The education of 800 students in occupied East Jerusalem is at risk as Israel moves to close their schools next week, a senior official with the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said on Wednesday.

“It’s a grave threat to the right of those children to education,” Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank, told UN News.

The development follows two Israeli laws that went into effect in late January which ban UNRWA from operating in its territory and prohibit Israeli authorities from having any contact with the agency.

UNRWA is the largest provider of healthcare, education and other services for nearly six million Palestine refugees across the Middle East, including in war-torn Gaza.

This week the International Court of Justice – the UN’s highest court - began hearings to examine Israel’s restrictions on the work of the UN and other international organizations in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Mr. Friedrich spoke about how the affected students are anxious over the prospect of being shut out of the classroom. He also underlined UNRWA’s commitment to continue to deliver in East Jerusalem “as long as we can.”

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Roland Friedrich: Roughly four weeks ago we received notifications from the Israeli Ministry of Education that the three schools we operate in Shu’fat refugee camp and another three schools we operate inside East Jerusalem shall be closed.

We have 800 students in these schools and these children have no adequate access to education beyond these schools. This is very concerning for the children, for their families, and it comes while the school year is still ongoing. So, this is unprecedented. It’s a grave threat to the rights of those children to education and it’s very concerning particularly because these closure orders are supposed to come into effect on 8 May, which is less than a week from now.

UN News: What other UNRWA programmes are at risk in the West Bank?

Roland Friedrich: I think we have to make a distinction between our work in occupied East Jerusalem, which according to the Israeli legislation is banned, and our work in the rest of the West Bank where, according to Israel, all our work is not banned.

In East Jerusalem we operate, in addition to the six schools with 800 children, two health centres – one in the Old City and another in Shu’fat refugee camp – with roughly 60,000 patients: vulnerable patients who have no adequate access to other health facilities, patients with non-communicable diseases, patients who have West Bank ID who have no access to alternative health facilities, and low-income patients.

We are also responsible for garbage collection in Shu’fat refugee camp, which is on the Palestinian side of the so-called separation barrier.

In addition to that, we also operate a vocational training centre in the north of Jerusalem, also on the Palestinian side of the barrier, with 350 trainees, all from the West Bank.

Our main headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem is in the Sheikh Jarah neighbourhood. We currently cannot operate from it because of continuing security threats: threats to the safety and security of our staff, ongoing attacks against the compound.

We again had an arson attack against these facilities three weeks ago, and continuous destruction of the fence, of cameras, of security infrastructure with high material damage.

So that’s a place that’s not safe for our staff to work despite the fact that it is a facility protected by the privileges and immunities of the United Nations.

When it comes to the West Bank overall, our operations there largely continue. That means our 90 schools, our 41 health centres, our microfinance installations, continue to operate.

But we do have a severe humanitarian crisis in the northern West Bank due to an ongoing Israeli security forces operation that started in late January and that has led to the displacement of more than 40,000 Palestinian refugees from three refugee camps.

UN News: What messages did you hear from students, parents and teachers during your latest visit to Shu’fat camp? How is the community coping with this uncertainty?

Roland Friedrich: There is anxiety among children. They are worried that they can’t continue the school year, which runs until the end of June. They’re worried that they will be separated from their friends.

They’re worried that they will lose access to education. They are worried that they will have to be placed in education facilities that are maybe very far away or not available at all.

These are free schools, and we teach from grades one to nine. A lot of them are young girls who feel safe there in an appropriate learning environment that they will possibly lose.

Parents are also concerned. UNRWA has been delivering services in that refugee camp since the 1960s, predating Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, so there’s a history of UNRWA teaching in that place and an appreciation for the quality of the services we deliver.

Given the fact that all international UN staff have not received visas from the Israeli authorities since late January, it’s our local staff on the ground who are taking high risks in continuing to serve their communities.

UN News: In this challenging environment, what steps is UNRWA considering to support the continuity of its services in East Jerusalem?

