Sudan, climate crisis, refugees in Latin America, day against homophobia… The news on Wednesday

The UN asks for 3 billion dollars to provide humanitarian aid in Sudan

The Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have requested this Wednesday 3000 million dollars to help the entire population of the country and hundreds of thousands who flee to neighboring countries.

The Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan has been revised due to increased needs caused by the current crisis, and now requires $2.56 billion to help 18 million people by the end of this year.

This plan will focus on rapidly increasing the food aid, water and sanitation and other vital aids. It will also focus on protection, including that of children and the prevention of gender-based violence.

For his part, he Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan requests 470.4 million dollars to support refugees, returnees and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The funds are intended to help more than one million people.

The most urgent immediate needs include water and sanitation, food, shelter, health, cash aid and basic relief items, since the movement outside the border areas supposes a great logistical and financial challenge. In addition, in many of the host countries the rainy season is approaching.

“Humanitarians are working hard to respond, but we need, once again, to call on countries and people with means to step up and provide the necessary resources so that we can help people who have lost it.” everything,” said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

The next five years will be the warmest ever recorded

The World Meteorological Organization has published this Wednesday its Annual to decadal global climate update, a report in which it warns that there is a 66% probability that the average annual temperature near the surface between 2023 and 2027 will exceed pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5 °C for at least one year. Furthermore, there is a 98% chance that at least one of the next five years, and the lustrum as a whole, is the warmest ever recorded.

“This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris Agreement, which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, we are warning that we will exceed the level of 1.5°C temporarily with a increasing frequency“said the secretary general of the agency.

Petteri Taalas also explained that it is expected that in the coming months there will be a warming caused by El Niño, which will be combined with human-induced climate change. “This will have far-reaching implications for health, food safety, water management and the environment. We have to be prepared,” he said.

The “interiorization” strategy, which works with the support of the IOM and other UN agencies, helps refugees and migrants from Venezuela to start anew.

More support is needed for the 20 million displaced people in Latin America

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees has made an urgent appeal this Wednesday to provide more support to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, which host the majority of refugees. 20 million people displaced by force in the American continent.

Kelly T. Clements has recalled that, although the increase in the number of people approaching the United States border has attracted a lot of attention, most of the forcibly displaced remain in Latin America.

“We have to look not only at the destination countries of refugees and migrants, but also at the countries from which they come and through which they transit. The challenges posed by complex population movements in the Americas must be addressed from a Comprehensive and collaborative regional perspective“, he added.

The statements have taken place after his visit to Brazil, where he was with Afghan and Venezuelan refugees, and to Panama, specifically to the Darién region.

Clements stressed the need to continue supporting initiatives that provide stability and solutions, such as the increased legal avenues, but that the causes of forced displacement must also be addressed. “This means cooperating to prevent and resolve conflictsand face the effects of climate change, improve governance, equality and respect for human rights”.

Around the world, 67 countries continue to criminalize same-sex relationships, and 10 of them impose the death penalty.

Being yourself should never be a crime

This Wednesday marks the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a day in which the General secretary of the UN recalls that “in all corners of the world, LGBTQI+ people continue to face violence, persecution, hate speech, injustice and even murder.”

In this sense, António Guterres has renewed his call to States to defend the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and put end the criminalization of consensual homosexual relations and transgender people. “Being yourself should never be a crime,” she said.

For his part, he High Commissioner for Human Rightshas declared that the fundamental rights of all LGBTIQ+ people, as equal members of the human family, must be respected.

“I honor the courage that is often needed to live a life in the face of prejudice, discrimination and violence. I applaud the social progress and the transformation of society that they have ledbenefiting us all,” he added.