This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Cyclone Mocha: urgent funding needed in Myanmar and Bangladesh as hunger, diseases loom

As a clearer picture emerges of the trail of destruction left by Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar and Bangladesh, humanitarians are continuing to provide life-saving assistance.

In Myanmar, the UN appealed on Tuesday for $333 million to assist 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people.

Many lost their homes as the cyclone hit the west of the country over a week ago; they are food-insecure or malnourished.

Here’s the UN’s top aid official in the country, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, speaking from Yangon:

“The disaster has left hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable communities without a roof over their heads as the monsoon looms. The humanitarian community is now in a race against time to provide people with safe shelter in all affected communities and prevent the outbreak and spread of water-borne diseases.”

In Bangladesh, the UN is appealing for $42 million to support the cyclone response, including $36 million for Rohingya refugees living in camps in the affected areas.

Without additional funding, the UN warned that it will be forced to cut refugees’ food rations for a second time in June, which means that one million people will only be getting two-thirds of the food they need.

Gaza: over a quarter patients at UNRWA health centres need mental health support

More than one in four patients screened in violence-plagued Gaza at UN-run health centres require mental health and psychosocial support, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.

This is the highest rate of mental health needs ever recorded across UNRWA’s medical system.

UNRWA’s health programmes support some two million Palestine refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory composed of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, as well as in Syria, providing nearly eight million health consultations in 2022.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Dr. Akihiro Seita, UNRWA’s Director of Health, highlighted the “immense challenges” faced by the agency’s health programmes in the past year: in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, he listed the devastating cholera outbreak in Syria and Lebanon, regional turbulence and UNRWA’s ongoing funding crisis.

He stressed that UNRWA health centres in Gaza and the occupied West Bank continue to provide vital health care amid hostilities.

Ghana peacekeeper named UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year

The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is this Thursday and it’s a chance to salute Captain Cecilia Erzuah, a Ghanaian peacekeeper serving with the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei, who’s going to receive the annual UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.

The award recognizes the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Under Captain Erzuah’s command, the Ghana Engagement Platoon, composed equally of men and women, led community outreach initiatives targeting women’s and youth groups. Together with civilian UN colleagues, Captain Erzuah also hosted discussions on domestic violence, gender equality and childcare.

Abyei is a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan, which is claimed by both sides. The Security Council authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force there in 2011, as tensions rose ahead of South Sudan’s formal declaration of independence.

Ghana is the largest contributor of women military peacekeepers to the United Nations, with 375 currently deployed.

Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News.