Roland Friedrich: We’ve been very clear since these laws against UNRWA entered into effect on 29 January. We’ve been seeking to live up to our humanitarian commitment, to our mandate to continue to deliver these services to communities in East Jerusalem.

There have been legal efforts by Israeli civil society organizations before the courts against these laws and against these disclosure orders. Some of these proceedings are still pending.

We clearly call upon all actors to respect the obligations under international law, particularly to respect the inviolability of the premises of the United Nations in East Jerusalem.

We are providing these services based on a mandate by the General Assembly.

UNRWA clearly enjoys full privileges and immunities like any other UN agency, and our staff there are taking grave personal risks.

We are assessing the situation on a daily basis. Is it still safe for our staff to operate or not? As a matter of principle, we will be there as long as we can.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that only 5 percent of the nearly $45 billion needed for funding in the humanitarian community this year has been received as of the 6th of March, leaving a gap of more than $42 billion. Reuters reports that OCHA itself is to “cut 20% of its staff as it faces a shortfall of $58 million”, “U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher told staff” [no publicly available statements found on UN websites with these numbers.]

With the US leaving the World Health Organization, refusing to pay it’s contributions for 2024 and 2025, combined with reductions in funding by some other countries, WHO is expected to face a salary gap for the 2026-27 biennium between US$ 560 and US$ 650 million. Representing at least 25% of staff costs in the current biennium. While other member states have agreed to increase their contributions, increasing the 2026-27 biennium funding by US$ 320, it is too little, and has left the WHO with no choice but to restructure and reduce the scale of their work and workforce. Cutting the senior leadership team from twelve to seven, and departments by over half, from 76 to 34.²

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has projected “its 2026 budget to shrink by at least 20% compared to 2024”, as reported by Reuters [no publicly available statements found on UN websites with these numbers.]. This years budget is also affected, meaning that “At least 14 million children are expected to face disruptions to nutrition support and services”.

• More than 2.4 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could go without Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) for the remainder of 2025.
• Up to 2,300 life-saving stabilisation centres – providing critical care for children suffering from severe wasting with medical complications – are at risk of closing or severely scaling back services.
• Almost 28,000 UNICEF-supported outpatient therapeutic centres for the treatment of malnutrition are at risk, and in some cases have already stopped operating."

"Even before the funding cuts, the number of pregnant and breastfeeding women and adolescent girls suffering from acute malnutrition soared from 5.5 million to 6.9 million – or 25 per cent – since 2020. UNICEF expects these figures to rise without urgent action from donors as well as adequate investments from national governments"³

Speaking at the UN on the 21 March, Deputy Executive Director Kitty Palais said:

“Earlier this week, I saw the consequences of the funding crisis firsthand when I visited the Afar region in the north of Ethiopia and Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria. Due to funding gaps in both countries, nearly 1.3 million children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition could lose access to treatment over the course of the year”
“In Afar, a region that is prone to recurrent drought and floods, I visited a mobile health and nutrition team providing life-saving services to pastoralist communities in remote areas without health clinics. These teams are critical to supporting children with vital assistance, including treatment of severe wasting, vaccinations and essential medicines.
“But, without these critical interventions, children’s lives are in peril. Only 7 of the 30 mobile health and nutrition units that UNICEF supports in Afar are currently operational – and this is a direct result of the global funding crisis.

The World Food Program is expected to cut its staff by up to 30%, as reported by AP [no publicly available statements found on UN websites with these numbers.]. The agency said on March 28th that it was “facing an alarming 40 percent drop in funding for 2025”.

AP also reported that the High Commissioner for Refugees “would downsize its headquarters and regional offices to reduce costs by 30% and cut senior-level positions by 50%” [no publicly available statements found on UN websites with these numbers.]. With the agency saying that it’s “health budget has been cut by 87 per cent”.

A much more insignificant result of the crisis, but much closer to me, the Meetings Coverage and Press Releases has been publishing coverage of UN meetings later, and using machine translation of coverage by the French team.

