Chad

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the General Assembly tribute to the memory of Idriss Déby Itno, late President of Chad and Head of State, today:

Following the battlefield death of President Idriss Déby Itno on 20 April, senior United Nations officials and representatives of regional groups convened in the General Assembly today to pay tribute to the late Chad leader, many describing him as a valiant defender against the extremist violence spreading relentlessly across Africa’s Sahel region.

The first members of the International Organization for Migration’s emergency response team arrived in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines today to deliver essential shelter and emergency items to thousands of people forcibly displaced after the eruption of La Soufrière volcano.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The World Food Programme (WFP) reached an agreement with Venezuela to begin operations to serve nutritious meals to the most vulnerable children, particularly in pre-primary and special education schools, reaching up to 185,000 children by year-end.  WFP aims to provide daily meals to 1.5 million students by the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warned today that Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is facing a large and likely long-lasting humanitarian situation.  The agency said it is concerned about the rising rate of malnutrition, and about cholera, which is not yet under control and is spreading to other provinces.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

After La Soufriere volcano erupted today in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the United Nations Emergency Technical Team for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries met to discuss the pre-positioning of relief items.  The World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund are also readying supplies.

The Secretary-General regrets the use of violence and the subsequent loss of life reported at the residence of the presidential candidate Yaya Dillo in N’Djamena, Chad.  He deplores the use of force in the context of the electoral process and urges the authorities to foster an inclusive political process.

The new Permanent Representative of Chad to the United Nations, Ammo Aziza Baroud, paid a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.