to their high dependency on imports of food and agricultural inputs and vulnerability to global food price shocks, notes the report. 

“The tragic link between conflict and food insecurity is once again evident and alarming,” said Mr. QU.

“While the international community has courageously stepped up to the calls for urgent famine prevention and mitigation action, resource mobilization to efficiently tackle the root causes of food crises due to, among others, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, global hotspots and the war in Ukraine, still struggles to match the growing needs”.

A paradigm shift 

The report’s findings demonstrate the need for a greater prioritization of smallholder agriculture as a frontline humanitarian response.

Furthermore, it advocates for promoting structural changes to current external financing, to reduce humanitarian assistance over time through longer-term development investments, which can help tackle the root causes of hunger.

In parallel, humanitarian assistance must be provided more efficiently and sustainably. 

“The situation calls out for at-scale action to move towards integrated approaches to prevention, anticipation, and better targeting to sustainably address the root causes of food crises, including structural rural poverty, marginalization, population growth and fragile food systems,” said the Global Network founding members, in a joint statement with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank.

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A refuge from terror in Niger, as UN Chief pledges to be voice for the displaced — Global Issues

This is Ouallam district one of the hottest places in Niger, in one of the hottest countries in Africa, where rain falls rarely and sparingly but where shattered communities can find a refuge from the increasing acts of violence and terrorist activity which have struck the region.

Ouallam and two other neighbouring districts in northern Niger currently shelter some 28,000 people who have fled their homes because of violence, including terrorist acts, in the volatile wider Sahel region of Africa. Around 8,000 have left as refugees from neighbouring Mali to the north and another 20,000 have been displaced from 18 nearby villages and towns.

One of them is Zakou Siddo, a teacher who fled from a village called Mogodiougou, some 80 kilometres from Ouallam.

“Twelve people were killed when my village was attacked on 14 November 2020.  Livestock was stolen and our grain stores and some houses set on fire,” adding that “we then decided to flee to Ouallam which is considered safe.”

In Ouallam, Mr Siddou came together with other displaced communities from around the region, who left villages and towns standing empty and schools unattended. Many children had not been to class since 2017.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

Aminata Walet Issafeitane, who is from Mali, has lived in Ouallam for ten years.

And they met refugees from Mali, including Aminata Walet Issafeitane, who is president of a Women’s Refugee Committee in Ouallam, and who fled the country of her birth ten years ago.

She tells a similar story of theft and violence. “We are a nomadic and pastoral people and our destiny was changed when armed groups stole our livestock.”

Like many refugees and displaced people, her community faced unprecedented changes. “We have had transform ourselves into sedentary people; we are trying to adapt in spite of the severe drought and lack of water which stops us from growing food; the few animals we have now are unable to find pasture. This makes us all suffer from a lack of food.”

Across Niger, some 80 per cent of Niger’s population of 25 million depend on agriculture to survive.

Microcosm of challenges facing Niger

Ouallam and its surrounding districts is a microcosm of the challenges facing Niger, a landlocked West African country where, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), some 264,000 Nigeriens are internally displaced due to a series of factors including deteriorating security and the effects of changing climatic conditions as well as overgrazing and deforestation.

UNICEF Niger/Phillipe Kropf

Some 28,000 displaced people live in Ouallam and neighbouring districts.

UNHCR says there are also over 250,000 refugees from neighbouring countries in Niger. In March 2022 alone, UN partners reported that more than 17,600 people were displaced into Niger, mostly Nigeriens returning home, but also Malian refugees.

UN agencies and their partners are providing a range of humanitarian and development support across Niger. It’s estimated that 6.8 million people are chronically food insecure and do not get enough to eat, year by year. Low rainfall and attacks in agricultural production areas have once again combined to reduce and limit the amount of food that is grown by farmers.

Despite the combination of crises, the 2022 humanitarian response plan for Niger is only 8.7 per cent funded.

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

UN Secretary General, António Guterres, speaks to displaced women in Ouallam.

‘Spokesperson’ for the displaced

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, visited displaced people and refugees from Mali in Ouallam, to demonstrate his and the UN’s solidarity with those who have been driven from their homes.