[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1162751
[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-member-state-briefing-on-the-programme-budget---22-april-2025
[3] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-14-million-children-face-disruptions-critical-nutrition-services-2025-unicef

In what he described as possibly his last address to the Security Council, the head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned today that “violence has become the defining currency of our age” — from Sudan to Ukraine, from the Sahel to Myanmar and beyond — and urged the 15-member organ to fulfil its responsibility for maintaining peace.

Despite knowing the gravity of the crises, the Council’s inaction itself is “an indictment”, said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, asserting that the organ has “chronically failed to live up to” its responsibility.

He painted a bleak picture of today’s wars, driven by the “perverse, yet powerful delusion: that peace is for the weak”, where victory is pursued not through negotiation but by inflicting unbearable suffering. As a result, “the norms of international humanitarian law… are cast aside, dismissed as easily as the thousands of lives destroyed in the pursuit of supremacy”. Quoting Pope Francis, he reminded members that “every war represents not only a defeat of politics but also a shameful surrender”.

Highlighting the plight of 123 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, he described their hope for safety and eventual return, noting especially the devastating situation in Sudan, where “one out of every three people” has been displaced. Refugee-receiving countries are doing their part. “You must be more committed and more united to do yours,” he urged.

On Ukraine, he emphasized the need for a “just peace” that would allow more than 10 million displaced Ukrainians to return safely, cautioning that “solutions are hard work” requiring “commitment and compromise”. In Myanmar, he urged breaking eight years of “dangerous inertia” concerning the Rohingya crisis, stressing that while challenges are immense, dialogue with all parties is “a critical first step” towards creating conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees. “It is a long shot, for sure”, he admitted, but insisted that stagnation is no longer an option, urging the Council to sustain its robust focus on the situation in Myanmar.

Referencing the symbolic moment of the new Syrian flag being raised at the UN on 25 April, he said: “For the first time in decades, there is a spark of hope, including for the millions of Syrians who remain displaced today, 4.5 million of them refugees in neighbouring countries.” But achieving lasting solutions will require prioritizing the Syrian people over “long-standing politics, some of which are frankly outdated”.

Finally, he warned against the global trend of retrenching from aid and multilateralism at a critical time for several displacement crises. “Aid is stability,” he declared, noting that by freezing or cutting aid budgets — which means taking support away from very fragile host countries and abandoning displaced people to their fate — “you are undermining your own stability”.

In the discussion that followed, some members warned of the global trend of aid cuts, while others called for more equal burden-sharing.

China’s delegate emphasized that “solving the refugee problem requires strengthening international cooperation”. However, a certain country has drastically cut foreign aid, forcing many humanitarian organizations to reduce their aid activities. “This is undoubtedly a serious blow to refugee relief,” he said, warning that more people would be displaced. He called on developed countries to shoulder their responsibilities by fulfilling their aid commitments and providing more support to refugee-hosting countries and multilateral humanitarian organizations. He also warned against unilateralism and “hegemonic and bullying” behaviour.

The representative of the United States said that “the UN exists for collective action, and collective action demands collective responsibility”. Underscoring the responsibility for every Member State to share the burden of humanitarian response to conflict, she said that “the United States has disproportionately shouldered this burden for decades”.

The representative of the Russian Federation said that Western countries, “who have provoked a lion’s share of conflict throughout the world”, are very reluctant to finance UNHCR’s programmes to assist refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and many other conflict-ridden countries.

Pakistan’s delegate, noting that his country has provided shelter, protection and opportunities to millions of Afghans, expressed concern that developing countries — many grappling with their own socioeconomic challenges — continue to shoulder the greatest burden. Meanwhile, developed nations, despite their far greater resources and moral obligations, have increasingly turned inward. “Physical and political barriers have been erected, closing doors to those most in need,” he said.

Several speakers highlighted other factors causing mass displacement, with Guyana’s delegate stating that climate change is also becoming a major driver of such movement. Citing the 2024 global data over the past decade, she said that weather-related disasters have caused 220 million people to be internally displaced. Slovenia’s representative added: “Climate-fuelled floods, fires and prolonged droughts now drive families from their homes as ruthlessly as any gunman or bombs.”

