But, briefing the Security Council, Abdou Abarry, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the region also warned that insecurity and humanitarian crises continue to plague nations. Observers had reported Chad’s presidential elections in May took place “under good conditions”, albeit with some isolated incidents which had not compromised the conduct or credibility of the…
At an event commemorating the 49th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed noted progress made, alongside immediate challenges. “Over the last decade, the region has seen an exponential rise in terrorism that has reversed its development gains. This has been further exacerbated by the resurgence…
The droughts have destroyed harvests in areas where 70 per cent of the population depends on agriculture for survival. Executive Director McCain said what she has seen has been both alarming and heartbreaking. “I met farmers who usually grow enough to feed their families and communities. This year they harvested nothing. Now imagine a similar…
Bringing together civil society actors, government representatives, senior UN officials, young changemakers, academic and other stakeholders, the UN Civil Society Conference is the premier event on the civil society calendar at the United Nations, ahead of the Summit of the Future, set for this coming September. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, in a video message to…
In an alert, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted that torrential rains have unleashed catastrophic flooding and mudslides while also severely damaging roads, bridges and dams. More than 637,000 people have been affected by weeks of deluges including 234,000 displaced in just the last five days. There is no official figure for the number of…
The experts detailed the far-reaching impacts of the violence and lawlessness that has led to chaos across the capital, Port-au=Prince, and other areas under gang control this year. “The outbreak of violence in Haiti has resulted in loss of livelihoods and food insecurity, widespread and multiple displacement, the collapse of education, breakdown of healthcare and…
Torrential rains could worsen with the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Friday. Prepare for impact The tropical cyclone is the first of its kind to develop in eastern Africa and is due to have a “very big impact”, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva. She said Tanzania was expected to suffer in particular…
In a statement released late on Wednesday the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he had been deeply distressed to hear of the hundreds of lives lost and many others affected by the deluge in Kenya as well as Burundi, Somalia, Tanzania and other parts of East Africa. He extended his condolences to the Governments and…
This is a four million increase in the number of people currently dealing with food insecurity in that region. Mali is facing the worst situation – around 2,600 people there are presumed to be experiencing catastrophic hunger – IPC food classification index phase 5 (read our explainer on the IPC system here). “The time to…
Dr. Fiona Braka from WHO’s regional office in Brazzaville, Congo, said that eastern and southern Africa have been particularly badly affected. In just the first four weeks of the year, 10 African countries reported more than 26,000 cases and 700 deaths, which is nearly double the number reported last year over the same period. Zambia…
