Okonjo-Iweala WTO DG: Outcome of Buhari’s Video Conference with European Council President
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, October 30, 2020, held a video conference with the President of the European Council, Mr Charles Michel.
Mr Michel, during the meeting, affirmed Europe’s support for Nigeria’s charge on Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of finance, as the next Black and female Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
President Buhari thanked the European Council for its backing of Nigeria’s candidate.
Issues bordering on debt relief for Africa, EU-African relations and recharge of the Lake Chad were also discussed during the conference.
Editor’s note: As the Nov. 3 election draws near, the Daily Universe is exploring different national and local issues impacting voters in a series of stories.
Students and faculty at BYU say that family and religion heavily influence their political opinions and how they vote. (Photo illustration by Whitney Bigelow)
Editor’s note:All BYU students interviewed for this story are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Many peoplehave started talking about their political beliefs with the 2020 presidential election just around the corner, but where do their political beliefs come from? Religion and family are two things that BYU students and faculty say have an influence on their political beliefs.
The large majority of BYU students are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to Pew Research Center, in 2014 most members of the Church were Republican or leaned conservative, but there were some Democrats and some who didn’t have a political affiliation.
Family influence
Jeremy Pope, a BYU political science professor, said family influence plays a big part in people’s political beliefs.
“The most obvious example is that people’s partisanship is clearly very much an inherited legacy from parents,” Pope said. “It is not the case that parental partisanship is perfectly determinative, but it is the case that parents matter a lot.”
Political science professor Lisa Argyle said family influence has a huge role in political opinions. “Political science research shows that families are typically the ‘starting point’ for someone’s political views,” she said. “Then, friends, communities, political events and other life experiences can shift people from that starting point, especially in the young adult years.”
Argyle said people’s views are most likely to stay close to their parents’ views if their parents talked about politics in their home growing up.
BYU student Tayler Ventura said she believes her family has had an influence on her political beliefs, “probably in the sense that I have pretty politically active and aware parents.” Ventura and her mom consistently discuss politics, and she said her family has pretty similar views on issues and candidates.
Religious influence
Argyle said the relationship between religion and politics is a complicated one. “Some research shows that people actually choose their religious congregations based on their politics,” Argyle said. “Other research showsthat it’s not necessarily the religious doctrine that matters for political views, but our social connection to other people in the congregation. If the congregation is overwhelmingly liberal or conservative, then regular association with those people can have an impact on someone’s political views.”
Olivia Neeley, a BYU student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, considers herself a liberal in the Democratic Party. She said her religion has taught her that love is one of the most important things in the world, along with free agency.
“I personally feel as though religion preaches these things but adds in ‘ifs’ and ‘buts,’ and I felt that some people in religion believed them,” she said. “Religion has played a part in forming my views and has played a larger part in me being more active in politics and sharing my views.”
BYU student Megan Jensen considers herself a part of the Republican party and leans libertarian. She said she thinks religion has greatly influenced her political views. “Freedom of religion is very important to me,” she said. “I also sometimes feel my religious values bleed into my political views. However, often it is more opinion-based than religious.”
Hans Lehnardt, a BYU student who grew up in Salt Lake City, also said he believes his faith has played a role in his political opinion. Right now, Lehnardt doesn’t identify with a political party but plans to vote for Democratic candidates in this year’s election.
“I think there are things in both parties that the church lines up with, but I think there’s a lot more in the Democratic Party,” Lehnardt said. “Democrats are more about helping the poor and the needy and helping refugees and allowing immigrants to come in.”
Lehnardt said the Church has given statements saying we should welcome immigrants and refugees. “That’s something Donald Trump doesn’t love,” he said.
BYU student Nathan Hansen from Bartlesville, Oklahoma identifies as a political conservative and said he believes the Church’s teachings on personal accountability have influenced his political views.
Other impacts
Argyle and Pope agreed that sometimes when people leave their parents’ house they change their political beliefs, but it’s not very common.
“Education can have a liberalizing effect on people’s political attitudes,” Argyle said. “However, this impact is not enough for most people to completely change parties from what they grew up with.”
