UN News Today 04 March 2025 |

Gaza’s recovery must be built on more than steel and concrete: Guterres

The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday stressed that the “true foundation” of recovery and reconstruction in Gaza must be based on a clear and agreed political framework, not just bricks and mortar.

Speaking at the emergency summit of Arab nations on the crisis in Gaza, António Guterres welcomed Arab-led efforts to mobilize support for the enclave’s recovery.

He stressed that rebuilding the devastated territory must be guided by respect for international law to prevent further cycles of violence.

“The true foundation of recovery in Gaza will be more than concrete and steel,” the UN chief said, insisting that “dignity, self-determination and security” were integral to Gazans’ peaceful future.

Any deal involving Gaza must also reject ethnic cleansing, Mr. Guterres stressed.

DR Congo crisis spirals with 60 rape victims a day, warns UN refugee agency

To the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where insecurity and sexual violence have left tens of thousands fleeing across borders, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

Here’s UNHCR’s Patrick Eba, speaking in Geneva:

“Near the frontlines, sexual violence and human rights abuses remain rampant, as is the looting and destruction of civilian homes and businesses. In the past two weeks of February, an estimated 895 cases of rape, an average of 60 a day, were referred to humanitarian actors for assistance.”

Mr. Eba said that North and South Kivu provinces remain unstable, with “hundreds of thousands of people on the move”, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels continue to advance in eastern DRC.

Almost 80,000 people have fled armed clashes between Congolese Government forces and M23 fighters into neighbouring countries; around 61,000 have arrived in Burundi since January.

Famine looms in Somalia if donors do not offer funding, WFP says

“The time to step up is now” for the people of Somalia, where drought threatens 1.7 million young children at risk of acute malnutrition, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.  

The East African country faced famine in 2022, but a scale-up in humanitarian assistance helped it to avert a catastrophic loss of life.  

Today, life-threatening hunger is again on the increase in Somalia, with 3.4 million people already acutely food insecure. That number is projected to rise by a full million between April and June, partly because of poor harvests.

WFP’s Jean-Martin Bauer said that $297 million are needed over the next six months to provide assistance to a really vulnerable population:

“We need these resources now. We’ve learned in Somalia from past experience that that delays can be deadly, and we need resources to provide support to these very vulnerable groups.”

WFP believes that about 1.26 million children under the age of five need immediate support. Of that number, 466,000 will likely be severely acutely malnourished this year and at risk of death.

The UN food agency provides up to 90 per cent of food assistance in Somalia. It says that it has not factored in the impact of any funding cuts if implemented by the United States.  

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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