HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2021
MALI
In Mali, one of the Togolese peacekeepers wounded during Wednesday’s attack has succumbed to his injuries.
The U.N. offers its deepest condolences to his family, to the people and Government of Togo, and all of our colleagues in the Peacekeeping mission. We continue to wish a speedy and full recovery to all the others who are receiving medical attention.
Twenty-eight peacekeepers were wounded during a complex attack on their temporary base located in Kerena, near Douentza, in Central Mali.
The base was set up recently to better protect the local population, bring back calm in areas impacted by inter-communal violence, as well as to reduce the threat of improvised explosive devices.
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S CALL WITH U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE
The U.N. has issued a readout of the Secretary-General’s call with Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State of the United States.
During their conversation, the Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation for the critically important and strong partnership between the U.S. and the United Nations, particularly on issues such as COVID, the climate emergency, multiple peace and security crises, as well as the increasing threats they all pose to human rights.
The Secretary-General particularly welcomed the U.S.’ rejoining the Paris Agreement, as well as its reengagement with the World Health Organization as well as the UN Human Rights Council.
They also talked about a number of situations, including Syria and Yemen.
MYANMAR
The U.N. in Myanmar is following the unfolding events with great concern, including the reports of arbitrary detentions, arrests and violence.
The Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations in Myanmar, Ola Almgren, said the UN, as well as its partners have, for many years, been responding to humanitarian needs caused by conflict and natural disasters in Myanmar. He stressed that it is our absolute intention to continue to do this work under the current circumstances.
Mr. Almgren said it is essential that lifesaving humanitarian assistance continues unimpeded and that humanitarian partners are given timely and safe access to the populations in need. He noted that, as always, our humanitarian response is guided by internationally recognized principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence and humanity.
Last year, thanks to the generous support of donors, 930,000 women, children and men in conflict-impacted areas received food assistance, 250,000 people accessed essential healthcare services, and hundreds of thousands received nutrition support.
This year, the Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan aims to help nearly one million people in need of humanitarian assistance and we are seeking $276 million for that.
YEMEN
In Yemen, a new report says that nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment.
These figures are from a new report released jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), along with other partners.
The agencies warn that these are among the highest levels of severe acute malnutrition recorded in Yemen since the escalation of conflict in 2015.
The head of WFP, David Beasley, said these numbers are yet another cry for help from Yemen, where each malnourished child also means a family struggling to survive.
The humanitarian response plan for Yemen remains critically underfunded. In 2020, the plan received only US$1.9 billion of the US$3.4 billion it required.
ETHIOPIA
The Secretary-General remains concerned about the plight of refugees in Tigray.
He stresses once again that it is important to respect all the cardinal principles in dealing with refugees. Any forced return to their country of origin is a serious violation of international refugee law.
Also on Tigray, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today said that, even as more supplies and emergency personnel reach crisis-affected people in the region, it is troubled by the severe and ongoing harm to children.
Earlier this month, a UNICEF team accompanied by the Regional Health Bureau Head traveled from Mekelle to the town of Shire in Central Tigray.
The team had six trucks filled with 122 tons of emergency supplies. This was the first UN mission to Shire since the conflict began in November.
Shire hosts at least 52,000 internally displaced people, with more arriving. The UNICEF team found there was no drinking water due to the water treatment plant not functioning; UNICEF and the Red Cross are trucking water in to people who need it.
The agency adds that conditions at sites for displaced people are dire – the few toilets that exist are broken and there are no showers. Many families were separated as they fled and UNICEF says there were many unaccompanied or separated children among the internally displaced.
UNICEF/VACCINES
UNICEF signed an agreement on behalf of the COVAX facility with Pfizer for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Under this new agreement, Pfizer will supply vaccines through this year, with deliveries anticipated to begin as early as the first quarter of this year. Countries must first confirm they are in full compliance with the requirements set up by COVAX and Pfizer.
Today’s supply agreement allows UNICEF to procure doses out of up to 40 million that have been secured under the [COVAX] Facility’s Advance Purchase Agreement with Pfizer to be available throughout 2021.
Today’s agreement is the second long-term supply agreement UNICEF has signed with a COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer on behalf of the COVAX facility. Last week, UNICEF signed an agreement with the Serum Institute of India to access two vaccines through technology transfer from AstraZeneca and Novavax, subject to the approval by the WHO of these vaccines.
