Africa

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the African Union Summit “An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa”, in Addis Ababa today:

World leaders announced today over $826 million to Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, to support the education of millions of girls and boys living in crises.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) today reported a sharp increase in violence in the country at the end of 2022. In its quarterly report, the Mission said that the number of civilians harmed increased by 87 per cent, compared to the same period in 2021.

With the full-scale war in Ukraine about to enter its second year, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the High Commissioner for Refugees, today jointly launched in Geneva an appeal for $5.6 billion to ease the plight of millions of people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that Africa is witnessing an exponential rise in cholera cases amid a global surge. They note that cases recorded on the continent in the first month of 2023 alone have already risen by more than 30 per cent of the total caseload that we witnessed in 2022.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today released a report which says that to reduce superbugs, the world must cut down on pollution created by the pharmaceutical, agricultural and health-care sectors.

In the Central African Republic, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there began an electoral awareness campaign in Obo and in Bria to encourage strong participation in the local elections.

Marking peacekeeping’s seventy-fifth anniversary, the Peacekeeping Department is launching a campaign, Peace Begins with Me, which promotes understanding of challenges faced by communities in conflict, demonstrates peacekeeping’s impact and calls for a global movement for peace.

In two separate reports released today, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation said that approximately 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth lost their lives in 2021.

Armed groups and violent extremists are increasing their influence in West Africa and the Sahel while repeated coups d’état are destabilizing Governments, political experts from the region informed the Council today.