The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres said on Monday he is “outraged by the continued killing and abduction of civilians by armed groups” near Beni, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s North Kivu region, which has been grappling with an Ebola outbreak since August.

Mr. Guterres condemned Saturday’s attack in the town of Mayongose on the outskirts of Beni, in which at least 11 civilians were killed, and several more were injured and abducted. He said he is also “deeply troubled” by reports that on Friday, two Congolese health workers helping to combat the Ebola outbreak, were killed in Butembo by armed militia.

Such attacks continue to hamper humanitarian access in the conflict-torn region and prevent health workers from tackling the outbreak.

This outbreak, the tenth to hit the DRC in 40 years, was declared in North Kivu Province on 1 August this year and, given the worsening security situation in and around the city of Beni, the World Health Organization (WHO) elevated its risk level from “high” to “very high” on 28 September. So far, more than 250 Ebola cases have been reported, causing over 140 deaths. 

WHO suspended all of its activities for a period of two days after attacks in late September in and around Beni, which left more than 20 dead.

The Secretary-General called “on all armed groups to immediately cease attacks against civilians and ensure humanitarian access to populations in need”.

International data sectors from national statistical offices, the private sector, NGOs, academia and international and regional organizations are gathering in Dubai from Monday to Wednesday, in a bid to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The experts will launch innovative solutions to improve data on migration, health, gender and many other key areas of sustainable development at the second annual Forum, which takes place at the Madinat Jumeirah Convention Center.

The 3-day conference is packed with over 80 sessions and parallel events, and is seen as a crucial opportunity for major producers and users of data and statistics to find ways to deliver better data for policy makers and citizens in all areas of sustainable development.

Speaking ahead of the opening session, Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, underlined the critical importance of good data in order to achieve the SDGs: “It is essential to have accurate, reliable, timely and disaggregated data, tracking the unprecedented range of economic, social and environmental goals in the 2030 Agenda. At the UN World Data Forum, I expect new partnerships to be forged, commitments announced, and support boosted.”

The conference takes place two months before the expected adoption by Member States of the Global Compact for Migration, the first-ever UN global agreement on a common approach to international migration, and one of the high-level sessions will be on improving migration data to help set new strategies for how to better track the more than 258 million migrants around the world, including through real-time data sources such as call records: this will serve as a contribution to the December conference.

Financing for data and statistics, and ways to fill the funding deficit and data gaps that exists in many countries will be a focus topic of this year’s Forum, at a time when developing countries face a gap of $200 million per year and over 100 countries do not have comprehensive birth and death registration data: a lack of funding and capacity are serious constraints for many countries.

Other issues to be examined at the Forum include the need for open data and how to facilitate data sharing and integration of new data sources into official statistics.

The Forum will launch or advance a number of practical solutions, including for the use of non-traditional data sources such as mobile phone and bank records, social media, earth observations and geospatial data.

Projects to be showcased include the use of high-resolution satellite images to map poverty, measure soil fertility and improve agricultural productivity.

Some sessions will look at the benefits and risks of using new data sources for the public good, including issues of data privacy and governance.

Several initiatives are focusing on how to better count minorities and vulnerable groups and to improve gender data, to ensure that no-one is left behind, and ensure the protection of human rights; and how data journalists can work with national statistical offices to better inform the public.

Against a backdrop of violence and technical malfunctions, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has released a statement calling on the country’s electoral authorities to re-double their efforts to make sure all eligible voters are given a reasonable opportunity to cast their ballot.

Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections took place on Saturday amid reports of explosions targeting polling stations across the country, including the capital Kabul, killing or injuring dozens of people,

The violence, along with technical electoral management issues, has led to delays, and many people were forced to wait long hours to cast their vote: a number of stations are reported to have extended their opening hours, with some remaining open for voting on Sunday.

In Kandahar, citizens will have to wait until next Saturday to vote, following the killing of senior Afghan government officials in the province on Thursday.

UNAMA praised the voters who decided to brave the violence and carry out their civic duty in the first elections completely run by Afghan authorities since 2001, described by the Mission as “an important milestone in Afghanistan’s transition to self-reliance.”

The Mission put the onus on all Afghan authorities with a role in the electoral process to demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding and completing the elections, and to protecting the integrity of the process, especially with regard to tabulating and announcing the results.

The UN has taken note of the ant-fraud measures put in place by the authorities, and the presence of up to 400,000 observers and candidates’ agents, as well as political party monitors, to ensure the transparency of the elections: the Organization is encouraging them, and the voters themselves, to play an active, informed and constructive role in the days ahead.

In its statement, UNAMA reminded Afghan citizens who witness fraud of their civic obligation to file a complaint with the relevant Afghan authorities, and that Afghan law enforcement agencies should investigate swiftly and, where appropriate, detain and prosecute those responsible for fraud, where credible allegations are made.

Accountability and inclusive dialogue are two important pillars for national reconciliation in Myanmar, said the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General (SESG), Christine Schraner Burgener in a statement released on Saturday, adding that “credible fact-finding is the first step towards accountability.”

Ms. Schrager has been on a 10 day visit to Myanmar, where she has held consultations with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, other government and military leaders, ethnic armed organizations, local and religious leaders, NGOs, UN agencies and the diplomatic community.

In Rakhine and Kachin provinces, Ms. Burgener engaged with local civilian and military authorities, and directly with those affected by conflict, in particular women, and went to several camps and relocation sites for internally-displaced people, to gauge progress made since her first visit to the country in June 2018.

UN agencies and the Myanmar Government reached an agreement in June to create conditions that would allow Rohingya refugees to voluntarily and safely return to their homes in the country’s Rakhine province.

Almost a million Rohingya are sheltering in camps across the border in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh, after being driven from their homes in northern Myanmar since last August.

To ensure that they, and people are able to return home, their full human rights must be respected, Ms. Burgener said, starting with equal access to education and health, and freedom of movement: “they have to be able to live in safety and security. This will be the most positive incentive for the refugees in Bangladesh to return. Knowing that the UN and its partners are present at their places of return, will give the returnees confidence and trust in the process.”

Ms. Burgener also emphasized the need for greater domestic and foreign investment in the region, one of Myanmar’s poorest, which urgently requires inclusive development. 

In Kachine province, the Special Envoy met with inhabitants of a camp for internally displaced people around Myitkyina, some of whom have been displaced since 2011 without job prospects or hope of returning to their places of origin, due to land-mines and lack of security, and took note of the increasingly limited humanitarian access which affected the availability of medical assistance and aid.

Expressing concern about intensified fighting in the north of the country, Ms. Burgener reiterated her offer to serve as a “bridge” between the Myanmar Government and ethnic armed groups, in order to help advance the peace process.

Offering her views on Myanmar’s democratic transition, the Special Envoy urged the Government to undertake a public “Zero Tolerance for Discrimination” campaign at the highest level, and committed to focusing her efforts on strengthening engagement between Myanmar and the international community towards a “more tolerant, democratic and inclusive society that recognizes diversity as an asset.”