MADAGASCAR
In Madagascar, the humanitarian community is seriously concerned about the rapidly deteriorating food security situation in the southern and eastern parts of the country where more than 1.3 million people are facing severe hunger.
Southern Madagascar is facing its worst drought in 10 years. It is also the third drought in a row, and it is compounding the effects of COVID-19 as well as the extremely limited access to essential services in the region.
According to the FAO, significant rainfall deficits in the Grand Sud region have led to a decline in the areas planted with staple foods. This will likely compromise food production this year. In addition, water availability for livestock is low and pasture is degraded.
This will probably push more people into severe levels of food insecurity in the months ahead. As a result, we can expect increasing needs for humanitarian assistance.
We, along with our humanitarian partners, launched an urgent appeal last month for US$76 million to provide life-saving assistance to over 1 million people. This includes food, screening and treatment of acute malnutrition, water and sanitation, as well as health services.
The U.N. has only received $140,000 against this appeal so far. We urgently call on the international community to step forward and provide the necessary funding for this forgotten crisis.
RWANDA
In Rwanda, WFP says it will reduce food assistance to refugees living in Rwanda by a dramatic 60 percent, as of March 2021. According to the agency, some 135,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees in camps in Rwanda rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic food needs.
WFP requires $9 million to avert reductions from March through June 2021, and $20 million to continue full assistance to refugees throughout 2021. If no new funding is received, deeper reductions will be necessary in the coming months.
WFP warned that ration reductions are likely to cause widespread food insecurity and potentially lead to increased tensions within the refugee community.
COVID in AFRICA
WHO shared new numbers about the impact of COVID-19 in Africa.
In the past month, deaths on the continent have surged by 40%. Thirty-two countries have reported a rise in deaths in the last 28 days, while 21 reported flat or falling rates.
In the coming days, Africa is expected to reach the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths since the first reported case on the continent, nearly a year ago.
WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said the increasing deaths we are seeing are also disturbing warning signs that health workers and health systems in Africa are dangerously overstretched.
WHO said that new variants are likely to emerge as the virus continues to spread so preventive measures must be maintained, even as Africa gears up to start vaccinations against the virus.
GUINEA-BISSAU
In response to questions on the departure of former Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau, Aristides Gomes. The Spokesman said that today, the national authorities, in Guinea-Bissau, granted the former Prime Minister permission to leave the country for medical reasons.
The Special Representative for the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, arrived in Bissau on February 10th, and facilitated Mr. Gomes’ travel to Dakar, on a UN flight today.
The United Nations wishes to extend its deep appreciation to the national authorities for enabling the departure of Mr. Gomes. We also want to thank ECOWAS for its continued support and assistance on this issue.
Mr. Gomes had been granted safe haven at the UN premises in Guinea-Bissau since March 12th of 2020, for fear of threats to his personal safety and security.
WORLD RADIO DAY
Tomorrow is World Radio Day and this year’s theme is “New World, New Radio”. It celebrates radio as part of humanity’s history by following the various developments in our society and adapting its services.
We note that as the world changes, so does radio. Thus, during the COVID-19 pandemic, radio made it possible, as an example, to ensure continuity of learning and the fight against misinformation in many parts of the world.
This year’s theme is a tribute to radio's capacity for perpetual adaptation at the rate of societal transformations and listeners’ new needs. Radio presents itself as an arena where all voices can be expressed, represented, and heard, hence this is why radio is still the most consumed medium worldwide today.
A special shout out to our friends in UN radio in NY and all the peacekeeping radio stations throughout the world.
DAY AGAINST CHILD SOLDIERS
Today is also the International Day Against Child Soldiers. In a tweet, the Secretary-General said we must do everything we can to protect children from the chaos and madness of wars that have nothing to do with them.
“Children simply have no role in conflict.”
HONOUR ROLL
The Czech Republic and Kyrgyzstan have made full payments to the Regular Budget
This closes the Honour Roll for 2021. And we end with 41 countries. In comparison, in 2020, the Honour Roll closed with 35 countries.
The amount of the 2021 Honour Roll is $709,602,598. That’s a 50% increase over last year’s Honour Roll, which only amounted to $473,007,589.
As a point of comparison, the total assessment for 2021 is $2.95 billion for 2021. Last year’s assessment was for $2.87 billion in 2020.
