This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
Food aid operation begins to reach two million affected by Myanmar coup
Two million people going hungry amid the ongoing political crisis in Myanmar are to get the assistance they need, to combat rising “desperation”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday.
The UN operation will focus on poor townships in Myanmar’s main cities and other communities displaced since the coup on 1 February.
The development comes amid growing needs made worse by COVID-19’s impact on the economy last year, and the recent military takeover.
“More and more poor people have lost their jobs and are unable to afford food,” said WFP Myanmar Country Director Stephen Anderson.
According to the UN agency, an additional 3.4 million people are expected to go hungry this year, over and above the 2.8 million already food insecure before the Tatmadaw seized power.
Climate change link is clear to displacement of most vulnerable: UNHCR
Weather-related crises have triggered more than twice as much displacement as conflict and violence in the last decade, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.
Coinciding with Earth Day on Thursday 22 March, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR,
published data showing how disasters linked to climate change likely worsen poverty, hunger and access to natural resources, stoking instability and violence.
“From Afghanistan to Central America, droughts, flooding, and other extreme weather events are hitting those least equipped to recover and adapt,” said the UN agency, which is calling for countries to work together to combat climate change and mitigate its impact on hundreds of millions of people.
Since 2010, weather emergencies have forced 21.5 million people to move every year, on average.
UNHCR said that roughly 90 per cent of refugees come from countries that are the most vulnerable and least ready to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
These countries also host around 70 per cent of people internally displaced by conflict or violence.
Syria receives first COVID-19 vaccines for most vulnerable
Finally, good news from Syria, where more than 250,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have arrived for frontline health workers from the UN-partnered COVAX scheme.
The bulk of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India reached Damascus and more than 53,000 doses were delivered to the northwest, where conflict and displacement have continued.
Ahead of further deliveries in coming weeks, UN humanitarians said that Syria’s health workers needed much more help “wherever they are in the country”.
So too do those most at-risk: the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, said COVAX partners the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
To date, Syria’s official COVID-19 numbers indicate around 50,000 cases of new coronavirus. The actual number is likely to be much higher, owing to limited or unavailable testing supplies in the country, after 10 years of war, UNICEF and WHO noted.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