Citing Sudanese women fleeing to Chad, Congolese women in displacement camps around Goma, and Rohingya women and girls in long-term refugee camps in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone’s delegate said that climate-induced disasters further compound their vulnerability and increase the severity of such violence.

Responding to comments and questions by Council members, Mr. Grandi said that “I am leading an internal effort, which may conclude with the retrenchment of my organization to up to one third of its capacity.” There will be fewer offices, fewer programmes and fewer operations, he added, noting that UNHCR — founded in 1950 — will “unfortunately” observe its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2025. “It is not a date to celebrate, but one perhaps on which to reflect on the challenges that we all face, and to try and find some inspiration to address them together,” he concluded.

The latest attacks, which began on 11 April, saw Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-affiliated forces launch coordinated assaults on Zamzam and Abu Shouk – two of the largest camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Darfur – as well as the regional capital, El Fasher.

Among those killed were 23 children as well as nine humanitarian workers who were operating one of the last remaining health posts.

No end in sight to suffering

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for Sudan condemned the violence, warning that the situation is deteriorating as ethnically driven violence and hate speech escalate.

“The world has witnessed two years of ruthless conflict which has trapped millions of civilians in harrowing situations, subjecting them to violations and suffering with no end in sight,” Mohamed Chande Othman, FFM chair, said in a statement on Monday.

“Amid the rising tide of hate speech and ethnically driven violence and reprisals, we fear the darkest chapters of this conflict have yet to unfold.”

Bring perpetrators to justice

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the latest violence, stressing that attacks on civilians, humanitarian and medical personnel are strictly prohibited under international law.

“The perpetrators of these attacks must be brought to justice,” he said, calling for urgent, safe and sustained access to besieged areas like Zamzam camp, where famine conditions have already been identified.

Two years of atrocities

The Darfur attacks are the latest flashpoints in a conflict that erupted on 15 April 2023, when fighting broke out in Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF.

The power struggle quickly descended into a nationwide civil war, killing thousands and displacing over 12.4 million people – more than 3.3 million as refugees into neighbouring countries.

According to the FFM, both sides have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, including deliberate attacks on civilians,removed and sexual violence, starvation tactics, mass looting and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Aid workers targeted

Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, described the escalation as “deadly and unacceptable,” and condemned the deliberate targeting of civilians and aid workers.

“These families – many of whom have already been displaced multiple times – are once again caught in the crossfire, with nowhere safe to go. This must end now,” she stressed.

Survivors from Zamzam camp – once home to over 750,000 people, half of them children – were reported as being placed under siege-like conditions, according to the FFM.

Humanitarian access inside the camp remains nearly impossible, while children are reported to be dying from hunger and the few remaining health outposts have been overrun or destroyed.

Protect children

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also sounded the alarm.

“These unconscionable acts of violence against civilians, children and aid workers must end immediately,” said Executive Director Catherine Russell.

“Children must be protected from this senseless violence, and humanitarian workers must never be targets.”

Ms. Russell warned that with aid blocked and violence surging, famine is already “stalking children,” placing over one million people at high risk in and around El Fasher and Zamzam camp.

Situation beyond Darfur

Violations are not confined to Darfur.

The SAF and its allies have allegedly committed reprisal attacks in areas recently recaptured from the RSF, particularly in Sinja and Al-Dinder in Sennar state and Wad Madani in Al-Jazirah (also spelled Gezira).

Witnesses described arbitrary detentions, mass arrests and public executions, including in newly controlled areas of southern Khartoum, the FFM said. Many of those detained have reportedly disappeared.

“These acts highlight the urgent need to prevent further escalation and to protect civilians and the lifesaving systems they rely on,” said FFM member Mona Rishmawi.

Stop encouraging the war

In the midst of the violence, the Fact-Finding Mission alongside humanitarian agencies continue to call for international accountability and support.

