Some 60,000 people displaced by ongoing hostilities in Nigeria’s crisis-torn Borno state will receive life-saving aid thanks to an allocation from the United Nations-managed country-based humanitarian assistance fund.

“The crisis continues to displace thousands of vulnerable women, children and men every week. Many have gone through unspeakable hardship and the UN and its partners remain committed to help alleviate their suffering,” said Edward Kallon, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria.

Set up through the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF), the assistance includes $2 million in support to the UN Humanitarian Air Service for frontline responders in the country’s north-east.

“This UN fund give us the flexibility to prioritize those who are most in need of aid and act swiftly for the good of the people of north-east Nigeria.”

The region’s humanitarian crisis, sparked mainly by Boko Haram’s years-long insurgency, remains one of the most severe globally.

In the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, at least 7.7 million people are in need this year– with about 80 per cent, or 6.1 million, targeted for humanitarian assistance.

The $9 million allocation will help fund 15 projects supporting humanitarian rapid response in areas affected by large-scale conflict-related displacements, particularly in the northern parts of Borno, along the Maiduguri-Monguno axis.

In just three months, the close to 30,000 people who have fled violence in hard-to-reach areas are in dire need of food, water, shelter, clothes and medical services. Additionally, the funds will help scale up the response near the border with Cameroon in eastern Borno – Gwoza, Bama, Dikwa, Kala/Balge, Monguno, Askira/Uba – and northern Adamawa – Madagali – where approximately another 30,000 have arrived following military operations.

Finally, the funds will also help maintain UN Humanitarian Air Service operations, crucial to reach and deliver aid in remote areas of the north-east, especially where roads are unusable.

Under the leadership of Edward Kallon, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, the NHF is managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to provide flexible and timely funds for basic life-saving support. To date, it has raised $48 million in contributions and pledges.

The Security Council on Tuesday extended for one year the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), making it a priority for the operation to protect civilians and provide support for implementation of a 31 December 2016 agreement on holding elections.

Adopting a unanimous resolution, the 15-member body authorized the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to maintain the troop ceiling of 16,215 military personnel, 660 military observers and staff officers, 391 police personnel, and 1,050 personnel of formed police units, until 31 March 2019.

Also in the 63-paragraph text, the Council reiterated its appeal to all Congolese actors to work for the preservation of the still fragile gains in the path of peace and stability in the African country, and urges the Government to hold accountable those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law or violations and abuses of human rights, in particular those that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Secretary-General is requested to prioritize and align budgetary resources based on critical tasks set out in the mandate.

The troop levels were retained, including more than 16,000 military personnel and 400 police, but the Council requested the Secretary-General to undertake contingency planning within 90 days, looking at all options, including through inter-mission cooperation.

More than 1,700 people reportedly killed in military operations and airstrikes on Eastern Ghouta since late February, the top United Nations relief official said on Tuesday, describing the past few months of relentless bloodshed as “some of the worst yet” for civilians inside war-torn Syria.

Mark Lowcock said attacks on critical civilian infrastructure like medical facilities continue to be reported with at least 28 reported attacks on health facilities since mid-February and more than 70 verified incidents since the beginning of this year.

“Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced from across the war-ravaged country and many are living in overcrowded, ill-equipped shelters. There is also a severe shortage of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, as well as rising protection concerns,” he said.

Mr. Lowcock, who is the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the 15-member Council that UN agencies and their partners are working as hard as conditions permit to provide support to people in need.

Challenges range from physical security for aid workers, continued fighting, denial of access, and lack of resources.

We are essentially just given crumbs – an occasional convoy here and there, often, coincidentally, shortly before our monthly briefings to you — UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock

“We are essentially just given crumbs – an occasional convoy here and there, often, coincidentally, shortly before our monthly briefings to you [the Security Council members],” said the senior relief official.

As such, he said: “5.6 million Syrians in acute need cannot live on crumbs.”

