Tag Archives: efforts

Afghanistan: New restrictions on women nationals working for UN, put aid efforts at risk

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These measures are putting life-saving humanitarian assistance and other essential services for hundreds of thousands of people affected by a recent deadly earthquake at risk, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) warned in a statement.

On Sunday, the de facto security forces prevented women Afghan staff members and contractors from entering UN compounds in the capital, Kabul.

More offices affected

This was extended to field offices across the country, following written or verbal notifications from Taliban leadership.

Furthermore, security forces are visibly present at the entrances of UN premises in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif to enforce the measure.

“This is particularly concerning in view of continuing restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls,” the statement said.

Since returning to power four years ago, the Taliban have issued numerous edicts impacting women’s rights such as prohibiting girls from attending secondary school and banning women from most jobs, including working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Travel also curtailed

The UN has also received reports of security forces attempting to bar women national staff from travelling to field locations, including to support women and girls as part of the response to the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan last month.

They are also being blocked from accessing operational sites for Afghan returnees from Iran and Pakistan.

Lift the restrictions

The UN is engaging the de facto authorities and calls for the immediate lifting of restrictions to continue critical support to the Afghan people, noting that the current actions disregard “previously communicated arrangements”.

“Such arrangements have enabled the United Nations to deliver critical assistance across the country, through a culturally sensitive and principled approach ensuring the delivery of assistance by women, for women,” the statement said.

In the interim, UNAMA and UN agencies, funds and programmes in Afghanistan, have implemented operational adjustments to protect staff and assess options for continuing their essential work.

The statement concluded by recalling that the prohibition on the movement of UN staff and the obstruction of UN operations is a breach of international rules on the privileges and immunities of the organization’s personnel. 

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UN upholds readiness to support peace efforts in Ukraine

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Stéphane Dujarric was responding to a journalist’s question about the meeting held the previous day between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his American counterpart Donald Trump, and several European leaders at the White House.

It followed talks last week between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska.

Engagement and dialogue

“It’s very important that all involved continue to stay actively engaged in what we want to see as an inclusive dialogue to sustain the important momentum that was created to bring an immediate ceasefire and sustainable peace in Ukraine,” he said.

Nearly four years have passed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and more than 13,000 civilians have been killed, UN human rights monitors in the country have reported.  

Mr. Dujarric was asked if the Secretary-General had any comment on the possibility of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents.

While noting that there is much discussion around “potential dialogues or formats, location”, he said “it is obviously important that those parties who are directly involved in this conflict be able to speak to each other directly.”

Asked what role the UN could play in this process, he said the global body will be “supportive and ready to engage in a role that may or may not be given to us based on the principles that the Secretary-General has often reiterated.”

When pressed about whether UN peacekeepers could be deployed to Ukraine, Mr. Dujarric stressed that “any peacekeeping mission anywhere would have to go through the Security Council.” 

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Violence in northern Mozambique forces thousands to flee, straining aid efforts

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The displacement is the latest consequence of a cascade of overlapping emergencies in the country – including armed violence, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and a severe funding shortfall. Since January, over 95,000 people have fled insecurity in Cabo Delgado and humanitarian access is becoming increasingly fragile.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), attacks by armed groups between 20 and 28 July triggered the displacement of at least 46,667 people across the districts of Chiúre, Ancuabe and Muidumbe.

Chiúre was the hardest hit, with more than 42,000 people uprooted – over half of them children.

“Insecurity persists, and people on the move often lack civil documentation,” OCHA said in a humanitarian bulletin on Saturday. “These challenges may impact the ability of displaced people to move freely, safely access basic services and maintain their livelihoods.”

Children separated from families

Attacks in Chiúre Velho, Ocua and Mazeze have driven families to Chiúre Sede, where they are sheltering in overcrowded conditions in the neighbourhoods of Bairro Micone and Bairro Namicir. Reports indicate a high number of unaccompanied or separated children.

Food, shelter and essential non-food items are reported as the most urgent needs, according to humanitarian partners.

The security situation in Ancuabe district also deteriorated rapidly. According to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of displaced families nearly tripled in one week, reaching 444 households (1,946 people), including over 1,200 children. The violence forced residents of Nanduli village to seek refuge in Chiote and Ancuabe Sede.

In Muidumbe, fighters reportedly torched homes in Magaia village and opened fire near Mungue. Nearly 500 families fled to nearby displacement sites, where humanitarian access remains limited.

Protection concerns, limited funding

OCHA stressed that under international law, civilians must be allowed to seek safety and freely choose their destination. But insecurity, lack of documentation and involuntary relocations are compounding protection risks.

