HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 26 JULY 2023
NIGER
The Secretary-General is following closely the situation in Niger. He condemns in the strongest terms any effort to seize power by force and to undermine democratic governance, peace and stability in Niger.
The Secretary-General calls on all actors involved to exercise restraint and ensure the protection of constitutional order. The United Nations stands by the Government and the people of Niger.
French version:
Le Secrétaire général suit de près la situation au Niger. Il condamne avec la plus grande fermeté toute tentative de prise de pouvoir par la force et d'atteinte à la gouvernance démocratique, à la paix et la stabilité au Niger.
Le Secrétaire général appelle tous les acteurs concernés à faire preuve de retenue et d’assurer la protection de l'ordre constitutionnel. Les Nations unies sont aux côtés du gouvernement et du peuple du Niger.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council held a meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Briefing Council members was Nihal Saad, the Director of the UN Alliance of Civilizations. She said that the Cathedral damaged in Odesa on Sunday was not the only religious site damaged throughout this war. According to a preliminary assessment undertaken by our colleagues in Paris at UNESCO, 116 religious sites have been damaged since 24 February 2022. Ms. Saad stressed that religious sites should be places of worship, not places of war.
Also, later in the morning, the Council also held a meeting on Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine. The Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Khiari, told Council members that, in the wake of Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Initiative, these latest attacks signal a calamitous turn for the Ukrainians and the world.
Mr. Khiari pointed out that port cities that allow for the export of grain, such as Odesa, Reni and Izmail, are a lifeline for many, and now they are the latest casualties in this senseless, brutal war.
DSG
At the closing of the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, launched the Secretary’s General call to action for accelerated Food Systems Transformation. In her speech, Ms. Mohammed highlighted six concrete objectives for the Call to Action for all actors - to step up and commit to make food systems work for people and planet alike. These will support the broader push to get the Sustainable Development Goals back on track.
Earlier today, the Deputy Secretary-General spoke at an event on the use of space technology for transforming agrifood systems, saying that the profound changes underway in outer space, especially our growing access and use of low-earth orbit, can become game-changers for the 2030 Agenda.
In this challenging global context – from conflict to COVID to the climate crisis – the emergence of new tools, in particular “digital agriculture”, is most welcome, she added.
Later, she spoke at the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking, all this happening in Rome. She warned that, as we approach the mid-point of the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] are in deep trouble, with hunger at levels not seen since 2005. If current trends continue, by 2030, 575 million people will still live in extreme poverty and nearly 670 million will suffer from hunger. Transforming our food systems, she said, is one key to getting the world back on track and reversing these worrying trends.
She added that the Joint SDG Fund’s Window on Food Systems is being launched today. It is our effort to tackle the support needed to address this lack of funding to turn the situation around.
SYRIA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) carried out two regular missions from southern Türkiye to north-west Syria today, through the Bab al-Salam crossing.
In Azaz, which is north-west of Aleppo, OCHA staff visited a pediatric hospital supported by the Syria Cross-Border Humanitarian Fund. For its part, WHO conducted monitoring and provided technical support at several health facilities.
The UN has completed nearly 170 cross-border missions to north-west Syria since the earthquakes in February.
In the coming days, additional staff missions and truck movements are planned through the Bab al-Salam and al-Ra'ee crossings.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Our peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic – MINUSCA - announced today a plan to dedicate about $3 million dollars to finance Quick Impact Projects, and about 90 of them in the coming year, and intended to support the reconciliation, political process and peace process, improve security, and help restore State authority.
In previous years, these kinds of projects resulted in the rehabilitation of bridges, the construction of schools, police stations, training centres, community radio networks, and public administration infrastructure.
SOUTH SUDAN
On South Sudan, the humanitarian community is calling for urgent funding for transportation of people fleeing from Sudan to South Sudan.
Many of those fleeing are vulnerable with no financial resources to continue their journey inside the country. The vast majority are South Sudanese returnees.
Until now, South Sudanese authorities and the humanitarian community have been able to provide transportation assistance, so that people can reach their final destinations by river, by air or by road.
However, without new funding, humanitarian agencies will be forced to halt transportation in two weeks’ time.
With no onward transportation available, more people will become stranded in and around the border towns where humanitarian services are already overstretched.
We need $26.4 million to continue providing this service until the end of the year.
TOGO
In Togo, the UN team is reinforcing national efforts to counter violent extremist attacks in the northern regions. Over the past four months, the WFP [World Food Programme] distributed essential food supplies including corn, beans, salt, vegetable oil, and enriched flour, benefiting 52,000 people, especially children, in impacted areas. UNFPA [UN Population Fund], for its part, provided 3,000 hygiene kits to women, including adolescents, many of whom were displaced. These kits include dental hygiene and towels, among other items. For its part WHO [World Health Organization] distributed healthcare kits, while UNICEF improved water, hygiene, and sanitation access, installing latrines in health facilities and schools. Over 9,000 displaced students received school kits, and 2,000 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition were treated.
And UNDP [UN Development Programme] is empowering elected bodies to promote dialogue mechanisms for social cohesion, while the UN Refugee Agency is assisting in the registration of 18,000 asylum seekers due to the rising number of refugees from Burkina Faso.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Tatiana Molcean of Moldova as the next Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, or ECE.
She will succeed Olga Algayerova of Slovakia, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the United Nations.
Ms. Molcean brings to the position twenty years of experience in the public sector with extensive international cooperation and development experience, and in-depth knowledge and expertise across the entire ECE membership.
CLIMATE
Tomorrow, at 9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General of the United Nations will be at the Security Council stakeout. He will deliver remarks on climate.
