"SYRIA"

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General said today that COVID-19 remains a global health emergency, even though, as the world enters the fourth year of the pandemic, “there is no doubt we are in a far better situation now than we were a year ago, when the Omicron wave was at its peak.” WHO

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the Security Council, “The world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War. Two billion people, one quarter of humanity, live in places affected by conflict”. UNIFEED

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, told the Security Council that the scale of needs inside Syria is “at the worst level since the conflict began”. UNIFEED

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East appealed today for 1.6 billion (USD) to fund core operations this year, as the people it helps face hitting “rock bottom”. UNTV CH

WHO is launching its 2023 health emergency appeal today for US$ 2.54 billion to provide assistance to millions of people around the world facing health emergencies. The number of people in need of humanitarian relief has increased by almost a quarter compared to 2022, to a record 339 million. WHO

Close to 1 billion people in low- and lower-middle income countries - 1 in 8 of the world’s population –are served by health-care facilities that lack a reliable electricity supply, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll). WHO

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that WHO still believes that COVID-19 deaths are "heavily underreported from China," reiterating the need for "doctors and those reporting to the public health system to be encouraged to report these cases and not discouraged.” WHO

Adopting Resolution 2672 (2023), Security Council renews cross-border aid operations into north-west Syria for six months, requests special report on humanitarian needs.

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.