Speaking directly to them, Mr Guterres said that he would do everything he could to support improvements to their lives. “I will be your spokesperson and will demand that the international community not only provides the humanitarian aid you need but also supports development, because it is with education, health and the creation of jobs, that terrorism can be beaten.”

And he warned that “there are terrorists who say they are acting in the name of God; it is a false claim,” adding that “in all the sacred texts of Islam, there is a condemnation of violence and any war waged by one Muslim against another Muslim.”

He once again appealed for the international community to support Niger calling it “a democratic country with good governance,” but one which “is not sufficiently equipped” to counter terrorism.

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UN signs framework to assist survivors of sexual violence — Global Issues

Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative working to end rape in war, was speaking at a press conference in the capital, Kyiv. 

Standing alongside Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, she expressed solidarity with survivors, saying they are not alone. 

“My promise to you is that international law will not be an empty promise. Today’s documentation will be tomorrow’s prosecution.And I want you to know that your rights don’t end when wars begin,” she said.  

“Women’s rights don’t end when wars begin. Your bodies are not (a) battlefield and must never be treated as part of the battlefield.” 

Interventions and assistance 

Ms. Patten and Ms. Stefanishyna on Tuesday signed a framework for cooperation that supports the design and delivery of priority interventions in the areas of justice and accountability as a central pillar of deterrence and prevention. 

The agreement also addresses comprehensive service provision for survivors, including sexual and reproductive health services, medical and specialized mental health services, legal assistance, and livelihood support. 

Responding to a reporter’s question, Ms. Stefanishyna described sexual violence committed in war as “one of the most silent types of crime”, underlining the difficulty of gathering information on exact numbers. 

“Today we have started working to gather this information using volunteers, working with medical facilities, and documenting these cases outside the criminal proceedings,” she said, speaking through an interpreter. 

Ms. Patten added that “we cannot expect to have accurate bookkeeping on an active battlefield,” stressing she does not wait for hard data and statistics to act. 

Services for men and boys 

Although sexual violence is mostly perpetrated against women and girls, Ms. Patten has also received reports of cases involving men and boys in Ukraine, which the UN has not yet verified.

“I am working with the different UN agencies to ensure that there are services adapted to the needs of men and boys, because everywhere in many conflict situations, I have observed that there is a lack of services adapted to the needs of men and boys,” she said. 

Preventing human trafficking 

The framework with the Ukrainian authorities also covers gender-responsive security sector reform, as well as prevention of conflict-related trafficking, amid rising displacement. 

More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the war began just over two months ago, generating the fastest-growing refugee crisis since the Second World War, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. 

“It is a fact that conflict does exacerbate vulnerability to trafficking, and human trafficking of Ukrainian women can be a dangerous by-product of this conflict-fuelled refugee crisis,” said Ms. Patten, emphasizing the critical need for mitigation measures. 

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefs UN Security Council meeting on women and peace and security (file photo).

Sparing no effort 

The UN official also responded to questions about “extremely disturbing” reports of Ukrainian women who were raped before being killed.  She has met with the country’s Prosecutor General and said there is “solid” forensic evidence of such incidents. 

“This is very serious, and the United Nations, through this framework of cooperation that we have signed, will not spare any effort to bring perpetrators to justice,” she said. 

Ms. Patten acknowledged that prosecution for cases of sexual violence committed in war comes with challenges, stating it is “never easy”.  

She reported on her meeting with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Ukraine who have shared anecdotal reports. 

“One NGO representative was referring to cases where the perpetrator wore a mask, so identification becomes extremely difficult,” she said. 

Ms. Patten stated that “whatever reports are surfacing, they can only represent the tip of the iceberg,” highlighting the need to focus on reporting.  

‘Never again’ 

In this regard, she has also held discussions with the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights, which could establish “hubs” across Ukraine where people can report cases of sexual violence and also receive medical, psychological and other support. 

Having these safe spaces available would also avert the people, who don’t possess the adequate skillset required, interviewing victims, which carries the huge risk of re-traumatization and re-victimizing. 

“We have to learn lessons from the other conflicts where this has been the case, with victims interviewed over 10 times, 15 times, with all the inconsistencies in the reports which make their case not tenable in a court of law,” she said. 

