Afghanistan
Following extreme hunger warnings, a bitter reality is unfolding across Afghanistan: food is available, but remains inaccessible for millions of people. That’s according to UN aid coordination office spokesperson Olga Cherevko, who has just returned from a field visit with a stark call to action. Nearly 16 million Afghans are facing crisis-level hunger – some 3.4 million of them living in emergency conditions, said Ms. Cherevko, briefing from Kabul on Tuesday. “I want to start with something that can get lost when we talk about Afghanistan through numbers: a harvest can improve, markets can have food, but families can still go hungry,” she said, calling it “one of the clearest takeaways” from her recent visits to southern and northeastern Afghanistan. Ms. Cherevko called for immediate and sustained action to help the people of Afghanistan “before families have exhausted their options”. – UN News ‘One step away from famine’: Inside Afghanistan’s hunger crisis | UN News
Bangladesh
At 14, Bushra faced being married off – until community leaders at a UNICEF-supported child protection hub worked with her father to prevent her from being given away against her will. Her story was one of many heard by the UN children’s agency Executive Director Catherine Russell who on Tuesday called for urgent investment in Bangladesh’s children following a three-day visit to the country. Ms. Russell urged action on three fronts: ending child marriage and keeping girls in school, delivering on the Government’s commitment to invest five per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in both education and health, and protecting quality learning for Rohingya refugee and host-community children. “Keeping girls in school and providing them with the health, education and protection services they need will deliver a brighter future for them, for their communities, and for Bangladesh,” she said. – UN News Bangladesh: UNICEF chief calls for an end to child marriage
Sudan – Central African Republic
The UN warned on Tuesday against a premature withdrawal of its peacekeepers as the war in Sudan spills over into the Central African Republic (CAR). CAR continues to face a resurgence of deadly violence in the east despite the disarmament of nearly 2,000 fighters and the gradual completion of the latest electoral cycle, the Security Council heard. Illustrating the current fragility, the top UN official in the country, Valentine Rugwabiza, highlighted an attack on 30 June by different armed groups on Am-Dafock, bordering Sudan, which killed civilians, members of national security forces, displaced 17,000 civilians and injured six UN peacekeepers. However, without peacekeeping mission MINUSCA’s rapid response, she said, attacks in the border area with Chad and Sudan would have resulted in significantly more fatalities and State authority could not have been restored after only five days of control by the armed group, whose fighters retreated across the border into Sudan. “In this regard, I plead with the council, as it prepares to renew MINUSCA’s mandate, to maintain MINUSCA with adequate force levels and capabilities during the critical consolidation phase,” she stressed. – UN News As Sudan war spills into Central African Republic, UN warns against early peacekeeper exit
Yemen
More than 250,000 people have now fled renewed fighting in Yemen, the UN said on Tuesday, citing particular concern for those sheltering in the southwestern city of Taiz and the wider governorate, where access is “essentially blocked”. “The Houthis’ closure of the only supply route linking Taiz to Aden is placing civilians at grave risk, blocking humanitarian aid and cutting off essential supplies,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk. In an appeal to Houthi fighters who he said had encircled Taiz City to allow aid in immediately, the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that 32 civilians have been confirmed killed across the governorate, including 14 children and nine women. He warned of a significant uptick in the risk of death and injury as fighting moves closer to densely populated areas of the city. The development follows the resumption last month of clashes between Houthi fighters – formally known as Ansar Allah – and the internationally recognized Government based in Aden, ending the relative calm brought about by the 2022 truce. The situation in Taiz is particularly worrying because around half of those recently uprooted by the violence have sought shelter there. – UN News Yemen war continues to force families from homes amid hunger and disease
