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News in Brief 16 February 2023

News in Brief 16 February 2023

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General launches $1 billion humanitarian appeal for Türkiye 

The UN has launched a $1 billion humanitarian appeal for the people of Türkiye who are still reeling from one of the most devastating earthquakes to hit the country in a century. 

The funding covers a three-month period and will assist 5.2 million people.

Aid organizations will use the money to scale up vital support for Government-led relief efforts rapidly, in food security, protection, education, water and shelter.

Launching the appeal, UN chief António Guterres noted that Türkiye is home to the largest number of refugees in the world - and has shown enormous generosity to its Syrian neighbours for years.

“Now is the time for the world to support the people of Türkiye, just as they have stood in solidarity with others seeking assistance,” Mr. Guterres said.

78 million children totally out of school at all, warns UN chief

Staying with the UN Secretary-General, who warned on Thursday that a staggering 78 million girls and boys around the world today “don’t go to school at all” because of conflict, climate disasters and displacement.

In a call for more funding for education in emergencies, the UN chief insisted that no-one should be denied their chance to learn.

In total, 222 million children face obstacles to education. To help them, 18 countries and private partners pledged $826 million, for the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait.

UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown explained why help is needed so urgently:

“We are talking about the most isolated, the most desolate, the most neglected children of the world. We’re talking about girls who find themselves trafficked or forced into child labour or child marriage, unless we can help them.”

Urgent appeal for ‘forgotten’ Horn of Africa migration crisis

To the Horn of Africa now, where urgent, lifesaving assistance is needed for the many migrants heading for Gulf States via Djibouti and Yemen, the UN migration agency, IOM, has warned.

Latest data from the UN agency indicates that the number of migrants who entered Djibouti almost doubled from 2021-22.

The so-called eastern migration route is one of the most dangerous in the world, where many deaths go unreported, IOM said.

In a call for help,  IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino said that the situation was a forgotten crisis.

But migrants deserve support and to be treated with dignity, Mr. Vitorino insisted, in support of an appeal for $84 million to help more than one million migrants and the communities hosting them in the region.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.

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Daniel Johnson, UN News - Geneva
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