The heads of nine United Nations agencies and the Global Water Partnership issued an urgent call to Governments to prioritize integrated water and climate action. The letter, addressed to the world’s Heads of State and Government, was released on the eve of the Organization’s climate change summit in Glasgow.
A United Nations Children’s Fund report released today shows that at least 200 million schoolchildren are living in 31 low- and middle-income countries that remain unprepared to deploy remote learning in future emergency school closures. It warns that the situation could be far worse than the available data shows.
The latest Secretary-General’s report on safety and United Nations personnel describes an environment of heightened volatility, with no sign of improvement likely. It notes that 28 civilian personnel of the Organization lost their lives to acts of violence and related incidents during 2020 and the first half of 2021.
In Sudan, the United Nations is working with partners to provide life‑saving aid to 9 million vulnerable people. Operations must continue unimpeded to prevent the humanitarian situation there from deteriorating further. However, the 2021 response plan, which seeks $1.9 billion, remains only 30 per cent funded.
More than half of Afghanistan’s population — some 22.8 million people — will face acute food insecurity starting November, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned today, including 3.2 million children under the age of five, who are expected to suffer acute malnutrition by the end of 2021.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says more children and women were abducted for ransom between January and August 2021 than during the entire 2020. UNICEF estimates based on official sources say 71 women and 30 children were abducted in the first eight months of 2021, and 59 women and 37 children in 2020.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new crisis response initiative in Afghanistan, known as ABADEI, as part of efforts to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. Among other things, it provides grants to small businesses, cash-for-work projects and support to marginalized individuals.
Despite increased climate ambition and net-zero commitments, Governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Production Gap Report, released today.
Global foreign direct investment flows in the first half of 2021 reached approximately $852 billion, showing stronger than expected rebound momentum, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said today (UNCTAD). Developed economies saw the biggest rise at an estimated $424 billion, UNCTAD noted.
In Afghanistan, the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund today announced house-to-house polio vaccinations will resume 8 November across the country for the first time in three years, targeting more than 3.3 million children who were previously out of reach.