Pope said when it does happen, it occurs during the college years when people are exposed to new ideas and new ways of thinking. “After that point, partisan identity is relatively set, but can change in response to major life changes or massive public events.”
Neeley, a Democrat, grew up in a household where conservative views were pushed, but she never really agreed with her parents’ views. “I learned more and did more research and just listened to what I thought was right and am definitely a person with liberal views,” she said.
When she moved out of her parents’ house, Neely said she became even more liberal and more comfortable in her mindset and began really being active in politics.
On the flip side, Hansen said when he moved out of his parent’s conservative household his views became even more conservative as he’s had his own experiences.
Political science professor Kelly Patterson agrees that it can happen but usually doesn’t. “You don’t change your partisanship while you’re in college, you simply bring your partisanship with you to college,” he said.
As World Cities Day is celebrated around the globe on 31 October, ICLEI, through its Cities Biodiversity Center and the CitiesWithNature initiative, pledge support for the Global Coalition for Biodiversity, launched by the European Commission to raise awareness about the need to protect biodiversity and promote stronger collaborative action.
Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, a flagship report published recently by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), underlines that humanity stands at a crossroads with regard to the legacy we wish to leave to future generations. This confirmed the most updated scientific analyses about the state of nature, in particular the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services. While there have been countless positive actions and achievements across the world to protect and integrate nature, the current rate of biodiversity loss is unprecedented and pressures are intensifying.
The Global Coalition for Biodiversity, launched by EU Commissioner for Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius, on World Wildlife Day, offers the opportunity for all national parks, aquariums, research centers, botanic gardens, zoos, and science and natural history museums to join forces and boost public awareness about the nature crisis, ahead of the crucial COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity next year, when nations will adopt a new global framework to protect and restore nature.
The coalition’s pledge also urges all governments to agree on ambitious policies to restore and protect the ecosystems on which we all depend, and to take urgent measures on the ground.
“Biodiversity is being lost at a faster rate than ever, significantly reducing nature’s ability to ensure the well-being of people. It is time to rethink the relationship between humans and nature,” said Valerie Plante, Mayor of Montreal and ICLEI’s Global Ambassador for Local Biodiversity. “It is within our cities and towns where multiple opportunities exist to raise awareness about the need to protect and respect nature, harness innovation, implement nature-based solutions and embrace a green recovery. Together, let’s take strong action to create vibrant cities, where people and biodiversity can thrive.”
“Given the urgency for joint efforts to solve the current biodiversity crisis, on the occasion of the World Cities Day, we encourage local and regional governments from Europe and beyond to support the Global Coalition for Biodiversity launched by the European Commission. Only by working together with other organisations and institutions and by raising awareness about the need to protect biodiversity, can we reverse the current unprecedented biodiversity losses,” said Cheryl Jones Fur, Deputy Lord Mayor of Växjö (Sweden) and member of ICLEI’s European Regional Executive Committee.
A short animated video launched by ICLEI’s Cities Biodiversity Center today raises awareness around why cities and regions are critical to addressing biodiversity loss and reconnecting people with nature. It also clearly outlines what cities can do to contribute to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and set a new nature-positive development path, in order to ensure transformative change to secure a sustainable and healthy future for all.
One of the ways mobilisation of local and subnational governments is being facilitated is through CitiesWithNature, a local and subnational engagement platform co-founded by ICLEI, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). CitiesWithNature is a shared online platform for all cities, regions and other subnational governments to connect and engage in mainstreaming biodiversity in ways that benefit both people and nature. It serves as the ‘one stop shop’ for all levels of subnational governments to share and report on their actions in contributing to achieving the global biodiversity agenda. CitiesWithNature is recognised by the Secretariat of the CBD as the mechanism through which local and subnational governments will share their ambitions, commitments and actions, and will in turn connect, share, learn and inspire each other.
