(UN News)* — Children in Africa are among the most at risk from climate change impacts but are being woefully deprived of the financing necessary to help them adapt, survive and respond to the crisis, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a new report on Friday [].
It was released as leaders prepare to meet for the African Climate Summit, taking place next week in Nairobi, Kenya.
Children in 48 out of 49 African countries assessed were found to be at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change, based on their exposure and vulnerability to cyclones, heatwaves and other climate and environmental shocks, and access to essential services.
(UN News)* — A nexus of protracted armed conflict, internal displacement and limited humanitarian access threatens to plunge nearly one million children under the age of five into acute malnutrition by the end of this year – with at least 200,000 at risk of dying of hunger if life-saving aid fails to reach them, UN agencies said on Friday [].
This warning comes at a time when almost a quarter of Mali’s population is experiencing moderate or acute food insecurity, with over 2,500 individuals on the brink of famine in the crisis-affected Menaka region, including many vulnerable children.
On August 30, the United States embassy in Port-au-Prince called on all US citizens to leave Haiti “as soon as possible” because of the worsening security situation in the country. The next day, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement loaded 57 Haitians on a plane and deported them to Haiti.
(UN News)* — The UN migration agency (IOM) called on Friday [] for the setting up of a humanitarian corridor in Niger to enable voluntary returns of stranded migrants, after July’s military takeover triggered border & airspace closures.
IOM Regional Director Christopher Gascon told reporters in Geneva that 4,800 migrants were hosted by IOM at seven transit centres in the country, awaiting voluntary return. They were primarily from western Africa: Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria, he said.
Mr. Gascon said airport access was crucial to “organise charter flights in order to return people home”.
He stressed that IOM’s transit centres were currently 40 per cent over capacity and an additional 1,400 migrants outside the centres needed help.
Mr. Gascon added that setting up a corridor would also facilitate the delivery of aid to conflict-affected areas of Niger.
(UN News)* – Haiti is in the grip of “extreme brutality”, with gang-related violence continuing to force thousands from their homes amidst widespread suffering, said the UN’s top humanitarian official there.
The desperate situation prompted a tweet on Friday [] from Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths calling for an immediate end to the fighting.
“This carnage needs to stop” said the UN relief chief.
Major escalation
In the past two weeks alone, 71 people have been killed and injured in capital Port-au-Prince, marking a major escalation, according to UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, which Mr. Griffiths heads.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 