UN aid agency chief condemns 50 days of Gaza blockade
It’s been 50 days since Israel cut off all aid and commercial supplies into Gaza which is now a “land of desperation”, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Tuesday.
In an appeal to “lift the siege and resume a ceasefire”, Philippe Lazzarini insisted that hunger “is spreading and deepening”.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General condemned the fact that two million people continue to face collective punishment.
The wounded, sick and elderly are deprived of medical supplies – even though humanitarian organizations have assistance waiting to get into Gaza. This includes nearly 3,000 trucks of lifesaving aid, Mr. Lazzarini insisted.
Hunger stalks Ethiopia as UN aid agency halts support amid funding cuts
To Ethiopia, where funding and supply shortfalls will halt the UN’s lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at …breaking point,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
In total, 3.6 million “most vulnerable” people in Ethiopia stand to lose WFP food and nutrition assistance unless funding arrives urgently, warned Zlatan Milisic, the UN agency’s Country Director:
“Over 10 million people in Ethiopia are acutely food insecure. This includes three million people displaced by conflict and extreme weather. Malnutrition rates are alarmingly high.”
More than four million pregnant women, breastfeeding women and young children need treatment for malnutrition in Ethiopia. In the regions of Somali, Oromia, Afar and Tigray, child wasting has passed the 15 per cent emergency threshold.
WFP had planned to reach two million mothers and children with lifesaving nutrition assistance in 2025, but it has been forced to cut costs after receiving only half of last year’s funding.
UN’s FAO announces welcome boost for forest restoration worldwide
Protecting and restoring fragile ecosystems is a key part of international efforts to stop global warming and on Tuesday the UN announced a boost to this vital work – thanks to nine million dollars’ worth of support from the UK.
Under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, countries have agreed to restore at least 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
The problem is that most countries lack the tools and resources to track their progress in restoring degraded ecosystems – and according to the Food and Agriculture Organization – or FAO – a full 80 per cent say they cannot collect the necessary data.
As a solution, the UN agency plans to provide countries with the technical expertise and resources to monitor their biodiversity restoration efforts accurately.
It is already heavily involved in reforestation through its AIM4Forests programme, along with the restoration of farmland, wetlands, grasslands and marine ecosystems.
“We can ensure that our collective efforts translate restoration commitments into real and lasting impacts for people and the planet,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.
The one billion hectares of land that have been designated for restoration represent one-third of the climate mitigation efforts needed to keep global warming below the 2-degree Celsius threshold by 2030.
Daniel Johnson, UN News
Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved.
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
To submit your press release: (https://www.globaldiasporanews.com/pr).
To advertise on Global Diaspora News: (www.globaldiasporanews.com/ads).
Sign up to Global Diaspora News newsletter (https://www.globaldiasporanews.com/newsletter/) to start receiving updates and opportunities directly in your email inbox for free.