With our announcement today, we add our voice to numerous organisations and associations already supporting the coalition, such as TRAFFIC, The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and Botanic Gardens Conservation International. More than 150 institutions are also confirmed, including the iconic Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, Bronx Zoo and Porto Natural History Museum. The coalition aims at gathering 500 by the end of 2020. We need to join forces for nature and stand united for biodiversity, and the time is now!
A makeshift memorial has been set up outside the Basilica where locals placed flowers and lit candles for the victims of the latest Islamic terror attack that has shocked this nation.
Their mourning comes just hours after the area here turned into a war zone. Shots reverberated in and outside the church as police confronted the attacker, footage showed.
Police shot and wounded the suspected knifeman, identified as 21-year-old Tunisian Ibrahim Issaoui, who had only recently arrived in Europe. Pedestrians ran away from the gunfire into a nearby store.
The suspected attacker was said to be in critical condition in the hospital. On Friday, authorities detained another suspect; a 47-year-old man believed to have been in contact with the attacker the night before the murders.
The two women and a man who died were attacked inside the Basilica on Thursday morning before the first Mass of the day.
French authorities say that two died inside the church. One of them, a 60-year-old woman who has not been named, was reported “virtually beheaded” close to the font.
French media have named one victim as 55-year-old Vincent Loquès, a devout Catholic who had reportedly worked at the basilica for more than ten years.
Police say that Loquès, a father of two, loved by many of the church’s regulars, opened the building when the attacker slit his throat.
The Brazilian foreign ministry identified the third victim as Simone Barreto Silva, a 44-year-old mother of three born in Salvador on Brazil’s north-eastern coast. She had lived in France for 30 years.
She fled to a nearby cafe with multiple stab wounds but died shortly afterward. The woman reportedly told those who helped her: “Tell my children that I love them.”
Macron vows never to “give in to terror”
After the attack, French President Emanuel Macron visited the scene to express his closeness to the Catholic population and expressed outrage about the attack. “Once again, our country has been hit by an Islamic terrorist attack,” he said.
He also noted another attack Thursday at the French consulate in Jeddah, Sauguardabia, in which a quard was injured.
President Macron added: “If we have been attacked again, it is because of our values, our taste for freedom. The possibility is here to believe and not to give in to terror. Let me say this very clearly: “we will never give in.”
On Friday morning, priest Philippe Asso was seen standing on the church steps here. He came with other mourners before walking in with a wreath to the victims. Others gathered outside the church to pay their respects.
Samuel Paty and Charlie Hebdo
The gruesome murders happened while France and other European nations were still mourning the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty on October 16 in a Paris suburb.
An Islamist killed Paty for showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to students.
Those caricatures were published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and cited by the men who gunned down the publication’s editorial meeting in 2015.
In September, a man who had sought asylum in France attacked bystanders outside Charlie Hebdo‘s former offices with a butcher’s knife.
The Nice church’s attack happened less than a kilometer from the site in 2016, where another attacker plowed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd, killing dozens.
It has underscored tensions over freedom of expression with the Islamic community, though moderate Muslim leaders have condemned the attacks.
French churches targeted
French churches have been targets of terrorist attacks in the past. In 2016, two men murdered an 85-year-old priest in a church in Normandy.
A few months later, a group of women was caught attempting to light cooking-gas canisters on fire outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In both cases, the attackers were reportedly in touch with the Islamic State group, which has been linked to widespread terror.
Following Thursday’s attack, President Macron pledged to increase soldiers’ numbers to protect French schools and religious sites from around 3,000 to 7,000.
Authorities say schools remain open during a nationwide lockdown that started Friday to stem the coronavirus’s spread, but religious services are canceled.
A new United Nations study has revealed that used vehicles exported by developed countries to developing countries are contributing significantly to air pollution and hindering efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Millions of used cars, vans and minibuses exported from Europe, the USA and Japan to low and middle-income countries are greatly compromising air quality says the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in a new report released on October 26.
Entitled, “Used Vehicles and the Environment – A Global Overview of Used Light Duty Vehicles: Flow, Scale and Regulation”, the research says that these vehicles not only contribute to air pollution but are often involved in road accidents,. Many of these vehicles are of poor quality and would fail road-worthiness tests in the exporting countries.
