“With each passing hour, two things are increasingly clear: first — it keeps getting worse. Second — whatever the outcome, this war will have no winners, only losers”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, warning that a resulting meltdown of the global economy is provoking a "hurricane of hunger", as he addressed reporters outside the Security Council chamber in New York.
In recent years, Yemen has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Over half of all Yemenis — 17.4 million people — are food insecure, and the number of people facing famine-like levels of hunger is likely to jump to 161,000 by the end of the year.
Secretary-General António Guterres released his annual update on the Organization’s efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) on Tuesday, dovetailing with his system-wide strategy – launched in 2017 - to stamp out incidents by placing victims at the heart of efforts, throughout the system.
Syria’s 11 years of brutal fighting has come at an “unconscionable human cost”, subjecting millions there to human rights violations on a “massive and systematic scale”, said the UN chief on Friday, marking yet another tragic anniversary. “The destruction that Syrians have endured is so extensive and deadly that it has few equals in modern history”, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement. “There must be no impunity.”
With less than a decade left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment, the commitment is yet to translate into action on the ground. The Eighth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, which was held in Kigali, Republic of Rwanda, from 3 to 5 March 2022, offered Africa a unique opportunity to engage all stakeholders on accelerating actions towards achieving SDG 5 by 2030.
“The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean require transitions in energy, digital connectivity, and food systems. More effective spending and investment in human capital is needed to unlock and accelerate progress on the SDGs,” said Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General at the Forum of countries of Latin American and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development held on March 7-9, 2022.
UN entities continue to work together to respond to the situation, contributing their expertise and building on their partnerships. Among other priority interventions, they provide vital support to refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), especially women and girls; assist authorities in ensuring the protection and the provision of essential services for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); and support survivors of violence among vulnerable girls from conflict and crisis-affected communities.
