10 March 2017 – Although a decline in cases of Zika virus infection has been reported in some countries, there is still a need for heightened vigilance, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today, issuing fresh guidance on the virus that has been linked to birth defects and neurological complications.

The new WHO data also lists countries where the Aedes aegypti mosquito is present, but where there is no sign of the Zika virus.

The insect is considered to be the main transmitter of the disease, which has been identified in more than 80 countries to date.

As such, WHO says that overall, the global risk assessment has not changed and “the [Zika virus] continues to spread geographically to areas where competent vectors are present.

The current data adds some 70 countries to the list of those considered to be ‘at-risk.’ These are countries where there’s no sign of the virus, but where the Aedes aegypti mosquito is present; it is considered to be the main carrier of the virus.

Speaking to UN News in Geneva, WHO technical Officer Monika Gehner said: “[The new guidance] helps us because now we can assess risks more precisely. Now, even if you do not have Zika virus transmission, but if you have the Aedes aegypti mosquito, you are at risk of Zika virus transmission.”

She went on to stress that amid surging global travel, “a traveller who is infected with Zika virus may go to an area in a country and in fact mosquitos that are established there, and a mosquito can then transmit to other people and so on, so you have a cycle of transmission.”

The aim of this new WHO guidance is not to spread alarm. Instead, it’s a call to governments to do more to prevent the spread of Zika.

This requires greater surveillance of mosquito populations and research into suspected Zika infections, as well as better diagnostic techniques and updated health advice to at-risk communities and travellers.

9 March 2017 – Unless drastic measures are taken to share up peace and security in Syria, the situation &#8211 which marks its sixth anniversary next week &#8211 will worsen, the United Nations refugee agency today said urging the international community to redouble its support for the 13.5 million people in need of aid.

&#8220Funding won’t end the suffering. But it is one thing we can do as poverty and misery intensify. The resources currently available simply don’t come close to meeting all the challenges,&#8221 said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for RefugeesFunding won’t end the suffering. But it is one thing we can do as poverty and misery intensify..

His message comes ahead of 15 and 16 March, when in 2011 authorities clamped down on demonstrations in Damascus, setting off protests calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

Since then, nearly 6.3 million people were displaced and an additional 4.9 million people &#8211 mostly women and children &#8211 were forced to seek refuge, according to UN figures. Nearly 3 million Syrians under the age of five have grown up knowing nothing but conflict.

&#8220Ultimately, Syria’s conflict isn’t about numbers &#8211 it’s about people,&#8221 Grandi added. &#8220Families have been torn apart, innocent civilians killed, houses destroyed, businesses and livelihoods shattered. It’s a collective failure.&#8221

One of those people is Wafaa Keyari, an eight-year-old girl from the battered Sakhour district of eastern Aleppo.

Living now in a temporary shelter on the outskirts of Aleppo, Wafaa was severely burned on her face and body when her house was shelled two years ago.

&#8220I was taken to hospital. I was awake and they treated me,&#8221 Wafaa told UNHCR.

&#8220You know I was wearing wool clothes, like the ones I am wearing now, they got stuck to me. When they took me to the hospital, they were pulling them off my skin. It hurt so much, they didn’t even use anaesthetic &#8211 they just pulled it off.&#8221

Asked whether the incident had changed her at all, she paused for a moment before replying with a smile: &#8220No. I am still the same nice girl.&#8221

In the shadow of the sad anniversary, the international community is preparing for a conference in Brussels in early April to assess the country’s future. The UN is seeking $8 billion for this year to meet the needs of Syrians in the country and those living abroad.

According to UNHCR, the request follows commitments made at the 2016 London Conference, especially on education and livelihoods.

&#8220Syria is at a crossroads,&#8221 Mr. Grandi said. &#8220Unless drastic measures are taken to shore up peace and security for Syria, the situation will worsen.&#8221

9 March 2017 – New UN supply chain system to slash delays, save lives in large-scale health crises

In collaboration with partners and as a part of a global supply chain network, the United Nations emergency food relief agency has set about developing the first-ever information platform to better manage supply chains and efficiently match deliveries with demand in responding to large-scale health emergencies such as pandemic outbreaks.

