12 October 2017 – New latrines will be constructed in the Rohingya camps and settlements of Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district to provide sanitation coverage to some 250,000 people, averting a major disease outbreak, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported Thursday.

UNICEF and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief of Bangladesh agreed that the Bangladesh Armed Forces Division will construct 10,000 latrines in Cox’s Bazar as quickly as possible at a total cost of $1.5 million.

“There are already reports of water-borne diseases from the health centres in the camps,” said Edouard Beigbeder, the UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, who signed a work plan with Joint Secretary Muhammad Habibul Kabir Chowdhury Wednesday at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

“Disease outbreak is a real and present danger for the camp dwellers and host population. We immediately need to step up sanitation coverage there,” added Mr. Beigbeder.

UNICEF will contribute financial as well as technical support to the ministry in this public health undertaking, including through it water, sanitation and hygiene sector partners, which will provide locations for each set of 5-rings model latrines.

The latrines, at an estimated cost of $147 each, will also be regularly disinfected through spraying chlorine solution so that these do not become sources of contamination.

UNICEF, the Department of Public Health and Engineering, and water and sanitation sector partners are also implementing an accelerated programme of building latrines for the refugees in the camps in two sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar district.

In related news, on 10 October, UNICEF and its health sector partners launched a massive oral cholera vaccination campaign for 650,000 people in Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar – mobilizing 900,000 doses of cholera vaccines to protect newly arrived Rohingyas and the host community from a cholera outbreak.

12 October 2017 – The total number of persons that suffer from hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased, reversing decades of progress, even as overweight and obesity emerged as a major problem in all countries in the region of the Americas, a United Nations-backed report shows.

“The region has taken a significant step backwards in a fight that it was winning,” Julio Berdegué, Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said Thursday. “We cannot tolerate the current levels of hunger and obesity, as they will paralyze an entire generation.”

Hunger rates have declined in 21 of the 27 countries of the region in recent years, but the absolute number of people suffering from hunger increased, according to the report published by FAO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

In 2016, some 42.5 million people in the region did not have enough food for their daily caloric needs, a six per cent increase, or 2.4 million additional undernourished people.

“It will be very difficult for the region to reach Sustainable Development Goal 2 on eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030” if this trend does not change, said Mr. Berdegué.

Only a few decades ago, governments of the region joined forces to fight against acute malnutrition, chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency. Today they must also fight against overweight and obesity.

“The region faces a double burden of malnutrition,” said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne.

Overweight and obesity continue to affect all age groups

Overweight and obesity is a public health problem in all countries of the Americas, affecting all age groups.

Some 7.5 per cent of those under the age of five in South America, or 2.5 million children, suffer from overweight and obesity, as do six per cent of the children in Central America and 6.9 per cent of those in the Caribbean. The rate increases with age, affecting a third of the adolescents and two thirds of the adults in the region, with women being the most affected.

The problem is growing in scale to catch up with the region’s 11 per cent rate of child stunting due to chronic malnutrition.

12 October 2017 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, will close on 15 October 2017, replaced with a smaller group of police and civilian officers who will help the Government to strengthen rule of law and security in the Caribbean country.

The departure of the more than 2,300 peacekeepers was approved by the Security Council, which decided in April that the mission needs to change as the country’s political situation has changed.

During its 13 years, MINUSTAH peacekeepers saved tens of thousands of lives, and helped the country to rebuild, including from an earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and claimed the lives of 102 UN personnel – the single greatest loss of UN lives in history.

As MINUSTAH wraps up, take a look at its lasting contributions to Haiti, its people and its Government.

MINUSTAH was established in 2004 in response to the deteriorating political and security situation in Haiti. The mission was mandated to ensure a secure and stable environment within which the constitutional and political processes could take place. Pictured, amid gunfire, a Brazilian military contingent in October 2004 secures the port near the slum area of La Saline.

An earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January 2010, killing some 250,000 people, including 102 UN staff. In the wake of the earthquake, UN peacekeepers – who also lost their homes and colleagues – refocused their efforts to support Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction. Above, a first aid station set up by UN peacekeepers shortly after the earthquake.

A member of MINUSTAH’s civilian policing (CIVPOL) unit patrolling the neighbourhood of Bel-Aire on foot, assisted by the Haitian National Police, in December 2014. MINUSTAH helped to restore Haitian National Police control of many neighbourhoods around the capital, Port-au-Prince, once controlled by gangs.

The UN Mission has provided technical and security support to electoral processes since 2004. Haiti returned to full constitutional order following parliamentary elections in 2016 and the appointment of a president. Pictured, MINUSTAH personnel deliver electoral material to regions around the country for the Senatorial elections in June 2009.

MINUSTAH also worked to help Haitians during a number of natural disasters over the past 13 years, including heavy rains from tropical storm Noel in 2007, which left thousands of people homeless. Above, a Brazilian UN peacekeeper rescues a baby and his family from a flooded home in Cite Soleil.

The Security Council visited Haiti most recently in June of this year. During the visit, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to the Government and the people of Haiti, and to contributing to the country’s stability and development. Pictured, Members of the Security Council meet with Haiti’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aviol Fleurant, and other Government officials.

The Council extended MINUSTAH’s mandate in April 2017 for a final six months, deciding to replace it with a smaller follow-up peacekeeping mission that would focus on helping to strengthen the rule of law in Haiti. Above, UN peacekeepers patrol Lake Azule for illegal trafficking of materials.

Among the UN’s ongoing efforts in Haiti is the fight against cholera. In December 2016, then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon put forward a New Approach to Cholera in Haiti to demonstrate the Organization’s commitment to eliminating the disease. He also apologized to the Haitian people, stating that the UN had not done enough with regard to the 2010 cholera outbreak and its subsequent spread. Pictured, residents near a natural spring in Fondwa collect drinkable water.

Ahead of MINUSTAH’s closure on 15 October 2017, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission, Sandra Honoré, inspects for the last time the all-female Bangladeshi Formed Police Unit (FPU) serving with the Mission. The force spent more than seven years in Haiti.

12 October 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed Tuesday’s peaceful holding of the presidential and House of Representatives elections in Liberia and reiterated the continued support of the UN to the consolidation of peace and democracy in the West African country.

“The Secretary-General commends the efforts of the National Elections Commission and security institutions for this important milestone in the history of Liberia,” said a statement issued by his Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.

Also in the statement, the UN chief congratulated the people of Liberia who turned out enthusiastically in high numbers to vote, and commended the Liberian women’s groups for their active and important role in the electoral process.

UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, deployed in 2003 after a civil war ended, handed back responsibility for security to the country’s army and police in 2016, as part of its exit strategy.

11 October 2017 – United Nations Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Wednesday that the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) reported it had received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor that took place in Bambari by UN peacekeepers.

“The alleged victim was immediately referred to our humanitarian partners on the ground for appropriate medical and psychological assistance,” said the Spokesman, adding that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has carried out a verification of information inquiry and preserved evidence, which will lead to the matter being referred to the Member State for further investigation and action.

Last month, during a high-level event on the margins of the UN General Assembly’s annual general debate, Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Jane Connors as the first-ever UN Victims’ Right Advocate, who, he said would develop system-wide mechanisms and policies to promote reliable gender- and child-sensitive processes for victims and witnesses to file complaints.

He also announced the creation of a ‘Circle of Leadership’ for Heads of State and Government to demonstrate resolve and commitment at the highest political level to eradicate sexual exploitation and abuse.