EPA/JUSTIN LANE
Antonio Guterres
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that due to the hurricane of humanitarian crises around the world, civilians in the conflict areas paid the highest price, and humanitarian and medical workers suffered a relentless wave of attacks.
Guterres said that humanitarian needs exceed the ability of the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to meet them under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic, the AP reported.
We are in unexplored waters, he said in a speech before the United Nations Security Council, which was read by Deputy Secretary-General Amin Mohamed.
The level of humanitarian needs has never been higher, Guterres pointed out.
The United Nations and our partners are trying to help 160 million people this year, the largest number ever, Guterres said.
He cited the Ethiopian region of Tigray, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria as examples of a bloody rise in humanitarian crises.
As for Tigraj, he said the UN had heard credible reports in recent months of executions of civilians, arbitrary arrests and deprivation of liberty, sexual violence against children and forced displacement on a massive scale. At least 24 civilians, including five health workers, were brutally killed in Afghanistan in just one week in June, he said.
Civilian casualties in the first quarter of this year increased by 29% compared to last year, Guterres added.
The Secretary General said in Yemen that at least five civilians are being killed or wounded every day, 20 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, and five million are facing hunger.
In last month’s attack on one of the largest hospitals in northern Syria, 19 civilians were killed, including three children, one rocket allegedly hit the emergency room, and the other the maternity hospital, said the UN Secretary General.
Guterres called on the Security Council to take strong and immediate measures in support of its resolutions on the protection of civilians, humanitarian and health workers, as well as hospitals, schools, water facilities and other humanitarian space.
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