Viet Nam: Typhoon’s deadly destruction is not over, warns IOM
As Viet Nam starts to recover from a deadly typhoon that ripped across the country earlier this week, killing at least seven and displacing thousands, the UN migration agency, IOM, expressed concerns on Wednesday about more flooding and landslides.
Close to 300,000 people were evacuated from coastal areas before Typhoon Kajiki made landfall late Monday.
The move saved lives but left many in temporary or unsafe shelters, the UN agency said.
In an update, IOM reported damage to more than 30,000 homes across multiple provinces of the country, with hundreds of electricity poles downed.
IOM Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Iori Kato, said that the UN agency was ready to work with the authorities to deliver urgent relief, but also to help communities prepare for future storms.
“As extreme weather events become more frequent, we must work together to ensure no one is left behind,” Mr. Kato insisted.
Hunger and disease in Gaza will only worsen from ‘man-made’ famine
Meanwhile in Gaza, the UN World Health Organization – WHO – has issued a new warning about the deadly impacts of the ongoing Israeli blockade on starving people.
In an online alert on Wednesday, the UN agency said that disease and hunger will only increase, unless all Israeli blocks on aid delivery are removed and access is allowed across Gaza.
The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed on Wednesday that some aid is allowed into the enclave every day, albeit far too little to meet the huge level of needs.
With more, here’s OCHA’s Olga Cherevko who’s been at a UN-supported community kitchen in Gaza City:
“We were in the same kitchen back in March when the crossings were completely shut and no supplies were entering, so they were struggling to keep the kitchen open and feed the people as they were rapidly running out of supplies back then and eventually they had to close and have now reopened and they’ve been reopened for the last 10 days. They’re now feeding 5,000 people a day, making meals hot meals for people in need in the neighbouring communities. Of course, the number of meals being cooked every day remains severely insufficient because the volume of supplies entering remains severely insufficient, and the only way for us to stop famine is by ensuring that more supplies are entering every day.”
UN peacekeeping mandate in Lebanon faces scrutiny ahead of Security Council vote
The mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, is due to end within days.
As members of the Security Council negotiate whether and on what terms to renew it, the mission has insisted that its continued presence in Lebanon is crucial to “try to bring back stability” to the country.
In an interview with UN News, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti explained that most of the areas in the south of the country close to the line of separation that it monitors have been destroyed.
He also noted that following a devastating 15-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants, a fragile truce now holds.
“So, this renewal is important because it would show also the importance of maintaining a peacekeeping operation at the moment in the south of Lebanon, not to create a vacuum at the moment when the people of the south are in much need of international presence, monitoring capabilities, assisting the Lebanese army in their full deployment in the south of Lebanon.”
The UNIFIL spokesperson maintained that the peacekeeping force has been a stabilising presence in southern Lebanon for many years, by working alongside the Lebanese armed forces, mediating between parties and supporting communities.
One of the main challenges today is the continued presence of the Israeli military in the south of Lebanon, Mr. Tenenti told UN News’s Nancy Sarkis.
For more on this, visit the main page of our UN News website.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
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).
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