At the same time, the aid response remains severely underfunded.

As of July, only 19 per cent of Mozambique’s 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan has been funded. Of the $352 million requested, just $66 million has been received – forcing agencies to reduce their response targets by over 70 per cent. They now aim to assist only 317,000 people, down from the target of 1.1 million at the start of the year.

“Urgent and sustained funding is essential to prevent further deterioration and address the escalating humanitarian needs that remain as acute and widespread as ever,” the OCHA report warned.

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World News in Brief: Thailand-Cambodia border hostilities, humanitarian efforts in Syria and attacks across Ukraine

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The dispute dates to 1953 when France first mapped the border, but tensions resurfaced in May after the death of a Cambodian soldier in a border skirmish.

Secretary-General António Guterres is “following with concern” reports of the clashes, his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York.

“The Secretary-General urges both sides to exercise maximum restraint and address any issues through dialogue and in a spirit of good neighbourliness, with a view to finding a lasting solution to the dispute,” he said.

Inter-agency humanitarian assistance in Syria

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) led an inter-agency visit to Rural Damascus governorate in Syria on Thursday to assess needs and provide assistance to more than 500 families displaced by recent violence in nearby Sweida governorate.

The UN agencies visited the Sayyeda Zeinab community and plan to visit the neighbouring Dar’a Governorate in the coming days, where humanitarians are supporting tens of thousands of people displaced by violence.

In Rural Damascus and Dar’a, OCHA and its partners are expanding protection services for displaced people. This includes psychosocial first aid and case management support for children.

Also on Thursday, the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed urgent food assistance to displaced families. The agency additionally continues to provide assistance across the country, including to Syrians returning home after a decade of conflict.

Limited access to Sweida

On Wednesday, a second convoy from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) arrived in Sweida, with UN agencies providing support.

The convoy included food, wheat flour, fuel, medicines and health supplies. Medical supplies were delivered to the Sweida national hospital, and wheat flour was dispatched to bakeries.

Across Sweida, Rural Damascus and Dar’a governorates, the UN has distributed over 1,600 dignity kits to displaced women and girls. UN partners are also providing recreational activities, awareness sessions on gender-based violence and support for women and children.

But despite efforts in neighbouring governorates and increasing support in Sweida, full and direct access to the conflict-ridden governorate itself is limited due to security constraints.

Nonetheless, the UN is continuing dialogue with Syrian authorities to facilitate direct access to Sweida.

Nationwide attacks in Ukraine

OCHA further reported that at least five civilians were killed, and 46 others injured, in attacks across several regions of Ukraine over the past two days.

Kharkiv in the northeast was one of the more affected regions, where a glide bomb strike injured at least 16 people on Thursday, and fighting killed three and injured five others on Wednesday.

Additionally, overnight attacks in central Ukraine injured seven people in Cherkasy and four in Odesa City, damaging homes, health centres, schools, shopping areas and a market.

Civilians in the southern Kherson region, the eastern Donetsk region and the southeast Zaporizhzhia region were also affected.

Evacuations and humanitarian response

Following the overnight attacks in Cherkasy and Odesa, aid workers assisted first responders by providing first aid, meals, shelter materials, hygiene kits, emotional support and legal assistance to affected families.

Amid the hostilities, nearly 600 people were evacuated from the Donetsk region, and, in the past day, another 24 were evacuated from the northeastern region of Sumy.

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DR Congo: Despite efforts towards a political solution, violence still rages in the east

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Since January, the region has seen a new escalation of violence as the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launched an offensive in North and South Kivu provinces.

While tensions persist in the DRC, both frontlines and negotiation positions are shifting, paving the way for peace, the Security Council heard this Friday.

The path to lasting peace in the DRC requires “collective action,” said Bintou Keita, Head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO.

“Priority must be given to dialogue over division, and national cohesion must be actively preserved,” she said.

Yet, while diplomatic efforts focus on ways to address the current crisis, the situation in other regions within MONUSCO’s area of operations also demands urgent attention.

Humanitarian situation

With seven million people currently displaced across the country, 27.8 million people facing food insecurity and almost 1.4 million children in acute malnutrition, the humanitarian situation is dire. 

The security crisis in the east of the country has worsened the humanitarian situation, yet due to funding cuts, MONUSCO does not have sufficient means to respond to it accordingly. 

The suspension of funding from MONUSCO’s main donor, which covered 70 per cent of the humanitarian response in 2024, is “forcing humanitarian actors to focus solely on life-saving emergencies,” said Ms. Keita. 