Mr. Lowcock called on all Council Members as well as the members of the International Syria Support Group Humanitarian Task Force – the UN-backed task force created two years ago to boost aid delivery to besieged towns and war-weary civilians – to exert their individual and collective influence over the parties.

He also reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s call on all parties to fully respect international humanitarian and human rights law, to ensure immediate humanitarian access and guarantee the protection of civilians, including in relation to displacements and evacuations.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Mark Lowcock (on screen), Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefs the Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria.

Concluding his briefing, the UN relief chief recalled Security Council resolution 2401 adopted last month – in which the Council demanded an immediate cease in hostilities and conditions that to enable humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations of those in need – and called on the UN body to make the resolution a reality for the people of Syria.

“Whatever the difficulty, the United Nations and its partners, remain determined to follow through, for the sake of the Syrian people,” said Mr. Lowcock.

The seemingly unending conflict in Syria has surpassed World War II in terms of duration.

Since the conflict broke out in March 2011, more than 13 million Syrians remain dependent on humanitarian assistance, including 6.1 million internally displaced and over 5.5 million driven into refuge outside its borders. Furthermore, a third of houses and residences across the country and about half of all health facilities are estimated to have been destroyed.

More than 2.75 million children are out of school and about two-thirds of all Syrian children have lost a loved one, had their house damaged or suffered conflict-related injuries.

With nearly 500,000 children in Yemen having dropped out of school since the 2015 escalation of the war there, education in the country has been devastated, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a report released Tuesday.

“An entire generation of children in Yemen faces a bleak future because of limited or no access to education,” said Meritxell Relaño, UNICEF Representative in Yemen. “Even those who remain in school are not getting the quality education they need.”

According to “If Not In School,” the total number of out-of-school children now stands at 2 million, and almost three quarters of public school teachers have not been paid their salaries in over a year, putting the education of an additional 4.5 million children at grave risk.

An entire generation of children in Yemen faces a bleak future because of limited or no access to education.

More than 2,500 schools are out of use, with two thirds damaged by attacks, 27 per cent closed and 7 per cent used for military purposes or as shelters for displaced people.

Children risk being killed on their way to school. Fearing for their children’s safety, many parents choose to keep their children at home.

The lack of access to education has pushed children and families to dangerous alternatives, including early marriage, child labour and recruitment into the fighting.

UNICEF appeals to the warring parties, those who have influence on them, government authorities and donors to put an end to the war, pay teachers, protect children’s education unconditionally, and increase funding for education.

On 26 March 2015, a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily at the request of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to secure the return of the Government to Sana’a, which had been seized by Houthi militias and allied units of the armed forces when the conflict initially erupted in 2014.

Three years on, the fighting is still raging and the ensuing humanitarian crisis has only deepened in a country that was already one of the region’s poorest. 

The UN, through its envoy, has been engaged in helping Yemenis to find a peaceful solution.  UN agencies and partners are also on the ground to deliver life-saving aid.

Learn more about the findings of If Not In School here.

A united Nations spokesman said Monday that Secretary-General António Guterres is shocked at reports of remarks attributed to Myanmar Senior General U Min Aung Hlaing.

“He urges all leaders in Myanmar to take a unified stance against incitement to hatred and to promote communal harmony,” said Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq.  

Media reports suggest that at a military gathering, Mr. Hlaing said Rohingyas had nothing in common with the country’s other ethnic groups.

According to Mr. Haq, the UN chief asserted that such leadership is critically needed to advance institutional measures to combat discrimination and implement the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission.
 
“The Secretary-General reiterates the importance of addressing the root causes of the violence and the responsibility of the Government of Myanmar to provide security and assistance to those in need,” the Deputy Spokesperson continued. 

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been driven into neighbouring Bangladesh since last August in the wake of a military crackdown in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state.

“It is critical that conditions are put in place to ensure that the Rohingya are able to return home voluntarily, in safety and in dignity,” Mr. Haq said.