The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is just one of the UN agencies working to help the most vulnerable in worst-hit central areas, but much more help is needed. “When it rains, they can’t sleep, and when the rain stops, they still can’t sleep because they feared the wind might...
Ten days after a 7.7 magnitude quake levelled buildings and buckled bridges across central Myanmar, the latest death toll has passed 3,500 and is “likely to rise”, said Titon Mitra, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Representative in the country, speaking from the devastated city of Mandalay. He said that the...
Despite the military’s announcement of a ceasefire, attacks have continued across the country, exacerbating an already dire situation, UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned on Friday. “In the days following the deadly earthquake that tore through central Myanmar last week, the Myanmar military continued operations and attacks, including airstrikes...
Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the earthquake has “supercharged the suffering”. “Myanmar today is the scene of utter devastation and desperation,” he said. He emphasised that even before the disaster, the country was grappling with political turmoil, human rights abuses and...
As emergency aid trickles in, women and girls who were already vulnerable due to years of conflict, displacement and economic instability, now face even greater risks from gender-based violence and exploitation, according to a UN-led coalition responding to the crisis. “Girls are particularly vulnerable, especially when separated from their families...
The Emergency Relief Coordinator tweeted that UN teams are being “supported by expertise across our global network”. News reports quoting sources in the Burmese city of Mandalay, close to the epicentre of the quake, indicate that hundreds have died. In neighbouring Thailand more than 80 construction workers are missing, according...
The earthquakes of 7.7 and 6.4 magnitude struck Myanmar in the centre of the country northwest of Sagaing. The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported on Saturday that hospitals in the area are overwhelmed with extensive damage to health infrastructure. The areas affected are Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw,...
In October and November alone, there were more than 2,180 civilian deaths and injuries, while nearly 40,000 people have been uprooted by fighting in frontline areas in Donetsk and Kharkiv, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine meanwhile has highlighted an increase...
That’s the message from the UN’s trade and development body UNCTAD, which called on Tuesday for urgent reform of the international financial system to support the world’s 46 Least Developed Countries. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, these most vulnerable economies urgently require foreign investment to add...
According to agencies on the ground, more than 380 aftershocks have been reported since the 6.4 magnitude quake struck shortly before midnight of Friday into Saturday, local time. Initial findings suggest over 4,000 homes have been damaged in the worst affected districts of Rukum (West) and Jajarkot, leaving up to...
That’s the message from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which appealed on Wednesday for $19 million to provide emergency food assistance to those “in desperate need” in the country’s western Herat province. The agency’s deputy director in Afghanistan Ana Maria Salhuana stressed that to assist earthquake survivors WFP “is...
Marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Mr. Guterres pointed out that nearly 700 million people are living on less than $2.15 per day and over a billion don’t have access to basic needs like food, water, health care and education. Billions more lack sanitation and access to energy,...