&#8220The creation of this new platform is a prime example of the amazing endeavours that are possible when the public and private sectors work together,&#8221 said Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in a news release announcing the undertaking.

The new system will bring together supply chain and logistics information and enable end-to-end tracking of pandemic response items such as protective clothing and medical equipment within a country facing an outbreak, thereby helping ensure quick and appropriate delivery of supplies to people in need.

It will also provide analysis on supply inefficiencies, promote timeliness and cost efficiency in continuous improvement to the supply chain network.

According to WFP, the system will help overcome challenges witnessed in the response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak, such as severe warehousing and distribution capacity constraints, limited visibility of the overall supply and demand of critical items, access constraints caused by border closures, and a lack of public-private sector coordination.

Furthermore, learning lessons from the Ebola outbreak, the UN as well as Government, academic and private institutions established the Global Pandemic Supply Chain Network and have been working together in unprecedented fashion to develop a framework for improving pandemic preparedness and response.

The partnership also complements other efforts that are underway to strengthen national and international systems that prevent and manage future pandemics.

&#8220In order to achieve any one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, we must all do our part, lending our unique expertise and experiences to innovating solutions to global problems,&#8221 added Ms. Cousin, hailing the work being done by the Network.

The end-to-end supply chain information system is being developed in collaboration between WFP and the NEC Corporation, a Japanese multinational provider of information technology services and products. The Japanese Government has provided financial support that will be used as seed funding for the new platform.

9 March 2017 – The next round of the United Nations-facilitated intra-Syrian talks is expected to convene on 23 March to discuss issues related to governance, constitution, elections and counter terrorism, the UN Special Envoy for Syria has said.

&#8220My current intention is to bring the invitees back to Geneva for a fifth round with a target date of 23 March,&#8221 Staffan de Mistura told reporters yesterday at the UN Headquarters in New York after he briefed the Security Council on the outcome of the fourth round of the discussions, which ran in the Swiss city from 23 February to 3 March.

He said the fourth round of the Geneva talks &#8220achieved much more than many people had imagined we could have.&#8221

&#8220No one left, everybody stayed. They were focused, we got an agenda, we got a timeline, we got some agreement on substance,&#8221 Mr. de Mistura said, noting that the fifth round of talks will build on the outcome of the previous one and that counter terrorism is now part of the agenda laid out in UN Security Council resolution 2254.

In parallel with the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian talks, Kazakhstan has been hosting talks on a ceasefire in its capital, Astana &#8211 diplomatic efforts led by the so-named ceasefire guarantors, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

On the Astana talks, Mr. de Mistura said that although the responsibility of their success is in the hands of these guarantors, the UN dispatches a technical team to the process, because without a strong ceasefire, the UN-facilitated Geneva talks would be fragile.

The UN envoy urged the Security Council to continue to support his efforts.

9 March 2017 – Amid escalating violence, the United Nations humanitarian agency for children and its partners have completed the first round of a nationwide door-to-door vaccination campaign reaching 5 million children under the age of five with oral polio vaccine and vitamin A supplementation.

&#8220In the last two years, more children have died from preventable diseases than those killed in the violence,&#8221 said Meritxell Relaño, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Yemen, in a press release. &#8220This is why vaccination campaigns are so crucial to save the lives of Yemen’s children and to secure their future.&#8221

In the first campaign of its kind this year, 40,000 vaccinators spread across Yemen to provide children with polio vaccine and vitamin A supplements. Mobile health teams have reached children wherever they are, including in places where access to health services has been cut off by the fighting. Health workers have shown heroic resolve in crossing frontlines, mountains and valleys to vaccinate children.

UNICEF says that the campaign comes at a critical time. Children in Yemen are living on the brink of famine and widespread malnutrition has drastically increased their risk of disease. More than half of Yemen’s medical facilities are no longer functional and the health system is on the verge of collapse.

UNICEF is scaling up its humanitarian response, including support for the treatment of 323,000 children against severe acute malnutrition, and the provision of basic healthcare services to one million children and over half a million pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

&#8220Children are dying because the conflict is preventing them from getting the health care and nutrition they urgently need. Their immune systems are weak from months of hunger,&#8221 said Dr. Relaño, calling on all parties to the conflict to find a political solution to this crisis.