Health

UNAMID/Hamid Abdulsalam

Coronavirus restrictions hamper aid access for Sudanese in need

3 April 2020
Africa

The United Nations and its partners are putting in place alternative plans to ensure the continuity of humanitarian assistance in Sudan, as measures taken by the Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are having an impact on aid access, deliveries and services.

UNICEF/ IOM Bosnia & Herzegovina

‘Overwhelmed’ health systems have little room for sick refugees, migrants, UN agencies warn

3 April 2020

Four prominent United Nations system entities have called on countries to protect refugees, migrants, stateless persons and those forcibly displaced by disasters and conflict – some of the world’s most vulnerable populations – against the rapidly expanding COVID-19 pandemic.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

UN chief urges unity in mobilizing ‘every ounce of energy’ to defeat coronavirus pandemic

3 April 2020
Global

There should be only one fight in our world today, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Friday, issuing a loud clarion call to join “our shared battle against COVID-19”.

UNICEF/ IOM Bosnia & Herzegovina

COVID-19: from conflict to pandemic, migrants in Bosnia face a new challenge

3 April 2020
Europe

Migrants and refugees hosted at UN-run reception centres in Bosnia-Herzegovina, are learning to cope with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

©IOM/Emrah Özesen

'Everyone at risk’ as coronavirus cases tick up among migrants and refugees sheltering in Greece

2 April 2020
Europe

With 23 migrants at an open accommodation site in central Greece testing positive for COVID-19, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) sounded the alarm on Thursday over conditions in crowded reception centres on five Greek islands where the virus risks taking hold.

Sandeep Datta

India: Migrant workers' plight prompts UN call for ‘domestic solidarity’ in coronavirus battle

2 April 2020
Asia Pacific

Pervasive challenges remain for hundreds-of-thousands of migrant workers in India whose lives were upended by the sudden lockdown across the country, in response to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, said the UN human rights chief on Thursday.

UNOCHA/Giles Clarke

Burkina Faso crisis and COVID-19 concerns highlight pressure on Sahel food security

2 April 2020
Africa

Food insecurity levels in the Sahel region are “spiralling out of control”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday, as it expressed concerns about the potential impact on humanitarian supply chains because of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

© UNICEF/Rehab El-Dalil

COVID-19 should not herald rollback in rights for people with autism: UN chief

2 April 2020
Global

The rights of persons with autism must be taken into account in efforts to address the COVID-19 coronavirus: “a public health crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes”, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.

Unsplash/Adam Marikar

Key COP26 climate summit postponed to ‘safeguard lives’

2 April 2020
Global

With no end in sight to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the UN climate change talks which were due to take place in Scotland later in the year, have been postponed until October 2021.

Video screen shot

COVID-19: International community must step up to prevent pandemic from devastating vulnerable on the run

1 April 2020

Given how quickly the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading, an outbreak is “looking imminent” in the world’s refugee camps, crowded reception centres or detention facilities where migrant families are sheltering, the Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.