Trucks are transporting food and nutritional supplies to about 12,500 people in the affected camps, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, briefing reporters in New York, and the U.N. agency is committed to providing life-saving aid “safely and quickly.” He said he had decided.
“WFP highlights that the Adre Corridor is a vital lifeline in providing emergency assistance to desperate families in Darfur,” he added.
Food for nearly 500,000 people
“Through this crossing, WFP has now transported more than 5,600 tonnes of food and nutrition supplies – enough for almost half a million people – in just three months since 20 August.”
He said it was important that the river crossing remained available and open for humanitarians to increase relief efforts and continue to deliver aid to communities facing extreme hunger.
WFP is also providing support to ZamZam by leveraging its network of local retailers contracted by WFP, enabling it to reach around 100,000 of the 180,000 people the emergency food agency hopes to reach.
Pakistan: Toxic air threatens more than 11 million people under 5 in Punjab.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Monday that toxic smog was threatening the lives of more than 11 million children under five in Pakistan’s most populous region.
“As smog continues to persist in Punjab province, we are deeply concerned about the well-being of young children who are forced to breathe polluted and toxic air,” said Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Pakistan Representative.
record air pollution
Last week, air pollution levels in the provincial capital, Lahore, and another major city, Multan, hit records of more than 100 times the air quality guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Media reports say hundreds of people, including dozens of children, have been hospitalized, and air pollution is now so severe that it can be seen from space.
Mr Fadil said that before record levels of air pollution, about 12 per cent of deaths in children under five were due to air pollution.
He added: “It will take time to assess the impact of this year’s massive smog, but we know that doubling and tripling the amount of air pollution will have a particularly devastating impact on children and pregnant women.”
Millions out of school
Meanwhile, schools in smog-affected areas were closed until the middle of this month to protect children. However, Pakistan is currently facing an “education emergency”, with the education of approximately 16 million children currently disrupted, with more than 26 million boys and girls out of school.
“Every child has the right to clean air. Children’s health and right to education must be protected. UNICEF urges the Government of Pakistan to realize the rights of all children,” said Fadil.
UNICEF is supporting awareness-raising measures as part of the Punjab government’s official plan to reduce smog.
“Reducing emissions from agricultural and industrial activities and promoting clean, sustainable energy and transportation plans are no longer just climate change mitigation strategies, they are critical to protecting the health of today’s children,” said Fadil.
More than 100 Ukrainian civilian casualties since Thursday
Ukrainian authorities said Monday that there had been more than 100 civilian casualties, including children, across the country over the past five days, as well as widespread damage to infrastructure.
Dozens of people were killed in the second deadly attack in Zaporizhia in five days, the United Nations relief coordination agency OCHA said on Saturday.
“Authorities also reported an increase in drone attacks in the south, particularly in the Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, resulting in dozens of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including heating and gas plants,” a UN spokesperson said. Stéphane Dujarric said.
backup
Aid workers provided hot meals, materials to cover damaged windows, blankets, solar lamps and hygiene kits, as well as cash and psychosocial support.
Some frontline communities are facing shortages of basic foods as many stores cease operations, OCHA said.
To solve this problem, the World Food Program (WFP) supplied ovens, dough kneaders, and generators to 14 bakeries in six war-affected regions of Ukraine.
Families wait to cross the Masna border from Lebanon to Syria.
Senior humanitarians say Syria crisis is ‘deepening and widening’.
Senior UN humanitarians warned on Monday that the crisis in Syria is “deepening and widening.” More than 500,000 people who fled the war in Lebanon are seeking refuge there, and 16.7 million people have already received assistance.
In a joint statement, Adam Abdelmoula, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, and Ramanathan Balakrishnan, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, pointed out that two out of three Syrian residents are in need of assistance.
More than 75% of new arrivals since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah fighters intensified last September are women, children and people with special needs.
“These people have been driven to seek refuge in a country already reeling from a protracted humanitarian crisis for more than a decade,” officials said.
The service has already reached its ‘breaking point’.
“Most of the new arrivals are staying with relatives and friends in communities who are already struggling. “They are accessing services provided through existing humanitarian response mechanisms that are already reaching their breaking point.”
The $4.07 billion Syria Humanitarian Response Plan is only 27.5% funded. Since an emergency appeal seeking an additional $324 million was launched last September, only “only $32 million” has been secured. This figure includes $12 million allocated from the UN emergency fund CERF.
They called on the donor community to significantly and urgently increase support for the humanitarian response in Syria.
“The costs of inaction will be enormous and will go beyond deepening human suffering, including increased instability within the region, migration flows out of the region, and deepening conflict,” they stressed.
