UN News Centre - Africa

The largest cholera vaccination drive in history targeting two million people across Africa is underway, the United Nations announced on Monday, in response to a series of recent deadly outbreaks of the water-borne disease. 

United Nations agencies have urged greater international support to stave off severe food insecurity in Africa’s western Sahel; a region reeling from the effects of conflict and now threatened by drought and rising hunger.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Wednesday’s attack on the electoral commission headquarters in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and reiterated the world body’s commitment to support the country.

Voicing concern over inflammatory rhetoric in the wake of widespread violence in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all actors to remain calm and to work together to bring peace to the country.

The surge of violence in South Sudan’s Unity region "looks set" to continue despite the ceasefire accord signed last year by warring parties, the top United Nations official in the African country said on  Wednesday.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has appealed for calm following fresh violence in the capital Bangui which claimed the lives of several civilians, including a religious leader.

United Nations agencies in Somalia have stepped up their response in the wake of devastating flash floods across large parts of the country that have impacted nearly 500,000 people and displaced close to 175,000 from their homes.

The Security Council on Friday extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara until 31 October 2018, calling for a “realistic, practicable and enduring” political solution to end the decades‑old conflict.

The United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) has condemned the suicide bombing on Saturday that reportedly killed government security officers and civilians in the city of Gaalkacyo.

Surging violence in parts of South Sudan is putting thousands of war-weary civilians at risk and endangering the fragile peace process in the world’s youngest nation, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there has warned.

The United Nations human rights chief on Thursday expressed hope that Ethiopia continues its economic development in which human rights are respected and people can freely speak their minds about public policies.

Despite warnings, Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers who fled Boko Haram violence continue to be returned from Cameroon, the United Nations refugee agency has said, underscoring the need to accord international protection to those in need.

All stakeholders in South Sudan must “engage genuinely and constructively in finding a political solution” to the conflict there, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official said at the end of her four-day visit.

Commending the remarkable achievements made by the people and Government of Liberia to consolidate lasting peace and stability in the wake of a 1999-2003 civil war, the Security Council on Thursday asked the United Nations Secretary-General to conduct a study of the role played by its peacekeeping mission in resolving conflicts and other challenges the country has faced.

The United Nations Secretary-General is calling on political leaders in Mali to ensure those responsible for a deadly assault on peacekeepers serving in the north are brought to justice.

Meeting residents of the world’s largest camp for Somali refugees ­– sprawling Dadaab, located in north-eastern Kenya ­­– the top United Nations official for Somalia expressed his solidarity with their situation and highlighted the gradual progress made in their home country.

“‘Mama Winnie’ – as she was affectionately known – was a towering figure in the struggle against apartheid,” said  Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday, during a tribute held at United Nations Headquarters in honour of the late Winfred ‘Winnie’ Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the world to reflect on the suffering of those who perished, as well as survived, the Rwandan genocide, and resolve to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

The first-ever international conference to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) opened at the United Nations Office at Geneva on Friday amid dire warnings of a growing humanitarian crisis in the vast African country.

At least 1,000 children have been abducted by the Boko Haram insurgent group in northeastern Nigeria since 2013 amid repeated attacks on schools, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Friday, calling for an end to such violence and the release of those who have yet to be returned.