Around the world: Daily updates from UN country teams - July 2023
Our UN teams are on the ground in 162 countries and territories, coordinating joint programmes and tackling a range of multi-faceted priorities and key initiatives on a daily basis — from climate action and food security to gender equality and safety of civilians. UN Resident Coordinators and their teams utilize innovative approaches to problem-solving to better serve communities. Below are some highlights of their work this month.
Wednesday, 26 July
Togo: Reinforcing national efforts to counter violent extremist attacks in the northern regions
In Togo, our UN team is reinforcing national efforts to counter violent extremist attacks in the northern regions, which severely impact daily life. They are boosting community resilience, providing vital social services access, and strengthening governance institutions. Over the past four months, the World Food Program (WFP) distributed essential food supplies worth US$1 million, including corn, beans, iodized salt, vegetable oil, and enriched flour, benefiting 52,000 people, especially children, in affected areas. Also, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) provided 3,000 hygiene kits to women, including adolescents, many of whom were displaced. The kits contained sanitary napkins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels. The World Health Organization (WHO) dispatched surge teams and distributed healthcare kits, while UNICEF improved water, hygiene, and sanitation access, installing latrines in health facilities and schools. Over 9,000 displaced students received school kits, and nearly 2,000 children aged 6-59 months with Severe Acute Malnutrition were treated. Also, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is empowering local elected bodies to promote dialogue mechanisms for social cohesion, while the UN Refugee Fund (UNHCR) is assisting in the registration of 18,000 asylum seekers due to the rising number of refugees from Burkina Faso.
Tuesday, 25 July
Tunisia: Intensifying support for migration needs
The UN team in Tunisia is intensifying support for migration needs, working closely with the Tunisian Red Crescent upon the Government's request. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) scaled up its assistance to support nearly 1500 refugees and asylum seekers in need. It also supports the Tunisian Red Crescent, assisting 600 people, and identifying those with international protection needs. For its part, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is providing shelter for around 250 people from sub-Saharan Africa rescued from the Tunisia-Libya border bringing food and water assistance to 2000 people through the Tunisian Red Crescent. IOM, UNHCR, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) along with national partners are distributing food to thousands of migrants, while UNICEF and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) are delivering emergency supplies to 1500 migrants including water and sanitation kits. Our team has just conducted an assessment mission to Sfax [Center-East] and South, working with national partners. The UN is concerned about hundreds of people who are reportedly stranded at the borders and is working with national partners to bring them lifesaving assistance.
Monday, 24 July
The Gambia: Tackling food insecurity, in view of a spike in food prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine
An update from the Gambia, where our UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Seraphine Wakana, is boosting support to authorities to tackle food insecurity, in view of a spike in food prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, toppled by climate-reduced agricultural inputs, natural disasters, and conflicts. Our team on the ground projects that during this lean season, which runs from now until September, nearly 320,000 people, which is 13 per cent of the population, will face food insecurity. Over the past two months, our team is bolstering climate-resilient agricultural practices and local adaptation measures to the climate crisis. The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) have trained 270 individuals in entrepreneurial skills and sustainable agricultural practices. The focus is on heads of household, over half of them women who have started their own agri-business or joined the labour market. Our team is providing Gambians with equipment, including milling machines, groundnut processing materials, and other farming inputs to start climate-resilient agri-businesses.
Tuesday, 18 July
Trinidad and Tobago: UN team welcomes Government's decision to include primary-school level refugee & migrant children in the national school system next year
The Resident Coordinator in Trinidad and Tobago, Joanna Kazana, and the members of the UN Country Team welcome the decision of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to include refugee and migrant children in the national school system at the primary school level in the new academic year. According to UN Refugee Agency data last year, there are just over 4,000 children, between the ages of five and 17 years, among the asylum seekers and refugees registered with UNHCR in Trinidad and Tobago. The UN Country Team has issued a statement welcoming Government's decision, adding that children attending schools propels families forward and supports integration and language acquisition. Together with local and international partners, the UN system remains committed to working collaboratively with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on the next phase of its approach to including refugees and migrants in the national school system to ensure all children in the country receive quality education. The full statement is available on the UN Country Team website.