As key regional and global actors set to meet this week in London to discuss humanitarian funding and strategies for civilian protection, the FFM reiterated the need for all States to “respect and ensure respect” for the Geneva Conventions – the core of international humanitarian law.

“This means that States should neither finance the war nor provide weapons, as this may encourage, aid and assist the warring parties in committing violations,” said Ms. Rishmawi.

The Human Rights Council – UN’s primary human rights forum – established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan in October 2023 and extended its mandate until October this year.

Its core task is to investigate all alleged human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law linked to Sudan’s ongoing conflict since April 2023.

The UN human rights office said on Friday it fears that Israel may intend to permanently remove civilians in Gaza as part of an expanded buffer zone, amid evacuations orders and escalating bombardment.

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip resumed mid-March following the collapse of the ceasefire and Israel’s border closure.

As it enters its sixth week, the denial of aid into the enclave has left more than 2.1 million Gazans trapped without access to food, drinking water, and basic services.

Israel in recent weeks has ramped up its attacks on civilian infrastructure such as residential buildings and camps, leaving many more dead or missing under the rubble.

Between March 18 and April 9, Israeli forces have struck housing and tents for internally displaced people (IDPs) on 224 occasions during 36 separate strikes, according to the UN rights office, OHCHR.

Vast new exclusion zones

Earlier on Friday, Israeli authorities issued two new displacement orders “covering vast areas in northern and southern Gaza,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at the regular noon briefing in New York.

“Together, these areas span more than 24 square kilometres – roughly the size of everything south of Central Park here in Manhattan.”

Some medical facilities and storage sites containing critical supplies are located within the newly designated zones, prompting aid coordination office OCHA to warn that this could have life-threatening consequences for people in urgent need of care.

“This leaves Palestinians with less than a third of Gaza’s area to live in – and that remaining space is fragmented, it’s unsafe and it’s barely livable following 18 months of hostilities.”

‘Forcible transfer’

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani also highlighted the growing trend in attacks against media workers, reporting that at least 209 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the deadly Hamas-led terror attacks of October 2023, as Israel continues to deny international media entry into the Strip.

The OHCHR spokesperson acknowledged that the temporary evacuation of civilians in certain areas can be legal, under strict conditions.

But "the nature and scope of the evacuation orders raises serious concerns that Israel intends permanently to remove the civilian population from these areas in order to create a so-called buffer zone”, she said.

“Permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territory amounts to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a crime against humanity.”

War crimes

Combatants need to demonstrate compliance with the rules of war, particularly the principles of distinction – meaning defenceless civilians should not be targeted – as well as proportionality and precaution.

“Intentionally directing attacks against civilians not taking a direct part in hostilities constitutes a war crime, further compounding the desperate conditions for Palestinian civilians,” Ms. Shamdasani said.

OHCHR has also repeatedly warned that collective punishment and the use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war, constitute crimes under international law.

Ms. Shamdasani also stressed that her office was “seriously concerned that Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza, conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group”.

Supplies pile up

With stocks of drugs sharply declining, medicines and other essential supplies have been piling up at the shuttered border crossings.

Almost 36 million tons of supplies in Dubai are on standby for entry into the enclave, according to Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, World Health Organization Representative (WHO) for the West Bank and Gaza.

Medical evacuations for patients in need of urgent treatment have slowed significantly. Likewise, the number of international emergency medical teams deployed has dropped, depriving hospitals of the help they crucially need, “because the caseload is immense”, Dr. Peeperkorn stressed.

“We urgently call for the immediate resumption of medical evacuation through all possible routes, particularly restoring the medical referral pathway to the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

In Gaza, where lack of access to water is an existential threat, Ibrahim Alloush stands out as an unsung hero, providing a lifeline to the thirsty people of the Strip.

Every day, he drives his water truck through the Strip, filling up empty tanks and vessels.

Our camera accompanied Alloush on a recent arduous mission to provide a little water to the residents of Jabalia. UN News’ correspondent met Alloush in Jabalia’s desalination plant, where he spends hours waiting for water.

