Month: August 2020

UN agencies call for urgent disembarkation of hundreds rescued in the Mediterranean

Frontex/Francesco Malavolta Migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea are rescued by a Belgian ship (file photo).    Hundreds of rescued migrants and refugees currently on board three vessels in the Central Mediterranean, some of whom have been stuck at sea for weeks, must be brought to shore immediately, two UN agencies said on Saturday. The International Organization for […]

‘Widespread’ COVID-19 transmission, limited testing, deepen Syria’s humanitarian woes

© OCHA In Syria, displaced people wear face masks and practice social distancing.     COVID-19 is having a dramatic impact on health services in Syria, where limited testing is obscuring the real extent of the pandemic, the UN’s Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator said on Thursday. “Reports of healthcare facilities filling up, of rising numbers of death […]

UNESCO launches Beirut recovery fund for culture, heritage and education

UNESCO Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General (left), visits a school in Beirut which was damaged by the explosion on August 4th.     To support the rehabilitation of schools, historic heritage buildings, museums and the creative economy, which suffered extensive damage in the deadly explosions that shook Beirut earlier this month, the head of the UN cultural agency […]

Defeat COVID-19 and put an end to hate and discrimination: UN chief

OCHA/Yaye Nabo Sène “No to hate”. A group of people advocate against discrimination based on ethnicity and religion in the Central African Republic (file) In a message published on the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Violence Based on Religious Belief, which falls on 22 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a rise in racism […]

Rohingya crisis needs lasting solutions, renewed commitment amid COVID-19 pandemic, UN refugee agency

© UNHCR/Areez Tanbeen Rahman August 2020 marks three years on from the last exodus of Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar and sought sanctuary in Bangladesh.     Three years after violence in Myanmar forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas to seek refuge in Bangladesh, the international community must adapt its assistance to the critical needs of those displaced […]

‘Urgent need’ to scale up search and rescue in the Mediterranean

UNHCR/Alfredo D’Amato An overloaded boat of refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe, as seen from the deck of an Italian Coastguard ship, in the Mediterranean Sea. (file photo)   UN agencies have called for search and rescue to be stepped up in the central Mediterranean, in the wake of a tragic shipwreck that claimed the […]