Monday, 17 July
Yemen: UN team initiative to prevent a massive oil spill from the decaying FSO Safer supertanker off the country's Red Sea coast
And over the weekend our UN team in Yemen issued an update on its initiative to prevent a massive oil spill from the decaying FSO Safer supertanker off the country’s Red Sea coast. On Saturday the replacement vessel Nautica sailed from Djibouti to the Safer site. All technical preparations and agreements have been finalized. The Safer, which holds an estimated 1 million barrels of oil, has been at risk of breaking up or exploding for years. A major spill from the vessel would result in an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe. Once the replacement vessel arrives, the oil aboard the Safer will be pumped out in a ship-to-ship transfer that is expected to take about two weeks to complete. The leading marine salvage company SMIT stabilized the Safer since arriving at the site on 30 May. This initiative is led by the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressley, and our UN Development Programme (UNDP) colleagues, which contracted SMIT, are implementing the operation to remove the oil. The full press release is on UN Yemen’s website in English and Arabic.
Thursday, 13 July
Micronesia: Digitally empowering Small Island Developing States (SIDS) across the Pacific Islands
The UN team in Micronesia has launched a new joint programme to digitally empower Small Island Developing States (SIDS) across the Pacific Islands, and accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, in collaboration with the national governments. Financed through a USD 3.8 million grant by the UN Joint SDG Fund, the new programme serves as a platform to pool resources, expertise, and networks to provide better access to digital services, spur economic activities and strengthen climate change resilience, amongst other objectives. The programme brings together seven participating UN Organizations led by ITU, including FAO, ILO, UNOPS, UNESCO, UNICEF, and UNODC, under the overall leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator Multi-Country Office Micronesia Jaap van Hierden, who said: "Through this Joint Programme, we are not only leveraging the potential of technology but also nurturing resilience and empowering communities in the Pacific”.
Tuesday, 11 July
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Commemorating 28 years since the Srebrenica genocide, Secretary-General expresses solidarity with the victims, survivors & their families
The President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunal, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, is participating today with the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ingrid Macdonald, in events to commemorate the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. Twenty-eight years ago, the United Nations and the international community failed the people of Srebrenica. The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with the victims, some of whom are still missing, the survivors, and their families. The Secretary-General urges political leaders to put an end to and firmly condemn the denial, justification, condoning and minimization of atrocity crimes and the glorification of war criminals. The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and supports the call for comprehensive accountability, justice, reparations, and genuine and durable reconciliation having declared the country eligible for financial support from his Peacebuilding Fund in November 2022. The official ceremony is taking place at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre in Potočari.
Wednesday, 5 July
Costa Rica: UN team publishes study showing hate speech and discrimination messages increased by 50% over last year, 250% in last two years
In Costa Rica, our UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Allegra Baiocchi, has just published a new study showing that hate speech and discrimination messages increased by 50 per cent in the country over the last year and 250 per cent in the last two years. Of particular concern is the exponential increase of hate speech targeting women, xenophobia and racism. Our team's efforts to understand and address hate speech along with authorities have led to the creation of a National Strategy to tackle this scourge. The study leveraged artificial intelligence tools to analyze social media content, finding that the increase in hate speech has been accompanied by more violent and aggressive attitudes. Adult men are the biggest spreaders of such hate messages. Our UN team is responding to this increase by building alliances and calling for a constructive dialogue with key sectors to prevent and tackle discrimination. The report is available in Spanish on the UN in Costa Rica website. [Link to the report in Spanish]
Monday, 3 July
Afghanistan: Launch of the new Strategic Framework for supporting Afghan people
Our UN team in Afghanistan made public today its new Strategic Framework for Afghanistan for the period 2023-2025, guiding its work on the ground to address basic human needs in Afghanistan. The new Framework will prioritize the needs and rights of those most vulnerable, including women and girls, children and youth, internally displaced persons, returnees, refugees, ethnic and religious minorities. This Framework was developed in close consultations with Member States, partners, and stakeholders, and articulates the UN’s approach to addressing basic human needs in Afghanistan. It focuses on three complementary and mutually reinforcing joint priorities: Sustaining essential services; Economic opportunities and resilient livelihoods; and social cohesion, inclusion, gender equality, human rights, and the rule of law.
Interested in more? Check out previous daily updates from UN teams 'around the world':
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