Like everywhere else in Gaza, the desalination plant is overcrowded. As Gaza is running out of fuel, Alloush explained that 35 to 40 liters of diesel is needed every hour for the plant just to operate.

Hours spent waiting

At the plant, Ibrahim has to be patient: “We come to the desalination plant and wait about five hours for our turn to fill up. Water prices are very high due to production costs. People here in Gaza cannot afford water unless it is distributed by organizations, institutions, or initiatives.

“The cost of one cubic metre is very high because of how expensive diesel is, which is needed to operate the generators. One cubic metre of water can cost between 90 to 100 shekels, this is about 20 Jordanian dinars. [According to xe.com, 20 JOD is 28.20 USD or 24.82 EUR. 90-100 shekel is 24.44-27.15 USD or 21.49-23.89 EUR]”

After completing his task, Ibrahim Alloush gets into his old truck, starts its engine, and sets off on a challenging journey through the devastated neighborhoods of Jabalia.

For Alloush, the struggle does not stop at the water plant. Driving through Gaza is not easy, navigating destroyed streets and surrounded by rubble, Alloush needs to reach the people waiting for him – waiting for water.

There are always people waiting for him. It is almost impossible for trucks to reach certain areas, if it were not for Mr. Alloush, these areas would basically be lacking any supply.

No life without water

'We are suffering from a major water crisis,” says Ayman Kamal, a Gaza Strip resident. While some can wait half a day to fill up five or ten gallons of water only, others may not even be able to get water, as they were too far behind in line.

“Without water, there is no life…We wait for potable water that comes from distant areas, and people crowd to get their share,” says another resident, Fathi al-Kahlout, as he fills his bucket.

“The blockade has caused us many problems. We hope that the world will look at us, even for one day, as it looks at other countries. Everyone in other countries lives in comfort. Why are we condemned to this fate?” asked Sameer Badr, explaining that his children spend their days going back and forth in search of water.

Worsening water crisis

The continued closure of border crossings and the ban on fuel entry is paralysing desalination plants, the closure of the main water pipelines has also led to a sharp decrease in the amount of drinking water available to residents in Gaza. The water crisis is worsening, warns Children’s Fund UNICEF.

After the collapse of the ceasefire, the repair work that had been started on vital wells and water points came to a total halt, leaving many water sources either out of service or at risk of further damage.

According to UNICEF about one million people – including 400,000 children – are currently receiving a daily six-litre ration per person, a stark decrease from the previous average of 16 litres.

If fuel runs out, UNICEF warned that this amount could drop to less than four litres per day in the coming weeks, forcing families to rely on unsafe sources, significantly increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, especially among children.

https://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/haitis-children-under-siege-staggering-rise-child-abuse-and-recruitment-armed-groups

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

I strongly condemn the arbitrary detention by the Houthi de facto authorities on 23 January of seven additional United Nations personnel in areas under their control.

I demand the immediate and unconditional release of those detained on Thursday, as well as the personnel from the United Nations, international and national non-governmental organizations, civil society and diplomatic missions arbitrarily detained since June 2024 and those held since 2021 and 2023. Their continued arbitrary detention is unacceptable.

The personnel of the UN and its partners must not be targeted, arrested or detained while carrying out their duties for the UN for the benefit of the people they serve. The safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.

The continued targeting of UN personnel and its partners negatively impacts our ability to assist millions of people in need in Yemen. The Houthis must deliver on their previous commitments and act in the best interests of the Yemeni people and the overall efforts to achieve peace in Yemen.

The United Nations will continue to work through all possible channels to secure the safe and immediate release of those arbitrarily detained. I welcome the collective support of international partners, non-governmental organizations and all those working to support the people of Yemen in these efforts.

The UN has suspended all official movements by its teams into and out of Houthi-held areas of Yemen, after more UN staffers were detained on Thursday.

The de facto rulers of much of the country, including the capital Sana’a, released the crew of a merchant ship who had been held for more than a year, earlier this week.

