Africa

ICC

‘Terminator’ warlord Bosco Ntaganda sentenced to 30 years in prison for DR Congo atrocities

7 November 2019
Law and Crime Prevention

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday handed down a maximum 30-year prison sentence for mass murder and numerous other atrocities, to Bosco Ntaganda, the heaviest sanction yet imposed by judges at The Hague, in the Netherlands.

WHO Sudan

Cholera prevention efforts underway to protect millions in Sudan’s Khartoum state

6 November 2019
Health

A campaign has got underway to prevent the spread of a deadly cholera outbreak to Sudan’s populous Khartoum state, home to more than eight million people, UN medics said on Wednesday.

© UNICEF/Tanya Bindra

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: Cameroon crisis deepens, Tsunami Awareness Day, online gender gap, Somalia floods leave children vulnerable

5 November 2019
Climate Change

A recap of Tuesday’s top stories: Humanitarian needs in Cameroon up 15-fold from 2017; UN risk reduction chief calls for more resilient cities; Somalia’s floods put 200,000 children at risk; Internet use study reveals growing gender gap; UN partners spotlight youth mental health. 

© UNICEF/Tanya Bindra

Nearly two million Cameroonians face humanitarian emergency: UNICEF

5 November 2019
Humanitarian Aid

Ongoing violence in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest has created a fast-growing humanitarian emergency now affecting some 1.9 million people, a “15-fold increase since 2017”, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

UNSOM/John Arigi

Unity, regional cooperation and international support needed for Horn of Africa to develop sustainably 

4 November 2019
Peace and Security

The road ahead “will not be easy” for the Horn of Africa, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Monday, briefing the Security Council on her Joint Solidarity Mission with the African Union (AU) at the end of October. 

IOM South Sudan

UN migration agency appeals to South Sudan group to free volunteer worker and child

1 November 2019
Health

The UN migration agency appealed on Friday for the immediate liberation of a volunteer and child who’ve been missing since a gun battle in South Sudan at the weekend that claimed the lives of three agency workers.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

From ‘strength to strength’ UN-African Union security partnership growing, Security Council hears

30 October 2019
Peace and Security

The Security Council highlighted the growing partnership on matters of peace and security between the United Nations and African Union (AU) on Wednesday amidst calls to bolster overall effectiveness.

Seychelles Tourism Board/Ennio Maffei

FROM THE FIELD: ‘Blue’ finance flows in the Seychelles

28 October 2019
Climate Change

Protecting marine areas from over-exploitation and providing the people who have traditionally lived off the sea with a sustainable alternative livelihood does not come cheap, but in the Seychelles, a focus on financial instruments is making that task easier. 

MINUSCA/Leonel Grothe

Central African Republic: ‘Transform dreams of peace into reality’: mission chief tells Security Council

25 October 2019
Peace and Security

Updating the Security Council on the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Friday, the head of the UN Mission in the country, MINUSCA, called on the country’s friends and partners, including the Council, to “transform the dreams of peace, prosperity and development of millions of Central Africans into a lasting reality”.

UN Photo/Tim McKulka

‘Unique opportunity’ to resolve border dispute between Sudan, South Sudan

24 October 2019
Peace and Security

Sudan and neighbouring South Sudan “have never been closer” to reaching a sustainable peace with each other, and their own internal armed opposition groups, the head of UN peacekeeping told the Security Council on Thursday.