“Every war, we say ‘never again’. I think this time we have to say, ‘never again” and mean it, and take the necessary action to give justice to these victims of sexual violence.”  

The world is watching 

The mandate of the UN Special Representative was established by the Security Council more than a decade ago, to tackle conflict-related sexual violence as a peace and security issue. 

International human law makes it clear that even wars have limits, said Ms. Patten, and sexual violence is beyond the scope of acceptable conduct even in the midst of combat. 

“Wartime rape can no longer be dismissed as an inevitable by-product of war. It must be recognized by all parties as a crime that can be prevented and punished,” she said. 

Although deeply concerned about what she called “the emboldening effects of impunity”, Ms. Patten said it was “critical that all actors and parties know that the world is watching.” 



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Gang clashes in capital force hundreds to flee their homes — Global Issues

Speaking at the regular daily press briefing, Farhan Haq said that according to the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, in Haiti, unrest has been growing between gang members in the neighbourhoods of the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, Cité Soleil, Bas Delmas and Martissant.

“According to our humanitarian colleagues, violence in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets has displaced more than 1,200 people…at least 26 civilians have been killed and 22 injured, although these figures are probably higher,” he said.

At the same time, dozens of houses have been burned; schools, medical centres and markets have had to close; and a hospital in Marin was looted.

Violence in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets has displaced more than 1,200 people – UN spokesperson

Needs increasing

“Displaced people need access to clean water, food, sanitation kits, children’s kits, kitchen kits, mattresses, blankets and clothing,” said Mr. Haq.

“The UN is ready to provide hot meals and additional assistance in coordination with national authorities”.

While working on a plan to relocate families being housed on temporary sites, the UN and its humanitarian partners have been supporting the Mayor’s Office of Tabarre and the Civil Protection Agency, in distributing hot meals and food, as well as essential items.

Since the assassination last July of President Jovenel Moïse, violent crime has been on the rise, according to media reports.

And last month, thousands took to the streets, demanding that the late president’s successor, Ariel Henry, do more to combat Haiti’s powerful criminal gangs, which have taken control of parts of the capital.

Warning system triggered

Haiti’s Civil Protection General Directorate-led national coordination committee, made up of UN agencies and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, has activated an early warning system known as the Displacement Tracking Matrix, OCHA said.

Local NGOs are providing psychosocial activities for children at temporary sites, including recreational events, child friendly learning spaces, and counselling.

Kidnapping for ransom

Meanwhile, as the Haitian police struggle to contain the gang violence, kidnappings of foreigners and others by criminal gangs, demanding large ransoms, have been on the rise, according to news reports.

A Dominican diplomat was reported to have been kidnapped on Monday, while travelling through  a gang-controlled area, but while abducted foreigners have received most of the media attention, most victims are reportedly Haitian.

According to Haiti’s Centre for Analysis and Research on Human Rights, in 2021 more than 1,200 people were kidnapped – only 81 of whom were foreign nationals.

Ten per cent were so-called “collective abductions,” where gang members abducted a group of people, sometimes by storming church services and kidnapping clergy in the middle of mass.

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WHO warns of worsening obesity ‘epidemic’ in Europe — Global Issues

 Nearly two thirds of adults, 59 per cent, and almost one in three children – 29 per cent of boys and 27 per cent of girls – is either overweight or obese, the study has revealed. 

Being chronically overweight and obesity are among the leading causes of death and disability in Europe.  Estimates suggest they cause more than 1.2 million deaths annually, which corresponds to more than 13 per cent of total mortality in the region. 

Increased cancer risk 

Obesity also increases the risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including 13 different types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes. It is likely to be directly responsible for at least 200,000 new cancer cases annually across the region, and this figure is set to rise further in the coming years. 

WHOsaidnone of the 53 countries that comprise its European region is on track to meet the agency’s NCD target of halting the rise of obesity by 2025. 

Furthermore, theCOVID-19 pandemic has also disproportionately affected overweight people and those living with obesity.   

WHO said patients with obesity are more likely to experience complications and death from the virus. Many have also experienced disruptions in accessing obesity management services due to the crisis. 

Meanwhile, “unfavourable shifts” in food consumption and physical activity patterns during the pandemic will have effects on health in the years ahead and will require significant effort to reverse. 