The move raised hopes that more than 60 staff from the UN, international organizations and diplomatic missions already being held by the Houthis over the past year, might be released.

Friday’s safety measure announced by Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, comes as the organization faces mounting security challenges in its operations in the region.

The Houthis and the internationally-recognized Government have been fighting for control of the country in what has become a wider regional proxy war, for over a decade.

Security measure

“Yesterday, the de facto authorities in Sana’a detained additional UN personnel working in areas under their control,” Mr. Harneis said.

“To ensure the security and safety of all its staff, the United Nations has suspended all official movements into and within areas under the de facto authorities’ control…this measure will remain in place until further notice.”

Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq elaborated on the response later on Friday, highlighting the UN’s ongoing efforts: “Our officials in Yemen are actively engaging with senior representatives of the de facto authorities, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all UN personnel and partners.”

The detentions mark a troubling escalation for humanitarian operations in Yemen, where access and security remain critical concerns.

The UN continues to emphasise the importance of upholding the safety and neutrality of its personnel to ensure lifesaving aid reaches those in need.

Amid one of the deadliest waves of violence in Colombia since the signing of the 2016 Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, speakers in the Security Council today underscored the urgency of implementing the accord’s security guarantees.

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, said that the first days of 2025 have been marred by violence in the country. “I am deeply saddened by the actions that have bloodied the remote Catatumbo region of north-east Colombia since late last week, claiming dozens of lives,” he said. According to numerous reports, many of the victims were individually targeted and killed.

The bloodshed — the result of an attack by Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) in an area of presence of a rival armed group known as Estado Mayor de los Bloques y Frentes (EMBF) — is part of the ongoing confrontation between armed groups in various areas of the country with a limited State presence. The success of the Ministry of the Interior’s rapid response plan, aimed at accelerating the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement, will depend directly upon the availability of resources, he went on to say.

It is also critical to accelerate the implementation of the ethnic chapter of the Final Agreement, which focuses on the needs and protection of Colombia’s Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities. “The Bari and Yukpa are among the populations affected by the violence in Catatumbo,” he said. Moving forward, the gender provisions of the peace agreement will require adequate funding, proactive leadership and constant engagement with women’s organizations.

In the last six days alone, over 80 people have been killed in the Catatumbo region, 100 have been kidnapped and over 30,000 have been displaced, said Diego Tovar, Representative of the high contracting party to the Commission for the Follow-up, Promotion and Verification of the Implementation of the Final Agreement. He warned that the violence “threatens to spread to other regions”, with ethnic communities, women and children being among the most affected by the reconfiguration of the armed actors.

Also, he added, impunity continues to be extremely high for the assassination of former combatants, reaching 90 per cent. Some ex-combatants remain imprisoned after the signing of the Agreement and are waiting for the jurisdiction to generate prompt solutions to their cases. Eight years on, the reintegration process remains precarious. Its non-implementation and persistent violence led 80 per cent of former combatants to leave their territorial areas, he said, pointing to their “massive displacements” in 2023 and 2024.

Armando Wouriyu Valbuena, Secretary of the Special High-Level Body on Ethnic Peoples of Colombia, noted that ethnic peoples constitute 10 per cent of the Colombian population and occupy one third of national territory. “As such, we are environmental guardians for the rest of Colombians and the planet,” he stressed. He recalled that ethnic and Indigenous groups were the only stakeholders to conclude an agreement with the Colombian Government and the former Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común (FARC), leading to the Ethnic Chapter — a first in the history of peace agreements to have an ethnic perspective. However, after eight years of implementation, that Chapter continues to be the most neglected, despite being intended to solve underdevelopment for communities of African descent and Indigenous communities.

Substantive improvement in the pace of implementation requires that the instances provided for in the Agreement must be activated by the various stakeholders in peace. The committee on follow-up and implementation monitoring is an inactive body, he noted — but has the potential to bring together representatives of the Colombian State and peace agreement signatories of the now-extinct FARC. Calling on the Government “to include us in the 16 national sectoral plans for comprehensive rural reform and development plans”, he noted that in the Catatumbo area, “former combatants and my brothers from the Bayou people are victims of displacement, and others of confinement” — further requesting that the National Commission enact security guarantees.

