AFRICA WORLD BRIEFS

Agencies continue to reach people despite the challenges, including the ongoing rainy season, UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, told journalists in New York on Monday. Roughly 4.3 million people in the West African country rely on humanitarian aid.

Yemen: UN concludes removal of one million barrels of oil from decaying tanker

UN Secretary-General António

Last week, 22,000 people in the Maradi region, located in the centre, received cash assistance and food items.

“We and our humanitarian partners are also working with de facto authorities to identify and prepare a site to accommodate about 13,000 internally displaced people in Ouro Gueladjo, in the Tillabéri region,” Mr. Dujarric said. He added that the people had been displaced from several villages in mid-July, before the current political crisis. Mediation and concern

The attempted overthrow of President Bazoum has been condemned by the UN and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Secretary-General António Guterres and other senior UN officials have repeatedly called for the reinstatement of the democratically elected leader, who remains under house arrest. Last week, both Mr. Guterres and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, voiced concern following reports that the President and his family are living without electricity, water, food or medicine.

Sudan: ‘Grim prediction’ now ‘harsh reality’ as hunger engulfs over 20 million

Of that figure, 6.3 million people – 13 per cent of Sudan’s population – are experiencing emergency levels of hunger – classified as Phase 4 of the Integrated Food Security Classification – just one step from famine, with the conflict continuing to disrupt access to humanitarian aid and forcing millions to flee their homes.

“The operating environment in Sudan is without a doubt the most challenging that I have experienced in my career,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP Country Director for Sudan, recalling his more than 30 years with the UN agency.

“Since mid-April, the conflict has continued to spread, and its dynamics have become increasingly more complex. Gaining access to people in need of life-saving food assistance has also become more challenging and increasingly urgent.”

Bureaucratic barriers, looting of humanitarian facilities, and insecurity hamper aid delivery. At least 18 relief workers have been killed, with many others injured or detained. The situation is further compounded by funding shortages, fuel scarcity and inadequate infrastructure. Despite the immense difficulties, WFP had a major breakthrough last week, successfully delivering food assistance to West Darfur State, which has been heavily affected by the conflict.

A convoy of five trucks transporting 125 tons of food commodities travelled from eastern Chad to West Darfur, where WFP delivered one month’s worth of food assistance to around 15,400 people, Mr. Rowe said.

Guterres welcomed the news of the successful transfer of oil aboard the FSO Safer to a replacement vessel, thus “avoiding what could have been a monumental environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.”

The FSO Safer was built as a supertanker in 1976 and converted a decade later into what is in effect a floating oil container.

Risk to the region

The tanker was abandoned off the Red Sea port of Hudaydah after civil war broke out in 2015. Prior to the conflict, it was used to store and export oil from fields around Ma’rib, but the fighting brought production, as well as maintenance of the vessel, to a halt.

The UN had repeatedly warned of the danger the decrepit tanker posed to Yemen and the wider region as it was at risk of leaking, breaking apart or exploding, which would have resulted in catastrophic environmental and humanitarian consequences.

Top UN aid official in Ukraine condemns latest wave of indiscriminate attacks

Denise Brown issued a statement deploring the “indiscriminate” attacks impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

She stressed that people in the south, including in the Kherson and Odesa regions, had endured “a particularly harsh weekend” after reports that strikes left many civilians, including children, killed and injured.

An entire family, including an infant, were among the victims, according to media reports. Homes, hospitals and schools also were damaged.

Humanitarians also affected “The attacks also affected humanitarians and our capacity to support those suffering the consequences of the war,” Ms. Brown said.

She reported that partners from the non-governmental organisation ADRA had to stop distribution of vital items after their warehouse and cars were damaged by shelling in the Kherson region.

“Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be respected – they should never be a target,” she stressed.

Last Thursday, Ms. Brown condemned a Russian attack targeting a hotel in Zaporizhzhya used by UN and NGO personnel, in which one person was reportedly killed and 16 injured. Meanwhile, the UN and partners continue to support people across Ukraine.

Last week, two inter-agency convoys delivered assistance to front-line communities in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.