Changing the trajectory 

Obesity knows no borders, said Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO Regional Director, adding that although European countries are diverse, each is challenged to some degree. 

“By creating environments that are more enabling, promoting investment and innovation in health, and developing strong and resilient health systems, we can change the trajectory of obesity in the Region,” he said. 

The report lays out a series of interventions and policy options for Governments to tackle obesity, emphasizing the need to build back better after the pandemic. 

WHO explained that the causes of obesity “are much more complex than the mere combination of unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.” 

Latest evidence presented in the report highlights how vulnerability to unhealthy body weight in early life can affect a person’s tendency to develop obesity. 

Environmental factors are also driving the rise in obesity in Europe, including digital marketing of unhealthy food to children, and the proliferation of sedentary online gaming, according to the report, which also examines how digital platforms might be used to promote health and well-being. 

“Obesity is influenced by the environment, so it is important to look at this problem from the perspective of every stage of life. For example, the life of children and adolescents is impacted by digital environments, including marketing of unhealthy food and drinks,” said Dr Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Acting Head of the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of NCDs, which produced the report. 

Address ‘structural drivers’ 

The policy recommendations in the report include implementing fiscal interventions such as greater taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages or subsidies for healthier foods, restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, and improving access to obesity and overweight management services in primary healthcare. 

Efforts to improve diet and physical activity “across the life course” are also suggested, including preconception and pregnancy care, promotion of breastfeeding and school-based interventions, as well as creating environments that improve access to healthy food and physical activity. 

WHO said because obesity is complex, no single intervention can halt the rise of the growing epidemic, and any national policies must have high-level political commitment.  They should also be comprehensive and target inequalities.  

“Efforts to prevent obesity need to consider the wider determinants of the disease, and policy options should move away from approaches that focus on individuals and address the structural drivers of obesity,” the agency said. 

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Threats to media workers’ freedom ‘growing by the day’, UN chief warns — Global Issues

The day shines a spotlight on the essential work they do, bringing those in power to account, with transparency, “often at great person risk”, said Secretary-General António Guterres, in a video message.

Frontlines of crises

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many media workers have been on the frontlines, providing accurate, science-based reporting to inform decision-makers and save lives”, he said.

“At the same time, journalists who cover climate, biodiversity and pollution have succeeded in bringing global attention to this triple planetary crisis.”

But the threats to their freedom to go about their reporting and story-telling fairly and accurately, are multiplying daily.

“From global health to the climate crisis, corruption, and human rights abuses, they face increased politicization of their work and attempts to silence them from many sides.

“Digital technology has democratized access to information. But it has also created serious challenges.”

Feeding on outrage, lies

The UN chief noted that many social media platforms make their money not through increasing access to fact-based reporting, but on boosting engagement, “which often means provoking outrage, and spreading lies.”

“Media workers in war zones are threatened not only by bombs and bullets, but by the weapons of falsification and disinformation that accompany modern warfare. They may be attacked as the enemy, accused of espionage, detained, or killed, simply for doing their jobs.”

Mr. Guterres said that digital technology, was also making censorship easier for authoritarian governments and others, seeking to suppress the truth, with many journalists and editors facing the prospect of their work being taken offline on a daily basis.

Women at ‘particular risk’

Digital technology is also creating new “channels for oppression and abuse”, with women journalists “at particular risk” of online harassment and violence. 

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has found that nearly three-quarters of women respondents, had experienced online violence. Hacking and illegal surveillance also prevent journalists from doing their jobs.

“The methods and tools change, but the goal of discrediting the media and covering up the truth remains the same as ever”, said the UN chief, leading to citizens who live in societies without free media, being “manipulated in horrifying ways.”

No democracy

“Without freedom of the press, there are no real democratic societies. Without freedom of the press, there is no freedom”, he said.

Ten years ago, the UN established a Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, to protect media workers and end impunity for crimes committed against them, and the UN is continuing to fight to protect their rights.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day Global Conference, began on Monday, and will run until 5 May in Punta Del Este, Uruguay, built around the theme Journalism under Digital Siege.

