1 September 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today urged restraint and calm in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, cautioning that the situation may otherwise lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.

In a statement from his spokesperson, the Secretary-General expressed deep concern about reported violence since 25 August attacks on police posts.

&#8220The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the reports of excesses during the security operations conducted by Myanmar’s security forces in Rakhine State,&#8221 according to the statement.

Mr. Guterres stressed the responsibility of Myanmar authorities to provide security and assistance to all those in need and allow the UN and its partners to extend humanitarian support, in country and in Bangladesh, where some people are fleeing. He encouraged authorities to ensure that people seeking aid have access to the UN and other partners.

&#8220The current situation underlines the urgency of seeking holistic approaches to addressing the complex root causes of violence,&#8221 the spokesperson said, reiterating the need to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Released earlier this week, the report outlines recommendations for how to overcome political, socio-economic and humanitarian challenges in that area of western Myanmar.

1 September 2017 – Even as countries continue to ratify and implement the international treaty prohibiting the use of cluster munitions, casualties from these notorious weapons doubled in the past year, with civilians accounting for nearly all the victims, according to a United Nations-backed civil society report.

The annual monitoring report released yesterday at the UN Office at Geneva by the Cluster Munition Coalition revealed that the use of cluster munitions in war-torn Syria and Yemen has caused even more civilian casualties. Moreover, in those two countries, conflict and insecurity are hampering clearance of the deadly weapons.

Of nearly 1,000 victims identified in 10 countries, almost all were from Syria, according to the Cluster Munition Monitor 2017.

&#8220The humanitarian devastation caused by cluster munitions is particularly acute in Syria, where use has continued unabated since mid-2012,&#8221 the report’s main editor and coordinator of the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor initiative Jeff Abramson told journalists in Geneva, warning that the real figure is therefore much higher.

Fellow report editor Loren Persi explained: &#8220The vast majority of those casualties occurred in Syria and mostly during attacks, there was really unrelenting use of cluster munitions in Syria and Syria has been the reason for the majority of cluster munition casualties since 2013, definitely. Actually in 2016, almost 90 per cent of the casualties occurred in Syria.&#8221

Mr. Abramson stressed that the only sure way to end this insidious menace &#8220is to have all States embrace and adhere to the international ban on these weapons.&#8221

The threat from cluster munitions is rarely short-lived, according to the report, which records casualties in places where the weapons have not been used for decades.

More than 100 people were known to have been killed or injured by previously unexploded cluster munition submunitions, the deadly landmine-like remnants left over from earlier attacks, including in South-East Asian countries such as Lao People’s Democratic Republic. There, all of the 51 new casualties in 2016 were the result of remnants from cluster munitions used in the 1960s and 1970s.

Number of casualties in 2016 more than double the previously recorded high

Overall, the report identified at least 971 new cluster munition casualties globally in 2016, with 860 of these in Syria. This global number is certainly less than the actual total. Disturbingly, the number of casualties in 2016 is more than double the number recorded in 2015 (417), making it the second-highest annual figure since Cluster Munition Monitor reporting began in 2009 (the highest was in 2013).

Since August 2016, two countries have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Benin and Madagascar), bringing the total number of States Parties to 102. Another 17 States have signed but not yet ratified the convention. Last December, 141 states, including 32 non-signatories to the convention, adopted a key UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

&#8220Efforts to grow the Convention’s membership continue to be central to stigmatize the use of these weapons and to bring an end to the threat they pose. Convention members have a better understanding of the location and scale of contamination, and will more readily share information about it, compared with states outside the convention,&#8221 said Amelie Chayer, acting Director of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

1 September 2017 – Saddened by the loss of life and the devastation caused by widespread floods and landslides due to torrential monsoon rains in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, Secretary-General António Guterres said today that the United Nations is ready to support ongoing relief efforts.

In a statement issued by a UN spokesperson, the Secretary-General extended his condolences to the Governments and the people of Bangladesh, India and Nepal and saluted the respective Governments’ leadership in responding to the needs of those affected.

Meanwhile on the ground, United Nations humanitarian agencies are working with partners and the respective Governments to bring in clean water, food, shelter and medical aid for some of the estimated 41 million people affected by flooding and landslides in South Asia.

1 September 2017 – The United Nations today allocated $21 million to provide life-saving food support, nutrition, water and sanitation, health and other assistance to thousands of Sudanese in newly accessible areas in Darfur’s Jebel Marra area, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

&#8220Our response will address both the immediate needs through emergency, life-saving assistance and strengthen resilience of the most vulnerable and their communities to future and recurring shocks,” said Marta Ruedas, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan.

The funds come from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF), which is comprised of donor funds and overseen by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The funding will allow humanitarian agencies to support vulnerable people in these areas where access was previously limited.

In a statement from OCHA, the UN said that acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) cases and the continuing influx of refugees from South Sudan have been straining available resources and increasing pressure on the limited basic services in the targeted areas where funding is now headed.

The announcement of the funds comes days after the former UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien released $45 million from CERF to Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan.

1 September 2017 – At least 28 women and children were killed and an additional 16 injured in air strikes this week in Afghanistan, the United Nations political mission in the country said in initial findings of its probe into the deaths.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) urged authorities to ensure independent, impartial and prompt investigations of both incidents, and to compensate the victims.

&#8220I am deeply saddened to hear that women and children have once again suffered so terribly from the conflict,&#8221 said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA. &#8220This is unacceptable. All parties must live up to their obligations to take all feasible measures to protect civilians.&#8221

The incidents took place in Herat, a western province bordering Iran and Turkmenistan, and in Logar, which is south of Kabul on the eastern side of the country.

UNAMA cited a news release issued by United States Forces in Afghanistan that it is aware of an incident in the Logar area and that they have opened an investigation into it.

The air strikes reportedly targeted Anti-Government Elements who had used a civilian compound to attack aircraft.

The UN mission said that it will continue its independent work to establish the facts as to what happened, including allegations that civilians were used as shields.

More civilians have been killed or injured in aerial operations in the first half of this year than in 2016, according to UNAMA.

Initial figures show at least 232 civilians were injured or killed, a 43 per cent increase over 2016, and the majority of the victims have been women and children.