This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Libya: UN scales up support to victims of deadly floods

The UN has mobilised an emergency team and activated urgent assistance to support communities affected by Storm Daniel in eastern Libya over the weekend.

In a statement released by his Spokesperson on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his heartfelt condolences to the Libyan authorities and the families of those who had died.

According to the latest figures, devastating flooding caused by the storm has claimed more than 5,100 lives; 10,000 people have been reported missing.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has announced an allocation of $10 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to “swiftly support people affected by the floods”.

At least 30,000 people have been displaced in the city of Derna alone, according to the UN migration agency (IOM).

Briefing reporters in New York, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the organisation was working with Libyan authorities to assess needs and support relief efforts, and engaging with local, national, and international partners to get urgently needed humanitarian assistance to people in the affected areas.

Libya is under the control of two rival administrations, the internationally recognized Government in Tripoli in the west, and de facto authorities located in the east, along with the country’s parliament.

Over 330 million children worldwide living in extreme poverty

One in every six children is forced to survive on less than $2.15 a day, according to a new report from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank released on Wednesday.

The findings shows that 333 million children worldwide are living in extreme poverty. That’s 50 million less than 10 years ago – but the report’s authors say that many more should have been able to break out of poverty had it not been for three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said that the effects of the pandemic as well as conflict, climate change and economic shocks, have “stalled progress” on ending child poverty. 

She called for redoubled efforts to ensure that all children have access to essential services, including education, nutrition, health care and social protection, while addressing the root causes of extreme poverty.

“We cannot fail these children now,” she said.

According to the report, Sub-Saharan Africa carries the highest burden of children living in extreme poverty: 40 per cent. Globally, children comprise more than 50 per cent of the extreme poor, despite making up only a third of the world’s population.

Uganda: Restored royal burial site no longer under threat: UNESCO

In Uganda, four historic tombs of nineteenth-century kings of “outstanding universal value” have been successfully restored and are no longer considered to be “World Heritage in Danger”, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has said.

The 30-hectare area which is home to the tombs of the Buganda kings at Kasubi was put on a UNESCO list of threatened World Heritage sites after a violent fire devastated the monuments in 2010.

A reconstruction plan was led by the Ugandan authorities and implemented in close collaboration with UNESCO, along with international financial support.

UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay called the reconstruction a “collective success”.

“This is also excellent news for the entire international community, as our common priority is that African heritage is better represented on the World Heritage List”, she said.

According to UNESCO, the site is an “important example” of architecture using organic materials such as wood, thatch, reeds and plaster. The site is also a major spiritual centre for the Baganda people – one of Uganda’s largest ethnic groups – and is “key to the preservation of their beliefs and identity”.

Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News.