Participants will discuss the impact of the digital era on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists, access to information and privacy. World Press Freedom Day events will reunite relevant stakeholders such as policymakers, journalists, media representatives, activists, cybersecurity managers and legal experts to explore these issues and develop concrete solutions to address the threats posed to press freedom and privacy in the digital age.

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‘Triple crisis’ in Africa aggravated by war in Ukraine — Global Issues

Speaking in Dakar, the capital of the West African country, Senegal, on his first visit to the continent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Guterres said, “when discussing the socio-economic situation, it is impossible not to mention the war in Ukraine and its impact on Africa.”

 The UN chief made the remarks after meeting the country’s President Macky Sall, who said that the war in Ukraine was “a human tragedy” which can have “a dramatic impact on economies, in particular, those of developing countries.”

 The conflict in Ukraine is driving up global food and fuel prices; senior UN officials are concerned that rising costs will push more people into hunger and could lead to political instability and social unrest in some parts of Africa, where food prices have increased by a third since last year.

 Before the Russian invasion began in February, the combination of climate change, conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, was already impacting the socio-economic situation in Africa, especially in the Sahel region which includes Senegal.

Vaccine equity and sovereignty

 Earlier Mr. Guterres and President Sall had toured a new hi-tech vaccine production facility, currently being built by the Institut Pasteur in Dakar. When completed, it will be able to produce a range of vaccines including Pfizer-BioNTech, one of the most widely used immunizations against COVID-19. It will also be able to manufacture experimental vaccines against malaria and tuberculosis.

UNICEF/Vincent Tremeau

A Senegalese man holds up his COVID-19 vaccination card

 Speaking at the end of World Immunization Week, Mr. Guterres said that it was necessary to “build true vaccine equity across the world,” and that it was “unacceptable” that close to 80 per cent of Africans are not vaccinated against COVID-19; a situation which he called a “moral failure.”

 President Macky Sall has called for pharmaceutical sovereignty by supporting the emergence of an African pharmaceutical industry capable of meeting basic needs and coping with pandemics.

As part of the COVID-19 recovery plan, Senegal is strengthening its drugs manufacturing sector. It’s expected that the vaccination facility will produce at least 50 per cent of the country’s needs.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

The vaccine production facility in Dakar, Senegal, will make COVID-19 and other vaccines.

Mr. Guterres added that the world’s “wealthiest countries and pharmaceutical companies should accelerate the donation of vaccines and invest in local production,” of the type seen at Institut Pasteur facility.

Global crisis response

Increased investment is part of a global strategy to support developing countries facing what the UN has called “cascading crises.” In March 2022, the UN Chief established the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG) set up in response to the crisis provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that the invasion was producing alarming effects on a world economy already battered by COVID-19 and climate change.

President Macky Sall is one of six eminent world leaders who have been named as Champions of the group and who are supporting the Secretary-General’s call for immediate action to prevent, mitigate and respond to the crisis. He is also the Chairperson of the African Union for 2022.

The GCRG, calls on countries to find creative ways to finance increased humanitarian and development recovery needs worldwide and to give generously and immediately release funds that they have already pledged.

Food, energy and finance

 Talking to reporters in Dakar, Mr Guterres said “we must ensure a steady flow of food and energy in open markets, removing all unnecessary export restrictions,” adding that “countries must resist the temptation to hoard and instead release strategic stocks of energy.”

 The UN estimates that a quarter of a billion people could be pushed into extreme poverty this year, caused by the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. International financial institutions have a key role to play and “must urgently provide debt relief by increasing liquidity and fiscal space,” the UN Chief said, “so that governments can avoid default and invest in social safety nets and sustainable development for their people.” 

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UN-Red Cross operation underway to evacuate civilians from stricken Mariupol plant — Global Issues

“A safe passage operation…is ongoing today”, said Saviano Abreu, of OCHA in Ukraine, adding that the efforts are being “coordinated” by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, “in coordination with the parties to the conflict.”

According to news reports, more than 100 civilians were allowed to leave in the first phase of the operation.

Mr. Abreu said it had been agreed by Russian and Ukrainian authorities that the civilians who have been in the heavily damaged steel plant for nearly two months, “women, children and the elderly”, will be evacuated to Zaporizka, which is under Ukrainian control to the north of Mariupol.

