World News in Brief: 80th birthday greetings, South Sudan floods, South Lebanon update – World News in Brief: 80th birthday greetings, South Sudan floods, South Lebanon update | UN News
The UN and its partners are accelerating deliveries of life-saving aid across Gaza, but relief efforts remain constrained by access restrictions and overwhelming humanitarian needs, officials said on Friday. Since the ceasefire on 10 October, the UN migration agency IOM has dispatched more than 47,000 relief items, including 2,500 tents, to help families rebuild amid devastation. “People in Gaza have endured unimaginable loss,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. – UN warns Gaza’s displaced face freezing nights and food shortages | UN News
Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday warned that the “fragile” legitimacy of the Security Council could endanger global peace if it remains gridlocked and fails to fulfil its primary purpose. – Guterres calls for urgent reform of the Security Council | UN News
Thirty-five years ago, polio, a highly infectious viral disease, paralysed around 350,000 children per year. Following a UN-led international push, that number is now less than 50. In 1988, the international community united under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leadership with the goal of eradicating polio. World Polio Day, falling on 24 October, raises awareness about the progress made and challenges that remain to end its spread. Polio can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis, most often in children. – ‘Let’s finish the job’ and end polio: WHO | UN News
