"WOMEN"

During a visit to South Sudan, UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi called on authorities to “commit firmly to security, to rule of law, [and] to good governance” as an increased number of former refugees return home. UNHCR

A new UN report published on Wednesday warns that the failure of Sri Lanka to address past violations has significantly heightened the risk of human rights violations being repeated. UNTV CH

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) launched a USD 100 million appeal Wednesday to drive its 2021 strategic plan for refugee protection in African countries en route to the Mediterranean, citing the deaths of no less than 1,064 people in the Central and Western Mediterranean in 2020 alone. UNHCR

More than 176,000 people, including 90,000 children, in central Mozambique are likely to need humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of Cyclone Eloise, UNICEF said today. Children living in the affected areas, particularly those who have been displaced, could soon be at risk of contracting waterborne diseases like cholera and diarrheal infections. UNICEF

Despite the success in lowering the overall number of active cases of COVID-19 in West Bank and Gaza, “the cost in lives and livelihoods remains high, particularly in the Gaza Strip,” the UN top official told the Security Council on Tuesday. UNIFEED

A delegation of senior United Nations officials on Monday visited the Federal Member State (FMS) of Puntland, in Somalia’s north-east, to meet with its leadership on the provision of support. UNSOM

Risk of instability, tension growing, amid glaring inequalities in global COVID-19 recovery, top United Nations officials warn Security Council.

In a virtual address to the Davos World Economic Forum, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that humanity has just endured a year of tragedy and crisis that we never want to repeat. However, the Secretary-General added, “the tests to our societies are continuing.” UNIFEED

UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council that the COVID-19 pandemic “has hindered diplomatic action and complicated our peace-making efforts," adding that “by exacerbating existing fragilities, it has amplified the prevention challenge” and “made the steps needed to address that challenge more urgent.” UNIFEED

Ten years since the war in Syria started, children continue to be killed, injured, displaced and deprived of basic necessities, the Unicef Executive Director Henrieta Fore said in a statement on Sunday. UNICEF