Support for survivors

There, “they will receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological services”, he said. The World Health Organization (WHO) in Ukraine, tweeted that they and other partner agencies, were “ready to receive the evacuees”, and hoping that “more evacuations will follow”.

Secretary-General António Guterres travelled to Moscow and met President Vladimir Putin early last week, securing an agreement from the Russian premier “in principle” to allow this weekend’s lifesaving operation to take place, after weeks of failed attempts to provide a safe humanitarian corridor for a mass evacuation.

After meeting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital Kyiv on Thursday, the urgent imperative of ending what Mr. Guterres called the “crisis within a crisis” of finally allowing civilians to leave the shattered coastal city after weeks of Russian bombardment, was the subject of “intense discussions” between the two parties.

Civilian safety, paramount

Mr. Abreu said in the statement to correspondents issued on Sunday that, the operation had begun with a UN-Red Cross convoy leaving for Mariupol on Friday, from Zaporizka, a journey of around 230 kilometres.

“As the operations are still ongoing, we will not provide further details at this point”, he said, “to guarantee the safety of the civilians and humanitarians in the convoy.”

He concluded saying that the UN “will continue to push for the safe passage out of Mariupol city for all those civilians who wish to leave. The UN is engaging actively with parties to advance these efforts.”

If the evacuees can reach safety, it would mark the first time that a convoy organised by humanitarian agencies has managed to secure the passage of civilians, who been living under fire from Russian heavy weapons and aerial bombardment, since the first days of the Russia invasion.

The death toll inside Mariupol is unknown, but the city’s mayor has reported that more than 20,000 civilians have been killed. 

The last Ukrainian soldiers left defending the city, have been holed up inside the vast Soviet-era steel works – together with reportedly hundreds of civilians – which has a series of labyrinthine bunkers and tunnels, which has prevented Russian forces from securing the last pockets of resistance.



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UN humanitarians say $4.3 billion is needed to halt ‘worsening’ Yemen crisis — Global Issues

The plan targets 17.3 million out of the staggering 23.4 million people in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection services across the war-ravaged Arab nation, as the first nationwide truce in six years, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, continues to broadly hold.

The UN-led truce between the Saudi-led coalition forces supporting the internationally recognized Government, and Houthi rebels (formally known as Ansar Allah) who hold much of the country including the capital, Sa’ana, began on 2 April, and is due to continue through May.

‘Urgently address’ realities

“The worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a reality that we need to urgently address,” said David Gressly, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.

“The numbers this year are staggering. Over 23 million people – or almost three-quarters of Yemen’s population – now need assistance. That is an increase of almost three million people from 2021. Nearly 13 million people are already facing acute levels of need.”

Escalating conflict last year, resulted in untold suffering and further disruption of public services, pushing humanitarian needs higher, said a press release issued by the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) team in Yemen.

A collapsing economy, another product of the seven-year war, has exacerbated vulnerabilities for the poorest, with a record 19 million people are projected to require food assistance in the second half of 2022.

There are an estimated 161,000 who face “the most extreme hunger”, says OCHA. “Children continue to suffer horribly”, with 2.2 million acutely malnourished, including more than half a million at severe levels. Limited access to critical services continues to worsen the conditions of the most vulnerable groups, including women and children.

‘Moment of hope’

“This is also a moment of hope for Yemen. The UN-led truce is a vital opportunity for aid agencies to scale up life-saving assistance and to reach more people in acute need quickly, including in areas where access was limited due to armed conflict and insecurity,” said Mr. Gressly. “For aid agencies to immediately step up efforts, we count on sufficient donor funding. Otherwise, the aid operation will collapse despite the positive momentum we are seeing in Yemen today.”

At a high-level fund-raising event for Yemen held in March this year, donors pledged $1.3 billion – just 30 per cent of the total requirement for the 2022 HRP.

Another $300 million has been pledged since then, said OCHA. However, the response remains severely underfunded, leaving aid agencies with limited resources at a time when two-thirds of major UN programmes in Yemen were forced to scale back or close due to underfunding. “I urge all donors to fund the appeal fully and commit to disbursing funds quickly,” said Mr. Gressly.

More than 4.3 million people have fled their homes since the current war erupted in 2015, making it the fourth largest internal displacement crisis on Earth.



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