Mr. Guterres was speaking at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the exclusive event held high in the Swiss Alps where senior politicians, Heads of State and CEOs of some of the world’s biggest and most influential companies rub shoulders.

The UN Secretary-General took aim at the theme of this year’s meeting, Collaboration for the Intelligent Age, maintaining that there has been scant proof of either collaboration or intelligence and plenty of evidence that many of the world’s problems are worsening, from conflicts to inequality and assaults on human rights.

Nuclear war is no longer the only existential threat to humanity, he said, pointing to the climate crisis and the “ungoverned expansion” of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

‘Fossil fuel addiction’

Likening fossil fuel addiction to Frankenstein’s monster – “sparing nothing and no one” - the Secretary-General noted the irony that 13 of the world’s biggest ports for oil supertankers are set to be overwhelmed by rising sea levels, a consequence of rising temperatures and sea ice melt, caused overwhelmingly by burning coal, crude oil and natural gas.

A number of financial institutions and industries are backtracking on climate commitments, noted Mr. Guterres.

A move that is, he said “short-sighted, and paradoxically, it is selfish and also self-defeating. You are on the wrong side of history. You are on the wrong side of science. And you are on the wrong side of consumers who are looking for more sustainability, not less.”

Looking ahead to the UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Brazil at the end of the year, the UN chief reminded world leaders that they must keep their promise to produce new, economy-wide national climate action plans well before the event.

Developing countries need a “surge in finance" for climate action, he declared, urging not just governments but all businesses and financial institutions to create robust and accountable transition plans.

AI’s untold promise

The next existential threat, AI, is a double-edged sword, Mr. Guterres continued, as it is already revolutionizing learning, diagnosing illnesses, helping farmers to increase their yields and improving the targeting of aid.

But it comes with profound risks if it is left ungoverned: it can disrupt economies, undermine trust in institutions and deepen inequalities, the Secretary-General warned.

The Global Digital Compact – part of the Pact for the Future adopted by UN Member States last September – offers a “roadmap to harness the immense potential of digital technology and close digital divides” with a shared vision of AI serving humanity, not the other way around.

Despite the challenges, the UN will never halt its demand for peace grounded in the UN Charter, international law and the principles of sovereignty, political independence and the territorial integrity of States, he said.

Reforming institutions, from the global financial architecture to the UN Security Council, is, the UN chief asserted, a necessity because systems of governance are often ill-equipped to deal with today’s challenges. But achieving these essential changes – which world leaders committed to at last September’s Summit of the Future - will only be possible with political will, he said, cautioning: “I am not convinced leaders get it.”

The Secretary-General concluded his remarks with a return to the theme of this year’s Davos event, appealing to the global community to face these existential challenges head on and work as one.

Dodoma, 20 January 2025 – Tanzania today confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern Kagera region after one case tested positive for the virus following investigations and laboratory analysis of suspected cases of the disease.

“Laboratory tests conducted in Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and later confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one patient as being infected with the Marburg virus. Fortunately, the remaining suspected patients tested negative,” the president said. “We have demonstrated in the past our ability to contain a similar outbreak and are determined to do the same this time around.”

A total of 25 suspected cases have been reported as of 20 January 2025, all of whom have tested negative and are currently under close follow-up, the president said. The cases have been reported in Biharamulo and Muleba districts in Kagera.

Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.

Tanzania previously reported an outbreak of Marburg in March 2023 – the country’s first – in Kagera region, in which a total of nine cases (eight confirmed and one probable) and six deaths were reported, with a case fatality ratio of 67%.

In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.

Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Although several promising candidate medical countermeasures are currently undergoing clinical trials, there is no licensed treatment or vaccine for effective management or prevention of Marburg virus disease. However, early access to treatment and supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improve survival.