“We are at the end of July, and the humanitarian response plan is only 11 per cent funded,” she added. 

Insecurity, sexual violence and abductions

Violence in the east of the country continues to disproportionately affect women, boys, and girls, notably as rape and other forms of sexual violence are still being systematically used as weapons of war.

Men and boys accused of links with opposing forces are at risk of abduction, while women and girls who have survived sexual violence face severely limited access to healthcare, as healthcare facilities are often targeted by attacks. 

In 2025, over 290 schools were destroyed, with ongoing cycles of violence keeping 1.3 million children out of the education system in Ituri, in the east of the country.  

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Tobacco control efforts protect three-quarters of the world’s population, WHO report finds

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The World Health Organization (WHO) published its 2025 report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic on Monday, focusing on the six policies outlined in the WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures.

Since 2007, 155 countries have implemented at least one of those policy prescriptions which has resulted in over 6.1 billion people – that’s three-quarters of the world’s population – now benefitting: however, major gaps still remain.

Here are the six policy recommendations: 

  • Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies;
  • Protecting people from tobacco smoke with smoke-free air legislation;
  • Offering help to quit tobacco use;
  • Warning about the dangers of tobacco with pack labels and mass media;
  • Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and
  • Raising taxes on tobacco.

Striking Gains

Some 110 countries now require graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging and WHO’s new report reveals the strategy has delivered striking gains in the fight against consumption.

As one of the key measures under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), graphic health warnings make the harms of tobacco visibly clear and difficult to ignore.

There has also been a growing trend to regulate the use of e-cigarettes or ENDS – Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems – with the number of countries regulating or banning ENDS increasing from 122 in 2022, to 133 in 2024.

Major Gaps

Although very effective, 110 countries have failed to launch any anti-tobacco campaigns since 2022, despite the grim statistic that around 1.3 million people continue to die from second-hand smoke every year.

Forty countries still have not adopted a single MPOWER measure and over 30 countries are still allowing cigarette sales without mandatory health warnings. The UN health agency is calling for urgent action in areas where momentum is lagging.

“Government must act boldly to close remaining gaps, strengthen enforcement, and invest in the proven tools that save lives,” said Ruediger Krech, WHO’s Director of Health Promotion. 

US-Houthi ceasefire ‘a welcome opportunity’ to advance peace efforts in Yemen

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Ambassadors were briefed by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, who commended Oman for its efforts to achieve the agreement which came into effect on 6 May.

He said the cessation of hostilities represented an important and necessary de-escalation in the Red Sea following the resumption of deadly US airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

Resolve the conflict

However, recent events show that the country is still ensnared in wider regional tensions, he said, pointing to Houthi attacks on Ben Gurion Airport in Israel and Israel’s subsequent strikes on Hudaydah Port, Sana’a Airport, and other locations.

“Nevertheless, the announcement of 6 May provides a welcome opportunity on which we must collectively build to refocus on resolving Yemen’s conflict and advancing a Yemeni-owned peace process,” he said.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, and Yemeni Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have been battling for control of the country for more than a decade.

‘Yemenis want to move forward’ 

“The challenges facing Yemen are immense: from the deep and significant levels of mistrust between the parties, with some still reportedly preparing for war, to near economic collapse,” Mr. Grundberg told the Council

He said the UN will continue to work to bring the sides to the table to identify and agree on solutions that are acceptable to all.

“Yemenis want to move forward – the status quo is untenable,” he insisted.  “And while the frontlines may currently appear relatively stable, what Yemen has now is not peace.”

He stressed the need for continued engagement by the international community to help the Yemeni people realize their desire to build a stable, prosperous and safe country.

Release detained staff

Mr. Grundberg used the briefing to again highlight the plight of personnel from the UN, international and national NGOs, civil society and diplomatic missions, who continue to be arbitrarily detained by the Houthis.

“Not only is their detention in violation of international law, but it has also caused a significant chilling effect throughout the international community, which only has one outcome: undermining support to Yemen, which will sadly impact the Yemenis most in need,” he said.

He welcomed the recent release of staff members from the Dutch Embassy and international organization, saying “this demonstrates what is possible, but these releases are woefully insufficient.”

Message to the people

The Special Envoy concluded his remarks by stating that Yemenis have endured over 10 years of instability, uncertainty and economic collapse.

Speaking directly to the population, he reiterated that “I see you. I hear you. You have not been forgotten – and I won’t relent in my efforts to pursue peace and stability in Yemen.”

