PAKISTAN: PESHAWAR, 22 January 2019: Pakistani and Afghan youth portrayed their imagination through their colours at a painting competition on Tuesday. Link: https://unhcrpk.org/unhcr-organises-painting-competition-in-peshawar/

Shelter: by end of January a total of 285 Shelters were upgraded and repaired in Azraq and Zaatari camps.

WASH: UNICEF launched a new in-house developed system dedicated for managing all complaints received related to the networks on the hotline. The system is able to categorize and prioritize the complaints and refer the competent authority to take action. The average response time to receive complained is 48-72 hours.

Education: In January 2019, UNICEF followed up on the Learning for All initiative for the current school year and succeeded in reducing the registration rejected caseload. A total of 492 of 1,042 (47 percent) cases were resolved, with children returning to school. For out-of-school children, 2,944 of 6,702 (44 percent) have been enrolled in schools.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is seeing a surge in refugee arrivals from South Sudan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Over the past few days thousands of desperate people have been crossing the border to escape fighting and violence against civilians.

The SGBV WG met regularly in January 2019, focus of the meeting was presenting best practices on violence against older people and discussing sexual harassment in the workplace. The SGBV WG finalized report on 16 days of activism against gender based violence campaign. First meeting of the year was held for the GBV IMS taskforce, whereas data gathering organizations conducted an analysis of compiled data of 2018 on GBV trends that will inform the yearly report. Moreover the SGBV WG participated to the global consultation on GBV minimum standards for the prevention and response to GBV in emergencies. The goal of these minimum standards is to enhance accountability among GBV specialists, improve quality, and provide clarity on what constitutes effective GBV prevention and response. Collecting feedback from field level GBV practitioners is critical in the revision process to ensure the Minimum Standards are truly an inclusive field-tested and validated. To this end the SGBV WG organized a consultation on 22nd of January 2019, attended by 25 participants (6M, 19F) with expertise in the multisectorial response to GBV in Jordan.

UNHCR Chief calls for more international support for Tanzania. Concluding a four-day visit to East African nation, Filippo Grandi urges greater investment for north-west regions hosting 330,000 refugees.

After spending two days visiting Cox's Bazar, Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy of UNHCR, met with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, in which she expressed UNHCR’s gratitude to the people and Government of Bangladesh for their generosity in receiving Rohingya refugees. She reiterated UNHCR’s support for collective efforts to enable Rohingya refugees to live dignified lives in Bangladesh and the pursuit of lasting solutions.

ONGOING CASH AND FUEL SHORTAGES CONTINUE TO IMPACT RESPONSE DELAYS AND REFUGEE PROTECTION – Cash shortages reported since November continue and are driving implementation delays for assistance projects in all refugee locations, especially for procurement and monitoring activities, and cash-based interventions. The situation is compounded by rising inflation and ongoing fuel shortages. Water system functionality has been hard hit, with generators at pumping stations unable to run due to a lack of fuel. Ongoing protests have also raised concerns for refugee protection amid escalating civil unrest across Sudan.

OVER 3,000 REFUGEES ARRIVED IN SUDAN IN JANUARY – The majority of refugees arrived in East Darfur State (1,552), followed by West Kordofan (767), South Darfur (487), South Kordofan (167) and White Nile (138). The increased new arrival flows follow the re-opening of roads in South Sudan along the border. Inter-agency partners estimate a total of 50,000 new arrivals in 2019.