Legal

Without aid, more than 5 million people in Somalia could face acute food insecurity by the end of 2020 due to the combined effects of flooding, the desert locust infestation, and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other challenges, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The COVID-19 pandemic will push 47 million more women and girls below the poverty line by 2021, reversing decades of progress to eradicate extreme poverty, according to new data released today by the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

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

There is a real danger that the global health crisis will create a COVID-19 generation who lose out on schooling and see their opportunities permanently damaged, warned Gordon Brown, Special Envoy on Global Education, noting that an estimated 30 million children may never return to school, according to UNESCO.

A UNICEF research brief published today warns that at least 40 million children around the world have missed out on early childhood education in their critical pre-school year as COVID-19 shuttered childcare and early education facilities.  Lockdowns also left parents struggling to balance childcare and paid employment.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Abubacarr Marie Tambadou of the Gambia as the Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

The Security Council, in a 25 June videoconference meeting, renewed for 24 months the mandate of the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, while welcoming the arrest of a high-profile fugitive and urging States to bolster their cooperation.

The United Nations is scaling up life-saving aid for north-west Syria, including health items to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic.  In May alone, it sent 1,781 trucks from Turkey, the highest number since cross-border operations began in 2014, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urged the Security Council and wider international community to encourage Sudan to do more to help bring Darfur war crimes suspects to justice, during a 10 June videoconference meeting that took place a day after the surrender of a key fugitive.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals — the successor to two dedicated courts for war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia — saw major strides forward in recent months, including capturing a high-profile fugitive sought for more than 20 years, its senior officials told the Security Council during an 8 June videoconference meeting.