The report shows that between 2015 and 2018, 14 million used light-duty vehicles were exported worldwide. Some 80 per cent went to low and middle-income countries, with more than half going to Africa. The European Union was the largest exporter of used vehicles during this period, accounting for 54% of the total, followed by Japan with 27% and the United States with 18%.
The major destinations for used vehicles from the EU are West and North Africa; Japan exports mainly to Asia and East and Southern Africa while the USA market is mainly the Middle East and Central America.
Seventy per cent of exported light duty vehicles head to developing countries. Africa imported the largest number (40 per cent) in the period studied followed by Eastern Europe (24 per cent), Asia-Pacific (15 per cent), the Middle East (12 per cent) and Latin America (nine per cent).
Lax or no policies for import of used cars
The study, which is the first of its kind, notes that most developing countries have limited or no regulations governing the quality and safety of imported second-hand vehicles while few governments have adopted advanced emissions standards. Most developing markets today are importing vehicles that would not be allowed to circulate on the exporting country’s roads. At the same time, few developed countries have restrictions on the export of used vehicles.
The report on global trade in used vehicles notes that some states are taking steps to address the problem. A group of West African countries are about to introduce minimum requirements for used vehicles from 2021, primarily involving cleaner fuels and a maximum age for any used car, SUV or minibus sold.
Out of the 146 countries surveyed in the report, some two-thirds of them have ‘weak’ or ‘very weak’ policies to regulate the import of used vehicles. The study shows that in countries where measures to regulate import of used vehicles are implemented – notable age and emission standards – people access high-quality used vehicles, including hybrid and electric cars, at affordable prices. Morocco is one such country that allows only relatively advanced and clean used vehicles from Europe.
Impact of burgeoning global vehicle fleet
UNEP notes that the fast-growing global vehicle fleet is a major contributor to air pollution and climate change. Globally, the transport sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, vehicle emissions are a significant source of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that are major causes of urban air pollution.
“Cleaning up the global vehicle fleet is a priority to meet global and local air quality and climate targets,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “The lack of effective standards and regulation,” she pointed out, “is resulting in the dumping of old, polluting and unsafe vehicles.” “Developed countries must stop exporting vehicles that fail environment and safety inspections and are no longer considered roadworthy in their own countries, while importing countries should introduce stronger quality standards,” Andersen added.
Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham in the UK has joined the ranks of other religious and political leaders around the world in condemning the knife attack which killed three people on Thursday in the Basilica of Notre Dame in Nice, France.
In the aftermath of the killings, Pope Francis expressed his sorrow and offered prayers for the Church in France.. He also condemned “such violent acts of terror in the strongest possible way.”
The country is now on its highest state of alert and President Emmanuel Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect important sites such as places of worship and schools.
France’s interior minister Gerald Damarnin said on Friday more militant attacks on its soil were likely following the second fatal knife attack in the country in two weeks.
Archbishop Longley, who is also Chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales Department of Dialogue and Unity described the killings as “senseless.”
Speaking to Lydia O’Kane, the Archbishop said he shared “what must be the response of most people in the UK and of course across France and the world with horror at hearing what happened at Notre Dame in Nice.”
Listen to the interview
Determination to secure peace
He spoke of a deep sense of sadness “for the French nation and people; for the Catholic Church and for all people of faith in France, and the sense of obligation that lies also upon us as Catholics, here in the UK and elsewhere, to be united in prayer with those who are suffering most closely.” He also highlighted the “determination that we can do our part in securing peace and good relations in all parts of the world.”
Over recent years France has been hit by a number of terrorist attacks. Paris suffered a series of coordinated bombings and shootings on 13 November 2015 that killed 130 people. In 2016 a fundamentalist islamic militant drove a truck through a seafront crowd in Nice celebrating Bastille Day, killing 86 people.
Attack in God’s house
Thursday’s attack took place inside a Church, as did an attack four years ago in which 84-year-old priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, was killed during morning Mass.
