Sudan, Hurricane Melissa & other topics - Daily Press Briefing | United Nations

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Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: Secretary-General/Cameroon Occupied Palestinian Territory Sudan/Humanitarian Hurricane Melissa Central African Republic Afghanistan Nationally Determined Contributions Synthesis Report Women Peacekeepers Peace Circle Democratic Republic of the Congo HURRICANE MELISSA Thanks to the pre-positioning of relief supplies ahead of the hurricane season, the World Food Programme (WFP) is coordinating a sea-lift operation from Barbados carrying supplies from WFP, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). An airlift of some 2,000 relief kits is also planned for deployment once airports reopen and the weather conditions permit flights. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that a joint warehouse established earlier this year in Barbados by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and the WFP, with support from the European Union and Canada, is already proving to be instrumental in this unfolding disaster. Additional relief stocks are available at the UN Humanitarian Depot in Panama from UN agencies, NGOs and international cooperation partners. In Cuba, where the hurricane is expected to make landfall overnight in the eastern part of the island, preparations and prepositioning of supplies and assets are still underway, and authorities plan to evacuate about half a million people to safer ground. OCHA also said that two staff members have arrived in Cuba today to support UN agencies that are already there. and national authorities ahead of the impact. And in Haiti, authorities have placed the departments of South and Grand’Anse on red alert, while other areas remain on orange alert. More than 3,600 people are sheltering in emergency sites in the Grand Sud département, with IOM supporting sheltering of 3,000 people preventively and the setting up of 100 shelters. Our humanitarian colleagues are coordinating with Haitian authorities, UN agencies and humanitarian partners to support preparedness and early action. WFP has pre-positioned more than 800 metric tons of food to assist 86,000 people in Haiti for two weeks. UNICEF has pre-positioned water, sanitation and hygiene kits for about 14,500 people and nutritional supplies for more than 4,000 children. For its part, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has stocked reproductive health kits for 5,000 people and dignity kits for 4,000 people, while the Pan American Health Organization provided medical kits for about 11,000 people. SUDAN/HUMANITARIAN In answer to questions about the number of civilians killed in El Fasher, the Spokesperson said the UN Human Rights Office said that they have documented some 1,850 civilian deaths in North Darfur, of these, an estimated 1,350 were in El Fasher. This is considered, however, an under-representation of the real number of conflict-related deaths in El Fasher, and North Darfur, given the challenges related to telecommunications and just access issues on the ground. Although access to El Fasher remains blocked and humanitarian capacity continues to shrink as needs soar, we and our humanitarian partners remain committed to scaling up the much-needed support across Darfur and reestablishing a presence on the ground and soon as it is practicable. Many civilians flee toward Tawila seeking relative safety or whatever humanitarian assistance they may receive. Humanitarian workers continue to operate under extraordinary danger to assist them. In Tawila, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its partners report that families, and especially children, are arriving malnourished, they are arriving sick and they are arriving traumatized after a dangerous journey to safety. UNHCR is providing essential assistance and vital services to displaced families, and that includes shelter. In a statement issued today, the UN and its humanitarian partners urged the international community for urgent action to protect civilians and for humanitarian workers in Sudan, and to guarantee safe passage and humanitarian access to people trapped in El Fasher as well as scaling up funding to support humanitarian operations in El Fasher and elsewhere in Sudan. Fighting has also intensified in North Kordofan State. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 2,500 people fled Bara town over the weekend, and up to 1,000 others were newly displaced from Zuraiba village yesterday due to heightened insecurity. The UN stresses once again that civilians must be protected wherever they are, whether they decide to seek safety or whether they have to stay. Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-10-28