"AFRICA"

Food insecurity levels in the Sahel region are “spiralling out of control”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said today, as it expressed concerns about the potential impact on humanitarian supply chains because of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. UNTV CH / FILE

The Security Council will turn to technology in April to tackle the humanitarian crises in Yemen and Syria, address conflict-induced hunger, promote the youth, peace and security agenda, and respond to the threat of COVID-19, says its President for the month, José Singer Weisinger, Special Envoy from the Dominican Republic.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Ghebreyesus today said that as the world enters the fourth month since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he is deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection. WHO

A weekly market at Sakure, along the border between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is closed as the South Sudanese Government’s effort to mitigate the global threat posed by COVID-19. UNMISS

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s battered healthcare system needs urgent support as it struggles with measles and cholera epidemics that kill thousands of children, as well as the mounting threat from the coronavirus, COVID-19, says UNICEF. UNICEF

To confront the unprecedented worldwide challenge posed by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, top UN officials on Wednesday, launched a massive humanitarian appeal to mitigate its impact, particularly on fragile countries with weak health systems. UNIFEED

“The last thing any country needs is to open schools and businesses only to be forced to close them again because of a resurgence,” WHO’s chief Dr Tedros said at a press conference Wednesday, calling on all countries “who have introduced so called lockdown measures, to use this time to attack the virus.” WHO

“We continue to hear alarming reports from around the world of large numbers of infections among health workers,” WHO's chief, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, told reporters in Geneva, adding in “If we don't prioritize protecting health workers, many people will die because the health worker who could have saved their lives is sick.” WHO