Archbishop Longley noted that when he heard the news on Thursday it immediately made him think of the murder of Fr Hamel. He went on to say that this violence in God’s house immediately undermines “the sense of peace which so many people seek within our sanctuaries and in our churches.”
The way of the Lord is dialogue
The Archbishop stressed that the Church’s way, the way of Lord is always one of dialogue, of opening up conversation with others.” He added, he was quite certain that these terrible events can only strengthen the Church’s commitment to dialogue with people of other faiths and indeed with culture and society more broadly.”
However, the Archbishop emphasized, at the moment the principal focus needed to be on those who are suffering because of these terrible events.
European Parliamentarian suggests international community to hold Pak responsible for Kashmir turmoil & its genesis
By Vatican News staff writer
The virus has not stopped the spirit of Christmas, today ,more than ever, it is important to remain united and empathise with our sisters and brothers until we are able to return to life as we know it.
This is precisely what symbolises the Vatican’s Christmas display this year more than others: hope, trust, love, family, and the awareness that Jesus will come among his people to save and console them.
On 11 December at 4.30 p.m., in compliance with anti covid-19 regulations, as is custom, the Nativity scene, donated by the Italian town of Castelli, the spearhead of the ceramic industry since the 16th century, and the Christmas tree, a 28m high majestic spruce (Picea abies) from Kočevje, in Slovenia, will be inaugurated.
The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello and Bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, respectively President and Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State. On the same day, in the morning, the delegations from Castelli and Kočevje will be received in audience by Pope Francis for the official presentation of the gifts.
The Monumental Nativity Scene is made up of ceramic statues. It is a work created by the pupils and the teachers of the Art Institute “F.A. Grue”, the current state art high school for design, which, in the decade 1965-1975, dedicated its teaching activity to the Christmas theme.
St. Peter’s Square will see only part of the fragile collection, made up of 54 statues, exhibited.
The tree
The spruce comes from Kočevje, a town on the Rinža river. The region Kočevsko is one of the Slovenian territories where nature is most intact, considering that the forests cover 90% of its territory. Since ancient times it has been a symbol of fertility and in popular tradition it is often used in occasion of ceremonies as for the feast of the 1st of May or for the Christmas solemnity.
The tallest spruce tree in Europe, “Sgermova smreka” measures 61,80 metres and is located on the Pohorje massif in Slovenia. It is about 300 years old, with a perimeter of 3 meters and 54 centimetres and a diameter of over one metre.
The tree and the Nativity scene will remain on display until the end of Christmas time, which coincides with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Sunday 10 January 2021.
Buhari in video call with EC President over Okonjo-Iweala
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday stepped up his campaign for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian candidate for the vacant seat of World Trade Organisation Director-general.
Buhari had a video conference with Mr Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
The latter reiterated Europe’s support for Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The President is leading Nigeria’s charge for the former finance minister, to emerge as the first Black and female WTO DG.
President Buhari thanked the European Council for its support for Nigeria’s candidate.
Also discussed during the conference were issues bordering on debt relief for Africa, EU-African relations and recharge of the Lake Chad.
Buhari has always seized every opportunity to discuss the recharge of Lake Chad, which has shrunk to less than one-third of its usual size, and thrown about 130 million people, who depend on the Lake, into dire straits.
President Buhari expressed appreciation to Mr Michel for expected positive developments on the issues.
Okonjo-Iweala was presented to WTO council on Tuesday, as the candidate with the broadest support, edging out the South Korean competitor Yoo Myung-hee.
But the United States objected to Okonjo-Iweala and canvassed instead for the Korean.
The 164 member WTO will meet on 9 November, six days after the American election.
By its rules, all the 164 members must support the Nigerian candidate.
The Super Health Diet Book Surges to #1 Rank on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
By Vatican News staff writer
At least 140 migrants aboard a ship headed towards Europe drowned off the Senegalese coast marking the deadliest shipwreck recorded this year, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Thursday.
The vessel, bound for Spain’s Canary Islands, reportedly caught fire a few hours after departing the western Senegalese coastal town of Mbour on Saturday before capsizing on the country’s northwest coast, near Saint-Louis.
