HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, 28 MARCH 2024

HAITI
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that our response continues even as the situation on the ground remains tense and volatile.
Schools and students in Port-au-Prince are paying a heavy price because of the ongoing violence. UNICEF condemned an arson attack on a school that took place on 25 March, depriving over 1,000 children of their right to education.
Across the country, UNICEF estimates that more than 1,000 schools have closed or suspended classes due to recent violence and insecurity.
As we’ve mentioned before, the health sector has also been severely impacted, with at least half of all health facilities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area either closed or having their operations severely disrupted. 
The World Food Programme continues its daily hot meal programme for displaced people in Port-au-Prince.
Yesterday, our colleagues at WFP reached the largest number of people in a single day this month. They distributed 22,000 meals. Thanks to our local partners, the World Food Programme was also able to access 10 new sites for displaced people. Since early March, WFP and its partners have reached more than 54,000 displaced people with more than 263,000 hot meals in 38 different sites.
Also, since early March, more than two million liters of drinking water have been distributed by our partners, reaching some 60,000 displaced people in some 29 sites.
For its part, UNICEF and its partners have conducted more than 700 medical consultations in displacement sites over the last two weeks. Between 18-25 March, UNICEF provided psychosocial support to more than 600 children at displacement sites.
Recent events are curtailing people’s access to basic social services. The violence is also hampering aid operations, including access to the port where there are humanitarian supplies which remain at risk of being looted.
As we have said many times, we need safe and unhindered access to those in need, as well as urgent and flexible funding. The Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, which calls for $674 million, is currently only 6.6 per cent funded, which means that we have only $45 million in the till.
And also I think Maggie asked a question yesterday about funding.
WFP has been able to leverage the support of donors to continue hot-meals distributions in the short term. However, without ongoing support, WFP’s emergency assistance is under threat for the next few months.  
For its emergency activities, including hot-meals distributions, WFP requires $61 million over the next six months. The overall funding gap is about $103 million – for the next six months.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs stresses that, as more than 1.1 million people in Gaza face extreme levels of food insecurity, there is no alternative to the large-scale delivery of aid by land. But despite these urgent and overwhelming needs, hostilities and access impediments continue to hamper our efforts to get life-saving assistance to civilians in Gaza at the scale that we need to save lives.
Time and again, we have said that aid organizations need additional entry points and supply routes into Gaza – and safe and sustained access throughout the Gaza strip– to reach everyone who need to be reached. This includes access to the north.
Our humanitarian colleagues on the ground tell us that between 16 and 22 March, nine humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, but five were denied.                                                                         
OCHA reports that 15 humanitarian partners reached a daily average of 550,000 people in Gaza with food assistance last week, that’s between 18 and 24, but just three per cent of these supplies went to northern Gaza. More than half was distributed in Rafah Governorate, with the rest going to other areas, including Deir al Balah. 
And just a quick correction to something I said yesterday about the World Food Programme reaching 74,000 people in northern Gaza with food assistance -- that was with four convoys during the month of March versus 11 since the start of the year.
And as famine looms – and amid the ongoing bombardment of Gaza – Dr. Tedros, the head of the World Health Organization, said the delivery of food, nutrition supplies and medicines must be accelerated. In a social media post, he said that health facilities must be protected – not attacked – so that health workers can care for patients severely weakened by hunger, illness and injuries.
Quick update on Sigrid Kaag before you ask. Our Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza is in Israel this week for meetings with Israeli officials and cabinet members on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2720. She underscored the urgent need and paramount importance to open more land crossings from Israel into Gaza in light of the dire humanitarian situation, especially in the North, as highlighted by the recent IPC assessment. She also stressed the critical importance of a predictable and massive increase in the volume of assistance. 
She emphasized the need for a safe and secure operational environment for the UN and our humanitarian partners in Gaza. 
In line with resolution 2720 and the UN Mechanism, she has also discussed proposals for streamlining the supply route from Egypt and continued operations of the Rafah crossing as well as the maritime corridor from Cyprus.
Ms. Kaag will also go into Ramallah for meetings with the Palestinian Authority.

PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE
And I just want to flag that Alice Nderitu, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, issued a statement acknowledging the Security Council Resolution of 25 March, demanding, among others, an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The Special Adviser echoed the call by the Secretary-General for the full implementation of the resolution, noting the numerous efforts by the United Nations to end this conflict.

LEBANON
Moving up north to the situation along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon – our peacekeeping force - expressed its concern today over the surge of violence occurring across the Blue Line currently. 
In a statement issued today, UNIFIL urged all sides to put down their weapons and begin the process towards a sustainable political and diplomatic solution, and said it remains ready to support that process in any way it can, including by convening a tripartite meeting at the parties’ request, and in another statement today, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, expressed deep concern over the ongoing attacks on health facilities and workers in the south of the country. Ten paramedics were among nearly a dozen civilians killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Tyre district yesterday. He stressed that civilians and health care must be protected. 
And as we have been reporting for months now, the ongoing hostilities also continue to drive displacement, with more than 91,000 displaced since the escalation of hostilities, as of this Tuesday. And that’s according to our colleagues in the International Organization for Migration.

UKRAINE   
Turning to Europe and Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator there, Denise Brown, condemned yesterday’s attacks in cities in the northeast and the south of the country which killed and injured civilians, including small children. Homes, a school and a hospital were also damaged in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
Also yesterday, another wave of attacks resulted in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. The Kharkiv region was impacted, with local authorities reporting scores of casualties, as well as damage to schools and health facilities.  
Aid workers mobilized emergency support in Kharkiv to complement the efforts of first responders and municipal services. They delivered basic supplies and support.                                                          
These latest strikes come after a week of daily attacks on cities across Ukraine, which have taken the lives of people and severely impacted local services.

MALAWI
Turning to Malawi, we and our partners are supporting the Government to respond to severe drought, which has prompted national authorities to declare a state of emergency in 23 of Malawi’s 28 districts.
Nearly two million farming families – that’s almost nine million people – and more than 40 per cent of the country’s agricultural land has been impacted by El Niño, with rains and prolonged dry spells – as well as flooding – severely damaging crops and food production. 
The humanitarian community in Malawi is scaling up emergency assistance – including food and nutrition supplies, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene support. They are also providing health, protection, education and livelihood assistance, despite limited funding.
Malawi – like other countries in southern Africa - is grappling with the effects of a severe droughts.
Last month marked one of the driest Februarys in the region in more than forty years, that’s leading to widespread crop failures in some areas.

SOUTH SUDAN
From South Sudan, as the crisis of the refugees from South Sudan continues, the UNHCR, together with 123 partners, is seeking $1.4 billion this year to meet the needs of 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. 
UNHCR says this year’s Regional Refugee Response Plan aims to improve the protection environment for refugees and asylum-seekers through enhanced access to asylum and civilian documentation. 
UNHCR says that South Sudan remains Africa’s largest refugee crisis. While the war in Sudan has displaced nearly 200,000 South Sudanese to relocate to safer areas within Sudan and hundreds of thousands of others to return to their country prematurely, over two million remain in need of international protection in the region.

RESIDENT COORDINATOR – BELARUS
Lastly, the Secretary-General has appointed Rasul Baghirov of Azerbaijan as our new UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus, now that we have the government’s approval. 
Mr. Baghirov will take up his new post on Saturday. 
He previously served as Head of Country Strategy and Support Unit within the Director-General’s Office at the World Health Organization in Geneva. 
Mr. Baghirov brings more than 25 years of experience in human development, health, education, and social protection across Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific. We congratulate him.