Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that according to the UN migration agency, IOM, more than 4,300 people have fled their homes in Port-au-Prince and cities neighbors.
“Despite insecurity and access restrictions, we are responding, with our partners, to the growing needs resulting from continued and increasing violence,” continued Mr. Dujarric.
Liquidity injection
Over the past two days, children’s agency UNICEF has provided cash to almost 1,500 people housed in displacement sites in the gang-ravaged capital. The UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA and IOM have deployed mobile health clinics and are also providing clean water to those in need.
Since Thursday, the World Food Program (WFP) has been providing assistance to more than 50,000 displaced men, women and children in the capital, with the aim of providing hot meals to more than 135,000 displaced people by the end of November.
Across Haiti, WFP has also provided cash to nearly 100,000 people and is distributing daily meals to 430,000 children in 2,000 schools across the country.
The United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti provides $674 million and is 45 percent funded by $289 million in cash received.
Global measles crisis: cases increase by 20% in 2023
An increase in measles cases reached 10.3 million worldwide in 2023, an increase of 20% from the previous year, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States government.
The surge in cases has sparked outbreaks in 57 countries, nearly half of them in Africa. Although it is preventable through vaccination, more than 22 million children did not receive their first measles vaccine last year, leading to 107,500 deaths, mostly among children under five.
“The measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine over the past 50 years,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “To save even more lives, we must invest in vaccinating every person, no matter where they live.”
Worrying drop in vaccination rate
Global vaccination rates remain below the critical 95 percent threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, with only 83 percent of children receiving their first dose and 74 percent receiving the crucial second dose.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen stressed that “measles infections are increasing around the world, putting lives and health at risk.”
While the Americas region maintained its measles-free status – with Brazil once again confirmed to have eliminated the disease – other regions, including the Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions, saw a substantial increase cases.
The WHO notes that survivors often face serious complications, including blindness, pneumonia and possible brain damage.
Torture is never justified, UN human rights chief insists, as key deal turns 40
It has been 40 years since countries adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but the fundamental principle that nothing ever justifies torture is under threat.
This is the message from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who expressed alarm on Thursday that the world had become “more violent and more polarized”.
The “chaos machine” of conflict
“More than 120 conflicts are raging in the world and each of them is a machine of chaos,” Mr. Türk told the Committee meeting in Geneva.
“Hate speech and discrimination are increasingly widespread, and entire communities are denounced and designated as scapegoats,” he declared, before highlighting a “setback” against ancestral values and the protection of human rights.
“Torture, the deliberate infliction of physical agony, psychological terror and trauma on helpless adults and children, is a despicable and heinous act that has absolutely no place in our world,” he said. he declared.
“It is never justified; it is always odious; and we have a clear legal and moral duty to prevent it.
Four decades after the adoption of the Convention against Torture, it has been ratified by 174 of the 193 member states of the United Nations.
Despite this high level of support for the international treaty, Mr. Türk called on all countries “to reaffirm their commitment to upholding their obligations” to prevent torture.
