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The United Nations Network on Migration is concerned by reports of States in many regions using forced return of migrants as a measure in response to COVID-19. The Network calls on States to suspend forced returns during the pandemic, in order to protect the health of migrants and communities, and uphold the human rights of all migrants, regardless of status. Successfully tackling the pandemic cannot be achieved without upholding human rights.

A child wearing a face mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic watches water being poured into a container in Caracas.

The UN in Bangladesh is prioritising gender-based violence services in communities affected by COVID-19.

A wave of desert locusts has formed swarms in parts of South Sudan.

"We are seriously concerned over the continued detention of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities. At the end of March, 194 Palestinian children were detained by the Israeli authorities in prisons and detention centres, mainly in Israel, according to data released by the Israeli Prison Service. This is higher than the monthly average number of children detained in 2019. Of the total, the vast majority of these children have not been convicted of any offence but are being held in pre-trial detention.

Government measures to counter the COVID19 pandemic have affected all aspects of illegal drug markets, from production and trafficking to consumption.

UNICEF welcomed the news that 85 children have been released from detention in South Sudan as part of efforts to decongest prisons as a prevention measure in the fight against COVID-19 on May 07, 2020. The children are being reunited with their parents or legal guardians.

Lockdowns, travel restrictions, resource cutbacks and other measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus are putting victims of human trafficking at risk of further exploitation, while organized crime networks could further profit from the pandemic, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

newborn baby girl Sofia Karapetyan with her mother Lilit Grigoryan poses at the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus in Barcelona.

UNICEF and partners are providing assistance to more than 100,000 people – including 48,000 children – affected by heavy floods in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning of an increased risk of a cholera outbreak, as rains continue.