UN News Centre - Africa

Concluding its first visit to South Sudan, a United Nations-mandated human rights mission today expressed deep concern over rights violations and the slow implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement between rival political factions.

As instability and violence persist in the world’s newest country, the number of South Sudanese seeking safety and shelter in neighbouring countries has crossed the one million mark, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

Wrapping up a four-day mission in Niger, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Africa’s Sahel region has called on the international community to show increased support for the people of Diffa and the rest of the Lake Chad Basin who have been displaced from their homes amid the violence of Boko Haram’s insurgency.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O&#39Brien, has approved the allocation of $10 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to bolster humanitarian operations in Chad.

The Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) through the end of the year, while reaffirming its readiness to consider withdrawing the operation and transitioning to a future UN presence there following a proposed mid-November review of situation on the ground in the country.

Although political space has opened in Libya and there is progress in the fight against terrorism, the political divisions underpinning the North African country’s conflict are deepening, a United Nations envoy warned today.

Acting on humanitarian grounds and at the request of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations mission in the country has extracted hundreds of individuals, including the former Vice-President of South Sudan, Riek Machar, members of his family and aides, as well as a number civilians from a national park in the DRC.

Today the UN refugee agency expressed concern over basic services and security in a territory formerly controlled by Boko Haram insurgents, as hundreds of internally displaced people are returning to their devastated villages and towns in the north-eastern state of Borno – only recently liberated by the Nigerian armed forces.

To strengthen protection services to internally displaced people in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the Somalia Humanitarian Fund recently released $7 million to scale up life-saving and life sustaining assistance.

A United Nations envoy continued today his consultations with Gabon’s political parties and diplomatic community as part of efforts to ease tensions which have arisen since the announcement of results of the country’s presidential election held on 27 August.

Expressing concern at reports of harassment and intimidation against some civil society members who met with a United Nations Security Council delegation during the latter&#39s most recent visit to the country, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has stressed that any attempt to supress fundamental human rights must be condemned in no uncertain terms.

A former United Nations peacekeeper from Niger has been presented with the inaugural UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award for her work in integrating gender perspectives into peacekeeping activities while serving in Mali.

The United Nations agricultural agency today signed a $15 million agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to boosting the capacity of developing countries to track key agricultural data – information considered essential to good policy-making and that will help track progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The United Nations Security Council wrapped up a three-day visit to South Sudan today by reaffirming its support for peace in South Sudan and reiterated its calls to the government to fulfill commitments announced in a joint communique.

South Sudan&#39s government has accepted the deployment of a 4,000-strong regional protection force recently mandated by the United Nations Security Council, in addition to the roughly 12,000 UN peacekeepers already serving in the African nation.

Expressing a serious concern over the ongoing political impasse in Guinea-Bissau, the United Nations Security Council today urged leaders in the West African country to find a solution to the crisis, and ensure a functioning government.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon, and Jean Ping, presidential candidate of the Démocratie Nouvelle party, to help end violence that ensued the recent, closely-contested presidential election in the African country.

A United Nations report on freedom of expression in Somalia released today describes progress in state-building in Somalia, but shows the very challenging environment that continues to confront journalists, human rights defenders and political leaders, including numerous killings, arrests, intimidation and closure of critical media outlets.

On the second day of its visit to South Sudan, a delegation from the United Nations Security Council today met with displaced people living in camps, known as &#8220protection of civilians&#8221 sites, seeing first-hand &#8220the human consequences of the failure of political leaders to bring peace back to their country.&#8221

Together with its partners, the United Nations health agency has vaccinated more than 7.7 million people in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in less than two weeks.