Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher meets with people in Ukraine. Top stories of the day | Tuesday: Ukraine, Syria, Haiti, UN General Assembly UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: Deputy Secretary-General visited Kharkiv and Dnipro, four children a day become victims of ammunition in Syria, more than a million internally displaced persons in Haiti, priorities of the resumed 79th session of the General Assembly.
Humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher has been meeting with people in Ukraine this week to discuss UN cooperation with local authorities and organizations. On Tuesday, Fletcher visited Kharkiv and Dnipro. In particular, he spoke with evacuated citizens at a transit center in Dnipropetrovsk region and called on the international community to support them. On Thursday, Fletcher and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi will present plans for humanitarian assistance for residents of the country and Ukrainian refugees for 2025.
Children in Syria
Children in Syria continue to face serious threats, UNICEF spokesman Ricardo Pires told a briefing in Geneva. In December last year alone, UNICEF received reports of 116 children killed or injured by remnants of war. That’s nearly four deaths a day. At least 422,000 incidents involving unexploded ordnance have been reported in 14 provinces in Syria over the past nine years. Children make up a significant proportion of the casualties.
Forced Displacement in Haiti
More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes in Haiti, according to new figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The number of internally displaced persons has tripled in the past year, from 315,000 in December 2023 to 1,041,000. More than half of them are children. In the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, the number of displaced persons has almost doubled due to gang violence, the collapse of vital systems, especially health care, and food shortages.
General Assembly Priorities
The President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Young, today presented the priorities that will guide him during the resumed session. These priorities are peace and security in Africa, combating the illicit use of small arms and light weapons, preserving human dignity in armed conflict, ending child labour, as well as financing for development and accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Multilingualism and women’s empowerment will be at the core of all priorities.