He urged the warring parties “to be courageous and choose dialogue,” emphasizing that “the United Nations will not waiver in its commitment to support you in finding a negotiated settlement to this conflict.”

A mother holds her 10-month-old girl who is suffering from stunting and malnutrition in Abyan, Yemen.

Humanitarians ‘running out of time’: Fletcher

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, who also briefed the Council, shared the Special Envoy’s relief at the cessation of hostilities in Yemen.

He stressed, however, that “Yemen is not out of the woods” as the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, with children most affected. 

“Half of Yemen’s children – or 2.3 million – are malnourished. 600,000 of them severely so,” he said.

Childhood killers on the rise

Moreover, “malnutrition is not just about hunger,” he added, as it attacks immunity, leaving children vulnerable to deadly infections like pneumonia and diarrhoea – both leading causes of child mortality in Yemen. 

The country also has one of the worst immunisation rates in the world as only 69 per cent of children under a year old are fully immunized and 20 per cent have received no vaccinations at all.

As a result, diseases such as cholera and measles are rising.  In 2024, Yemen accounted for over a third of global cholera cases and 18 per cent of related deaths, in addition to having one of the highest measles burdens globally.

“Children are not alone in being disproportionately impacted,” said Mr. Fletcher, as malnutrition also affects 1.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in Yemen, placing mothers and newborns at grave risk. 

Overall, some 9.6 million women and girls are in severe need of life-saving humanitarian support, he said.

Appeal to the Council

He warned, however, that humanitarians “are running out of time and resources” as their 2025 response plan for Yemen is barely nine per cent funded.

“These shortfalls have very real consequences,” he said. “Nearly 400 health facilities – including 64 hospitals – will stop operating, impacting nearly seven million people.” 

Meanwhile, funding for 700 midwives is quickly running out and 20 therapeutic feeding centres and more than 2,000 therapeutic feeding programmes have already been forced to close down. 

Mr. Fletcher made three requests to the Council, calling first for action to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, including protection of civilians as well as access to all those in need.

He urged ambassadors to also provide scaled-up, flexible funding to sustain critical aid operations.

“Third, and as the Special Envoy has underlined, back efforts towards lasting peace,” he concluded. 

Sudan drone attacks raise fears for civilian safety and aid efforts

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“These attacks appear to be the latest in a series of retaliatory military operations, conducted by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, targeting airports in each other’s areas of control,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York on Monday.

The fighting between troops of the military Government and former allies-turned-rivals for power, the RSF, began in April 2023. The war has devastated much of the country, killing thousands and displacing over 8.6 million people, according to UN agencies.

As conflict rages in Khartoum, Darfur, and other areas, Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast has remained a relative safe haven and a key hub for UN and international relief efforts.

Multiple drone strikes

The RSF carried out drone attacks on a military base and other targets on Sunday near the airport – and on Monday, there was a second series of attacks targeting fuel depots in the eastern part of Port Sudan, according to latest news reports.

© UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

Mothers tend to their children suffering from severe acute malnutrition at a hospital in Port Sudan.

The RSF has not so far claimed responsibility for Monday’s strikes which left fuel storage facilities ablaze in what the army characterised as an attack on civilian infrastructure.

The Secretary-General is “concerned with the recent reports of drone attacks on military and civilian infrastructure” in the area, which until now had largely been spared from the devastation of the year-long war.

Call for urgent dialogue

Mr. Haq stressed that the attack on Port Sudan was a “worrying development threatening the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations” in the city, which has become a lifeline for humanitarian aid across the country.

The Secretary-General “renews his call for urgent dialogue between the warring parties towards an immediate cessation of hostilities and an inclusive political process,” Mr. Haq said. “This is essential to prevent further escalation, protect civilians, and put Sudan back on a path towards peace and stability.”

On the humanitarian front, the UN’s aid coordination office OCHA said the drone strikes have not directly affected its operations in Port Sudan.

UN aid operations continuing

“None of our offices, premises or warehouses have been impacted, and we continue to carry out our regular operations,” Mr. Haq confirmed.

However, he added that the situation is being closely monitored, and that UN Humanitarian Air Service flights in and out of the city have been temporarily paused.

Beyond Port Sudan, recent strikes on power stations across Sudan have disrupted electricity and clean water supplies – worsening conditions for displaced families and returnees.

“We call on all parties to this conflict to ensure that civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targeted,” the Deputy Spokesperson said. “Wars have rules, and international humanitarian law must be respected.”

© UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

Children participate in an e-learning session at the Al Seniyaa internally displaced people’s gathering site in Port Sudan.