UN News Centre - Africa

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the people of Ghana for exercising their democratic rights and peacefully conducting the presidential and parliamentary elections on 7 December.

Expressing deep concern over the serious political polarization resulting in a deterioration of the security, economic and humanitarian situation in Libya, the Security Council today reiterated its support for the United Nations envoy for Libya, who leads efforts in facilitating implementation of the political agreement signed about a year ago.

Welcoming the announcement of the continuation of the mediation led by the Conférence épiscopale des églises du Congo to achieve a more inclusive consensus on the upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all political actors in the country to recommit themselves to this dialogue.

Following the worst El Niño-induced drought in decades in southern Africa, United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners today launched a revised Action Plan to outlining their response to the needs of an estimated 13.8 million people as the region enters the peak of the lean season with largely depleted food stocks due to poor and failed harvests.

Forced to make a new round of cuts in food rations for refugees in Kenya, the World Food Programme (WFP) has appealed urgently for nearly $14 million to feed the 434,000 refugees living in Kenya&#39s Dadaab and Kakuma camps and in the new Kalobeyei settlement.

The United Nations and its partner non-governmental organizations today launched an appeal for $2.66 billion to provide emergency assistance across eight countries in the Sahel region, where &#8220millions of people still live in conditions of deplorable human suffering.&#8221

Despite a peaceful and successful transition in the Central African Republic (CAR) earlier in 2016, the recent outbreak of violence there had demonstrated the extremely fragile situation in the country, the Secretary-General&#39s Acting Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), told the Security Council today.

Briefing the Security Council just days ahead of the first anniversary of the Libyan Political Agreement, the United Nations envoy for the north African country highlighted that while there has been progress, the deal has stalled and &#8220much more should have happened.&#8221

Expressing concern over the political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as in light of the upcoming elections the United Nations Security Council has called on all stakeholders to ensure that the polls are conducted in a free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent environment.

The United Nations announced today that it has completed an internal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against Burundian and Gabonese peacekeepers deployed in Dekoa, Kemo prefecture, Central African Republic (CAR).

Five West African nations are banning ‘dirty’ European fuels – exported fuels with higher sulphur levels – in response to concerns over vehicle emissions and in an effort to bring safer, cleaner air to more than 250 million people, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today.

Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Liberia, the United Nations peacekeeping chief today underlined that the country remained stable and that since the security transition in June this year, there had been no incident serious enough to warrant an armed response from the UN mission in the country, known as UNMIL.

With the scale of human suffering in north-eastern Nigeria becoming clearer as the Government has pushed Boko Haram insurgents from more and more areas, the United Nations today launched a $1 billion funding appeal to address the needs of those in crisis, and announced that nearly 75 partner agencies are on standby to respond where areas are accessible.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, appealed today for an urgent scale-up in humanitarian assistance, with relief agencies already overstretched as the country faces severe drought conditions, including food and water shortages.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today commended the people of Gambia for the peaceful and orderly manner in which yesterday&#39s presidential election was held and congratulated President-elect Adama Barrow.

With “many of the warning signals of impending genocide” already present in South Sudan and amid a “mindboggling” scale of rape of women and girls, a team of United Nations human rights experts called on the international community to take immediate action to avert mass bloodshed, as they wrapped up a 10-day visit to the crisis-riven country.

Expressing deep concern over the impact of a series of bureaucratic impediments and access constraints on relief operations, a senior United Nations humanitarian official in South Sudan has called on all parties to allow free, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the people in need.

On 23 July 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced the appointment of Ellen Margrethe Løj of Denmark as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). Ms. Løj succeeded Hilde Johnson of Norway, who had completed her assignment two weeks earlier, on 7 July 2014. 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Ghana’s President and the opposition leader to continue their role in defusing tensions towards the holding of peaceful and credible elections in the African country.

Denouncing reports of open intimidation from armed militia against citizens of Burundi, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has called upon the Government to take immediate effective action to protect its people.