According to the statement, the vessel was carrying about 200 migrants. The Spanish and Senegalese navies, as well as fishermen who were nearby were able to rescue 59 people and recover the bodies of 20 others. The others are presumed dead.
The IOM said that it “is deeply saddened by this recent tragedy which follows four shipwrecks recorded in the Central Mediterranean last week and another in the English Channel.”
The government of Senegal and the IOM have both arranged a mission to assess the survivors’ needs and provide assistance.
A dangerous route
In 2020 alone, the IOM estimates that including the victims of this latest tragic incident, at least 414 people have died along this route.
The international body notes that in recent weeks, the number of departures from West Africa to the Canary Islands has significantly increased. In September alone, “14 boats carrying 663 migrants left Senegal for the Canary Islands.” Of this number, “26 per cent were reported to have experienced an incident or shipwreck.”
Compared to figures from previous years, there have been roughly 11,000 arrivals to the Canary Islands in 2020 as opposed to 2,557 arrivals in 2019. However, this is still below the peaks in 2006 when over 32,000 arrived.
In light of this, the IOM calls for “unity between governments, partners and the international community to dismantle trafficking and smuggling networks that take advantage of desperate youth,” said Bakary Doumbia, IOM Senegal Chief of Mission.
“It is also important that we advocate for enhanced legal channels to undermine the traffickers’ business model and prevent loss of life,” Doumbia added.
“COVID-19 has caused untold suffering especially to families living in the poor urban areas who normally rely on informal day-to-day employment; many families in the coastal region are struggling just to feed themselves”, said Lauren Landis, WFP’s Kenya Country Director.
With the help of local and national authorities in Kenya, the World Food Programme (WFP) has begun rolling out aid for more than 400,000 urban poor in COVID-19 hotspots.
In addition to the 300,000 people in Nairobi receiving aid for the next four months, around 100,000 more in Mombasa will receive three months’ assistance in the coastal city.
“WFP’s support complements other social protection programmes run by the national and county governments”, Ms. Landis explained. “Together, we can avert a hunger and nutrition crisis among poor communities living in urban areas”.
Throughout Kenya, some 1.7 million people living in informal settlements have been affected by the COVID crisis amidst surging infection numbers, according to WFP.
The unemployment rate has doubled to 10.4 per cent, from 5.2 per cent in March when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, according to the national statistics office.
Once a month, each selected family in need will receive around $40 in local currency, enough to cover half of the monthly food and nutrition needs for a household of four.
Coastal crash
Travel restrictions and partial lockdowns have devastated Mombasa’s coastal economy, which relies heavily on tourism.
Mombasa County, which is Kenya’s second largest urban area, accounts for 12 per cent of the number of coronavirus infections in Kenya, the second highest number after the capital, Nairobi, WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said.
“As a result of rising infections, most of the tourism sector was forced to cut its workforce and many businesses either closed entirely or are struggling to stay afloat”, he told journalists via an online briefing in Geneva.
The UN agency is also partnering with the national and local government to support malnutrition treatment for some 6,000 children and women in Mombasa. This involves providing a nutritious peanut-based paste for children and fortified flour for malnourished mothers.
Tough neighbourhood
Outside Kenya, which is Africa’s third-largest economy, WFP warned that countries with large numbers of urban poor living in crowded slums were also vulnerable.
These included Nigeria, Africa’s wealthiest nation, where the agency only recently announced measures to help struggling families to cope with the economic fallout of the pandemic in the three urban pandemic hotspots of Abuja, Kano and Lagos.
In Somalia, where WFP already supports 125,000 in urban areas, the agency plans to assist up to 450,000 internally displaced people who are likely to be impacted by COVID-19.
WFP has also increased its overall relief plan in response to the triple shock of COVID-19, the desert locust invasion and flooding.
In South Sudan, on top of regular assistance provided to five million people a month, WFP intends to assist an additional 1.6 million individuals in mainly urban settings who face rising food needs linked to COVID-19.
