The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19 - OCHA - WFP - UNICEF - UNHCR
Starvation, death from disease and violence can be stopped with $10.3 billion appeal: UN agencies
A huge increase in the number of people facing starvation because of the COVID-19 crisis is only one of the many problems UN humanitarians are concerned about because of the pandemic, they said on Friday.
The alert over acute food insecurity from Africa to Asia and Latin America, along with dangerously low levels of vaccination among children and a startling rise in gender-based violence linked to coronavirus lockdowns have all been flagged by the Organization’s agencies.
In a bid to alleviate people’s suffering in 63 vulnerable countries, the UN has appealed for $10.3 billion from the international community to fund the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19.
Originally launched in March as a $2 billion appeal, agencies have received just over $1.7 billion to date.
“We are seeing a huge increase in the number of starving people which could reach some 270 million by the end of the year. The plan has a $500 million envelope for famine prevention,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Echoing the urgency of providing help without delay, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson insisted that COVID-19 is tightening its grip on much of the developing world, wreaking havoc not only people’s lives but also on their livelihoods.
“We must all act now,” she said. “If not, we would be dangerously short-sighted. The cost of inaction against the food security and other consequences of the pandemic will grow exponentially unless the right combination of relief and recovery assistance is implemented quickly and at scale.”
Of the $10.3 billion appeal – the world body’s biggest to date – WFP’s needs account for $4.9 billon, plus a $500 million special provision for famine prevention, in recognition of the severity of food insecurity threatening the world.
Low-income countries facing the biggest problems “are concentrated in Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and of course in also in Asia, Afghanistan Bangladesh, the Middle East - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen - and of course, Latin America,” Ms. Byrs added.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, highlighted data showing how the new coronavirus is affecting children in ways that will have lasting or irreversible impact.
Its updated global coronavirus appeal is now $1.9 billion, up from $1.6 in May, covering 155 countries and territories including the 63 countries in the Global Humanitarian Response Plan.
Citing projections from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in May, UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said that “6,000 children could die from preventable causes every day over the next six months as a direct and indirect result of COVID-19-related disruptions in essential services”.
The first four months of 2020 had already shown “a substantial drop” in the number of children receiving three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3), the UNICEF spokesperson continued. “This is the first time in 28 years that the world could see a reduction in DTP3 coverage, which is the marker for immunization coverage.”
At least 30 measles vaccination campaigns “were or are at risk” of being cancelled, according to UNICEF.
Ms. Mercado also cited latest UN estimates showing that close to 1.2 billion students in 150 countries are still affected by school closures.
“Apart from causing mental and psychological distress, the school closures risk hardening already inherent inequalities in access to learning, and to deepen the global learning crisis,” UNICEF said in a statement. “The children already furthest behind, the children most in need of learning, will bear the brunt.”
Highlighting a disturbing global correlation between lockdown measures and domestic abuse, Ms. Mercado also noted that data indicated for every three months the restrictions continue, there could be an additional 15 million extra cases of gender-based violence (GBV).
In its latest report on the problem, 35 out of 68 countries reported an increase in GBV, such as intimate partner violence against women or adolescent girls or online harassment or bullying of adolescent girls.
From the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, underscored the threat faced by people uprooted by violence and natural disaster.
“With coronavirus now present in every country, including those that host large numbers of refugee and displaced populations, the world’s 79.5 million refugees and forcibly displaced people are among the most exposed and vulnerable to the virus.”
The agencies’ comments follow an appeal from UN relief chief on Thursday who called on the world’s leading industrial nations, the G20, to step up support for the appeal.
“The pandemic and associated global recession are about to wreak havoc in fragile and low-income countries”, Mark Lowcock said. “The response of wealthy nations so far has been grossly inadequate and dangerously short-sighted. Failure to act now will leave the virus free to circle round the globe, undo decades of development and create a generation’s worth of tragic and exportable problems.”
Adding that “it doesn’t have to be like this”, Mr. Lowcock insisted that the problem “can be fixed with money from wealthy nations and fresh thinking from the shareholders of international financial institutions and supporters of UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and NGOs”.
- Wide shot, exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot, Press Room III, UN Geneva, podium speakers sitting wide apart in line with social distancing measures.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “We are seeing a huge increase in the number of starving people which could reach some 270 million by the end of the year. The plan has a $500 million envelope for famine prevention.”
- Medium shot, journalists sitting in front of laptops, writing, reading, checking mobile phone, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson, WFP: “We must all act now; if not, we would be dangerously short-sighted. The cost of inaction against the food security and other consequences of the pandemic will grow exponentially unless the right combination of relief and recovery assistance is implemented quickly and at scale.”
- Close-up, journalist’s hands typing on laptop, in profile, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson, WFP: “These countries are concentrated in Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and of course in also in Asia, Afghanistan Bangladesh, the Middle East - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen - and of course, Latin America.”
- Medium shot, journalists sitting at desk, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson, UNICEF: “Projections issued by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in May showed that 6,000 children could die from preventable causes every day over the next six months as a direct and indirect result of COVID-19-related disruptions in essential services.”
- Medium-wide shot, podium speakers sitting spaced apart in line with social distancing measures, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Shabia Mantoo, UNHCR: “With coronavirus now present in every country, including those that host large numbers of refugee and displaced populations, the world’s 79.5 million refugees and forcibly displaced people are among the most exposed and vulnerable to the virus.”
- Medium-wide shot, tables with chairs propped against them to prevent use for seating, journalists sitting wide apart in rear of shot, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “Rich countries are wisely protecting their own economies and people with enormous relief packages, but it is dangerously short-sighted not to invest to protect the world's most vulnerable people as well. The risk is otherwise, that we are going to see multiple new crises, on the back of the COVID-19.”
- Medium shot, journalists to rear of shot, sitting wide apart, chairs propped up against tables in foreground to prevent use, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot, podium shot with three speakers sitting wide apart, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot, journalist looking down at laptop and typing, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.