Africa

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon shakes hand with Rebecca Johnson, an Ebola surviving nurse.
UN Photo/Martine Perret

Ban visits Ebola-hit West Africa, says zero cases “must be everyone’s goal”

19 December 2014
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that there is reason to be “cautiously optimistic” about defeating the Ebola crisis in West Africa, as he made a series of visits to countries most-affected by the unprecedented outbreak, which has sickened some 18,000 people and killed close to 7,000 others throughout the region.
Displaced people in North Kivu. Many parts of the province have been relatively quiet in the past two years, but UNHCR is concerned about violence in the Beni region.
UNHCR/B. Sokol

DR Congo: Amid spike in violence, UN refugee agency concerned about humanitarian situation

19 December 2014
Continuing violence and multiple attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have sown widespread fear and sparked displacement of thousands of people, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) reported today, amid appeals for humanitarian access to help those in distress.
Internally displaced people queue up at a food distribution center in Juba, South Sudan.
UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

South Sudan: UN probe uncovers targeting of civilians, abductions, sexual violence

19 December 2014
In a report issued today, the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has said there is reason to believe that at least 11 civilians were killed and several other serious rights abuses were committed during an attack by opposition forces on Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, in October this year.
Displaced population at a refuge site in Niger’s Diffa region. Boko Haram’s worsening violence has forced tens of thousands to flee northeastern Nigeria to neighbouring countries.
Katy Thiam/OCHA

UN envoy condemns latest spate of attacks in Nigeria

18 December 2014
The United Nations’ top official in West Africa has strongly condemned a series of attacks in north-eastern Nigeria which reportedly left over 30 people dead and resulted in the abduction of some 200 others.
Emergency personnel try to contain a fire on 18 December 2014 at a warehouse at the main humanitarian logistics base in Conakry, Guinea, which contained critical Ebola response supplies.
UNMEER/Sandra Miller

Ebola: 'Regrettable loss' caused by warehouse fire in Guinea

18 December 2014
A fire engulfed a United Nations warehouse in Guinea today that contained medicines and laboratory materials used for the fight against Ebola, causing no casualties but “a regrettable loss” in supplies, which the UN mission there vowed to quickly replace. An investigation into the fire was underway.
Former FARDC Lieutenant Colonel Bedi Mobuli Engangela, alias "Colonel 106”.
UNJHRO

UN rights chief welcomes conviction of Congolese army officer for crimes against humanity

18 December 2014
The top United Nations official on human rights issues has welcomed the recent conviction and sentencing of a senior army officer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for crimes against humanity, adding that the move would help garner momentum for other similar cases currently underway in the country.
Severely malnourished refugee child from the Central African Republic at a feeding centre in Batouri hospital, Cameroon.
UNHCR/F. Noy

Central African Republic: UNICEF warns two out of five children without vital aid

17 December 2014
Two out of five children urgently needing humanitarian aid in Central African Republic are without it, thanks to a critical lack of funding and continued conflict, a year after extreme violence tore through the country, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said today.
Disease Surveillance Officer Sahr Brima Sewa visits a family in Moyinba, Sierra Leone, that has just lost a relative suspected of Ebola. UNMEER/Martine Perret

Ebola: UN Secretary-General will visit West Africa to ‘show solidarity with those affected’

17 December 2014
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced he will leave today for the countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak “to show my solidarity with those affected and urge even greater global action” to fight the epidemic, which two United Nations food agencies said could push the number of people facing food insecurity to more than one million by next spring.
Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Bernardino Léon.
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

Libya: UN mission encouraged by “step in the right direction” towards dialogue

17 December 2014
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said today that it is encouraged by the positive response it has received to its invitation for a UN-convened Libyan political dialogue.
Ambulance depot near an emergency response centre, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Ambulances and drivers have to be disinfected after each trip carrying suspected Ebola cases.
UN Photo/Martine Perret

Ebola: UN says health workers in Sierra Leone to receive hazard pay using mobile money

16 December 2014
Response workers battling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will receive “hazard pay” for the first time in Sierra Leone using mobile money because “unless there is a certain element of incentives, or danger pay, it’s very difficult to attract and retain people,” the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced today.