The World Food Program (WFP) has provided more than 74,000 hot meals to 15,000 refugees in the besieged capital Port-au-Prince, U.N. Secretary-General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at U.N. headquarters on Thursday. An update on the gang-ravaged Caribbean country.
Additionally, about 2,400 children received mental health and psychosocial support from child protection professionals, he said.
At the same time, humanitarian agencies provided information sessions to more than 4,000 people sheltering in the affected areas on important issues such as gender-based violence, protection and sexual abuse.
Nearly 1.6 million people in Haiti face severe food insecurity, according to the UN agency.
The UN spokesperson also reported that civilians in Port-au-Prince refugee camps have received approximately 13 million liters of water from UN agencies, partners and the Haitian Ministry of Civil Protection since early March.
In the Artibonite region, WFP provided cash assistance to more than 13,000 people as part of emergency operations, and another 6,000 people in the region received food, Dujarric said.
Following the recent tornado in the commune of Bassin Bleu, which damaged more than 300 homes, WFP will also provide food to about 3,800 residents, he said.
Violence and border closures are hampering aid access in Gaza.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza (OCHA) said on Thursday that rising violence and border closures continue to limit access to aid operations in the region, where hundreds of thousands of people are in need.
A UN spokesman said humanitarians were experiencing “restrictions on movement” to the border area, delaying a planned mission to collect resources at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“Israeli authorities must quickly facilitate access to crossings so that aid workers can safely reach them to pick up supplies,” he said. “We also need safe and unobstructed corridors to provide assistance to those in need anywhere in Gaza.”
‘Catastrophic hunger’
The United Nations and humanitarian partners are doing their best to help civilians in Gaza, he added. He added that WFP is calling for the closed borders in Gaza to be opened. This is because it affects our ability to reach people in need.
“Limited access to southern Gaza risks the same catastrophic levels of hunger seen in the north, and hunger levels are rapidly worsening in central and southern Gaza,” Mr. Dujarric said.
He said the WFP reported that some commercial supplies had reached the area, but that high costs meant many civilians could not afford to purchase them.
Israel must stop its campaign against UNRWA
UNRWA, the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees, said the situation was serious and that more than 32,000 people had fled fighting in Rafah in the past two days alone.
In a guest essay published Thursday. new york timesUNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini cited unsubstantiated claims Israel made against the UN agency earlier this year and its efforts to limit its activities in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
“As I write, our agency has confirmed that at least 192 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza,” he said in the essay. “More than 170 UNRWA buildings were damaged or destroyed. The UNRWA-run school was demolished. “About 450 refugees have died while sheltered in UNRWA schools and other structures.”
He also said Israeli security forces arrested UNRWA agents in the Gaza Strip who they say tortured and abused them while in custody in the Strip and in Israel following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
“Israeli officials are not only threatening our staff and mission, they are delegitimizing UNRWA,” he wrote. “Israel must stop its campaign against UNRWA.”
First ever World Potato Day
The theme of World Potato Day, which was established for the first time in the world, is as follows. Harvesting Diversity and Raising HopeIt focuses on the contribution of ancient vegetables to the lives of producers and consumers and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The General Assembly designated May 30 to pay tribute to the potato, an 8,000-year-old crop that originated in the Andes Mountains of South America and is now a staple food consumed by about two-thirds of the world’s population.
Climate-friendly, tolerant and adaptable to drought, cold and poor soils, potatoes contribute to food security, nutrition, livelihoods and employment for people in rural and urban areas around the world.
major crops around the world
In fact, potatoes are grown in 159 countries and there are 5,000 varieties worldwide. Almost 50% of crops currently produced are used as household staples or vegetables.
Potatoes are a staple crop across a variety of agricultural systems worldwide, from smallholder farmers producing heirloom varieties by hand in the Andes to large-scale commercial mechanized farms on various continents.
Today’s celebrations, marking the International Year of the Potato in 2008, recognize the role of small-scale family farmers, many of whom are women, in protecting the wide diversity of crops, the Department of Food and Agriculture said. Organization (FAO).
By 2030, total production of potatoes is expected to increase by 112% of current harvests to reach 750 million tonnes, more than half of which will come from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
As communities around the world celebrate this day, the cultural and culinary dimensions of growing and consuming crops, from pierogi to dum aloo, are also celebrated.
