"CHILDREN"

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock today (7 Aug) released (USD) 6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help the response to the Beirut port blast, bringing the total UN funding for this crisis to (USD) 15 million. OCHA

Up to 100,000 children might be among those whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the Beirut explosions, according to UNICEF estimates, with families affected in desperate need of support. A children’s hospital in the Karantina area, which had a specialized unit treating critical newborns, was destroyed. The remaining operational hospitals are over-stretched and have been depleted of critical medical supplies. UNICEF

UN aid agencies today issued warnings over the critical humanitarian crisis faced by Lebanon in the aftermath of the huge blast at the port of Beirut on Tuesday (4 Aug) that left more than 150 people dead and around 5,000 people injured, putting further pressure on a weakened health care system in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNTV CH

For the first time in the history of the International Labour Organization (ILO), an International Labour Convention on the worst forms of child labour has been ratified by all Member States. ILO

Children account for two-thirds of the more than 2 million South Sudanese living in exile. In Ethiopia more than 42,000 refugee children are unaccompanied or separated from their families. Two South Sudanese sisters are building a new life in Ethiopia’s Jewi refugee camp. UNHCR

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption to education in history and prolonged school closures could further entrench inequalities in access to learning, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on a video message released today. UNIFEED

The risk of COVID-19 infection from breastfeeding is negligible and has never been documented, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, while warning that not using mother’s milk is linked to more than 820,000 child deaths a year, at a cost to the global economy of some (USD) 300 billion. UNTV CH

Yazidi genocide survivor and UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking Nadia Murad, said, “ignoring the suffering of the Yazidis is unacceptable. The international community must not defer meaningful actions any longer.” UNIFEED

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said that a number of COVID-19 vaccines are “now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection.” WHO

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.