This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
Tigray: WFP resumes operations to reach 2 million with emergency food aid
The World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed operations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, after fighting halted the emergency response last week, although the agency warned on Friday that “serious challenges” continue to threaten the entire humanitarian response.
WFP on Thursday reached 10,000 people displaced by conflict with emergency food assistance and gave nutritionally fortified food to 3,000 women and children, many suffering from malnutrition. The agency hopes to reach 30,000 people in Northwest Tigray by the weekend.
“We have the teams on the ground, trucks loaded and ready to go to meet the catastrophic food needs in the region, said Tommy Thompson, WFP’s Emergency Coordinator based in regional capital Mekelle.
“What we need now is free, unfettered access and secure passage guaranteed by all parties to the conflict so we can deliver food safely”, he added.
Lives will be lost if supply routes into Tigray do not fully open and parties to the conflict continue to disrupt or endanger free movement of cargo, said WFP.
Top judges in Guatemala facing threats must be protected: rights expert
The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, urged Guatemalan authorities on Friday to tighten protection for the country’s judiciary and civil servants, after one senior judge tasked with hearing cases brought against top government officials, said he had been threatened and followed by unknown individuals.
The independent rights expert said the legal system was being abused to target “the very people who protect and guarantee human rights, who are strengthening the rule of law and making great strides in the fight against impunity in the country.”
He reminded the Guatemalan Government of its obligation “to promptly investigate acts of harassment, or threats against judges.”
The four judges at risk, try high-profile cases involving past or current government officials, high powered gang members, and members of the military or paramilitary forganizations.
More than 2 million children caught up in humanitarian crisis in Niger
Conflict, displacement, food insecurity, malnutrition, recurrent disease epidemics combined with cyclical floods and droughts in Niger, have put more than 3.8 million - including 2.1 million children - in need of humanitarian assistance, said UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Friday.
In a new report, UNICEF is calling for increased attention and mobilization to the plight of those who are "suffering in silence", across the northwest African nation.
UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, said that considering the dramatic increase in the number of people affected by the multiple emergencies, “it is a challenge to the government and to the humanitarian community to meet their needs.”
Insecurity is spreading at a rapid pace in Niger, with attacks along the borders with Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria, displacing thousands.
"Children’s lives have been torn apart”, said Ms. Poirier, adding that “the protection of children’s rights, including children in displacement, is fundamental”.
Matt Wells, UN News.
