Edited News | WHO , WFP
The first United Nations “Solidarity Flight” is scheduled to leave Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this afternoon - from there, the aircraft will transport the vital medical cargo to all countries in Africa, where supplies are desperately needed to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The airlift represents the largest single shipment of medical supplies from the World Health Organization (WHO) since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The cargo includes face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks, medical aprons and thermometers, as well as ventilators.
“The cargo arrived in Addis Ababa this morning from WHO’s Dubai regional logistical hubs and these flights will move from Addis Ababa this afternoon around 3 pm Geneva time”, WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrssaid at a virtual media briefing organized by the UN in Geneva.
“These flights will transport the vital equipment to five other countries: Djibouti, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Tanzania”. From those five hubs they will be transported to as many countries as possible, across the African continent.
The cargo includes “one million face masks, face shields, gloves, googles, gowns, medical aprons, and thermometers as well as ventilators enough to protect health workers while treating 30, 000 patients across the continent,’ Ms. Byrs said.
“ This is by far the largest single shipment of supplies since the start of pandemic”, she added.
This cargo will ensure that people living in weaker health care systems can get tested and treated while ensuring that health care workers are properly protected.
“WFP is setting up the Addis Ababa air ops this week to help transport protective equipment and medical supplies and humanitarian workers across Africa for the Covid-19 response”, Ms Byrs said, in reference to the airlift operation. “To do so, we badly need funding and we stand ready to set up a logistical backbone for global response effort”.
In order to continue providing these vital services, WFP is calling on donors to increase their funding for these air bridges that allow for the transfer of supplies, equipment and health care personnel to the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In reference to the WFP airlift, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said that the cooperation between the two agencies was an indication of the “crucial” nature of the supplies delivery, as well as of “ how important it is that we are all working across agencies and how this Covid response has to be an across-UN response.
“ This is how the world is going to beat it,” Ms. Harris added.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is gravely concerned by the escalating violence in and around El-Fasher city, North Darfur, where dozens of people have been killed in the past two weeks as hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified., UN Human Rights spokesperson Seif Magango told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) briefed the journalist on the latest development in Iran.
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Edited News | WHO
"WHO warns of widespread misuse of antibiotics during COVID-19 pandemic, fueling antimicrobial resistance."
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Press Conferences , Edited News | FAO , UNHCR , UNICEF , WFP
Launch of the Global Report on Food Crises 2024
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Edited News | OHCHR
Summary: OHCHR - Ravina Shamdasani addresses the Israel-Occupied Palestinian Territory situation.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Summary: The UK-Rwanda asylum law has raised concerns from UN High Commissioners due to potential harmful consequences on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection. The legislation allows for the transfer of asylum-seekers to Rwanda without thorough consideration of individual circumstances or protection risks.