This is the News in Brief, from the United Nations.

Nigeria: crisis in northeast will get worse without urgent help: OCHA

UN humanitarians issued an alert on Tuesday over the deteriorating situation for millions of people in northeast Nigeria who continue to be affected by protracted armed conflict, just as the country enters the lean season.

Millions of mainly women and children are at risk and an estimated 600,000 face emergency levels of food insecurity because of violence centred around the Lake Chad region, that’s now in its 12th year.

Here’s the UN’s top relief official in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale:

“We’ve been asking to support out of the 8.4 million people in need of support, at least 5.5 million. The conflict has left 2.2 million people presently displaced. We’ve just entered what is called the lean season that normally lasts until September; last year it lasted until November, so we’re also seeing the impact of climate change.”

Mr. Schmale noted that although Nigeria is a major oil producer, it lacks refineries which means that it has not benefited from the global surge in energy prices, linked to war in Ukraine.

UN health agency to hold emergency monkeypox meeting

The UN health agency said on Tuesday that it’s to hold its first emergency meeting about the ongoing monkeypox outbreak, to discuss whether it’s a global threat.

The meeting - this Thursday - will take place at the Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO).

So far this year, monkeypox infections have been reported in 42 countries across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific.

Latest data from the WHO indicates a total of more than 2,100 lab-confirmed cases, including one death.

The majority of infections have been in the European region.

The outbreak of monkeypox continues to primarily affect men who have sex with men, and who have reported having sex recently with new partners, WHO said.

Most reported cases in the ongoing outbreak have a history of travel primarily to countries in Europe, North America or other countries.

The unexpected appearance of monkeypox in several regions of the world where the virus is not usually found, suggests that there may have been undetected transmission for some time, WHO has said.

UN-led biodiversity talks seek to strike deal over land and sea protection

Fresh UN-led biodiversity talks have begun in the Kenyan capital to push ahead on a deal among nations to halt and reverse damage to plant, sea and animal life.

An estimated one million species are at risk of extinction today and action is urgently needed to revive damaged ecosystems, the UN Environment Programme has said.

Discussions on a Global Biodiversity Framework will continue in Nairobi until Saturday 26 June.

Delegates already agreed on a draft text at talks in Geneva in March which includes targets that will involve taking urgent action on species recovery and conservation, and on reducing the level of damage caused by human activity.

The overall aim is to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve recovery by 2050, which will require additional investment of around one per cent of global GDP.

One of the most important targets yet to be agreed is the requirement that all nations keep one third of their land and seas free from development.

If the Nairobi talks are successful, adoption of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is scheduled to take place in Canada this December.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.