BRIEFINGS TOMORROW
At 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, a briefing by the International Labour Organization on the release of new ILO estimates of the financing gaps to meet core commitments for social protection and explore innovative strategies to enhance financing for universal social protection systems. Speakers will include Umberto Cattaneo, ILO’s Public Finance Economist. 
Then, at noon, after my briefing, we will be joined by our good friends, Máximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization and Arif Husain, Chief Economist of the World Food Programme. 
They will be here to brief you on the launch of the Global Report on Food Crises. And then at 3 p.m. as I mentioned there will be an open meeting where Sigrid Kaag will brief and she will speak to you afterwards, probably around at 4:30 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. or later.

CLIMATE
This afternoon, the Secretary-General will speak at the launch of the UN Development Programme’s Climate Promise 2025. 
The event will showcase leadership and collective action to tackle the climate crisis on the road to the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement in 2025.
The Secretary-General will underscore that in the climate battle, it’s not all doom and gloom, as many actors are mobilizing to create plans aligned with the 1.5-degree limit.
He will also encourage countries to make the most of this new initiative, and donors to provide it with the finance it needs for maximum impact. 

PLASTIC POLLUTION
I just wanted to flag to you that the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, is taking place this week in Ottawa, in Canada, and is scheduled to go through next Monday. 
In a tweet, the Secretary-General said that every living being, and every part of the planet, are harmed by plastics and their production and said we need a strong plastics treaty that upholds human rights and addresses the full life cycle of plastics.
We’ll be updating you on the status of the talks later in the week.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
In addition to what Mr. Lazzarini said on Gaza, I wanted to tell you that we and our partners are providing nutrition support at nearly 300 sites, including more than 20 health facilities, nearly 240 formal and informal shelters, and more than three dozen sites in host communities. 
UNICEF has expanded outpatient treatment for acutely malnourished children to 95 different sites in Gaza – including 36 in the north and 46 in Rafah. These outpatient therapeutic programmes are being supported by more than a dozen humanitarian partners working on nutrition.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported yesterday that the agency and its partners managed to evacuate four patients and their caregivers from Kamal Adwan hospital, in northern Gaza, over the weekend – that includes a nine-year-old boy.
Also in a social media post, WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros said that the team could only partially complete their mission to that facility and to Al-Awda hospital due to ongoing hostilities, as well as severe delays at checkpoints. As a result, fuel and medical supplies were unable to reach Kamal Adwan and partners could not assess the needs at Al-Awda to support the restoration of services there.
Dr. Tedros said that humanitarian aid and missions in Gaza urgently need safe, sustained and smooth passage across Gaza to serve people in critical need of life-saving care. 
We continue to contend with major obstacles that are limiting the scale of the humanitarian response in Gaza, including active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions that prevent us from bringing in items essential for enabling aid deliveries.

GAZA
Also want to flag that Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, today warned against a full-scale Israeli incursion in Rafah. Such an operation he said would lead to further breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning at the Security Council, Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, presented the 15th annual report of the Secretary-General on that topic. 
She said the report records close to 3,700 UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence committed last year in 21 situations of concern. This, she added, reflects a dramatic increase - 50 per cent increase of more verified cases than the previous year. 
Women and girls accounted for 95 per cent of the verified cases. In about a third of the cases, the victims were children. 
Moving forward, Ms. Patten said urgent funding is needed for the Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Multi-Partner Trust Fund. 
She also called for increased capacity for the work of the Women’s Protection Advisers, which she described as a linchpin of her office’s operational response. 

SOUTH SUDAN
You may have seen the news coming out of that South Sudan regarding the imposition of taxes on fuel and supply trucks. I can tell you that we acknowledge today’s assurance from the Government of South Sudan that the imposition of taxes on fuel and supply trucks does not apply to the UN’s humanitarian, development, and peacekeeping operations or to the diplomatic community. 
However, we remain concerned that fuel trucks are still being held up at various depots and the border. Until they are released, we will not be able to conduct many of our activities in support of the communities in need across the country. 
Our colleagues on the ground report that the situation is now critical with fuel reserves running out. 
This will unfortunately prevent the delivery of millions of dollars of aid during a severe humanitarian crisis in South Sudan that we’ve been telling you about and divert already stretched funding provided by donors and other Member States to assist the people of South Sudan. 
And just to flag an immediate impact and that is that humanitarian airdrops have already been suspended, affecting 60,000 men, women and children in need. And our peacekeeping mission, UNMISS, is also forced to review peacekeeping patrols and road repairs and reduce support to peace and electoral processes. Nicholas Haysom, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, said urgent action is needed to get the trucks moving and ensure that support for South Sudan does not grind to a halt.
The situation is also affecting our peacekeeping mission in Abyei, because their cargo must enter Abyei via South Sudan.

SOMALIA
In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the seasonal rains – referred to as the “Gu” rains which come between April and June – are intensifying. 
There has been flash flooding in Somaliland, in Hirshabelle and South West States, as well as the Banadir region, over the past five days, reportedly leading to four deaths. 
We, along with our humanitarian partners, have stepped up response efforts, including by issuing early warning messages, setting up nearly 20 flood task force teams across Somalia and identifying some 70 evacuation sites in flood-prone areas. More than 50 boats have been pre-positioned in 10 high-risk locations along the Shabelle and Juba Rivers. 
Across Somalia, as many as 770,000 people could be impacted by heavy rains and floods in 22 hotspot districts.
The rains are expected to worsen the current outbreak of acute watery diarrhea and cholera.
Although the Gu rains are expected to further drive up humanitarian needs, funding for the response remains a major challenge. This year’s appeal for $1.6 billion is only 10 per cent funded, with $164 million received so far.

ETHIOPIA
In Ethiopia, our OCHA colleagues say that that people are being newly forced from their homes in the Amhara Region, in the north of the country. 
Since 13 April, armed clashes have displaced more than 50,000 people in the North Wello and Wag Hamra Zones, and that’s what local authorities are telling our colleagues.
Most of this displaced people – the majority of whom are women and children – are seeking refuge hosts communities. Others are sheltering in an open area in an industrial site near the town of Kobo and are exposed to the elements during the spring rainy season.
The Government, along with the UN and humanitarian partners, have started providing food and health support. Host communities also providing support.
And again, an expression of the low funding the $3.2 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for this year is just nine per cent funded.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our peacekeeping mission continues to assist the government's efforts to reintegrate ex-combatants through the Programme for Disarmament, Demobilization, Community Reintegration and Social Reinsertion. 
Along with partners, the Mission signed a commitment and roadmap with an armed group, the Union of Congolese Patriotic Defense Forces otherwise known as UFDPC, which led to the release of 12 children, who will now receive support for their reintegration into society.
Meanwhile, peacekeepers deployed a patrol to a site for displaced people East of Djugu, in Ituri. This happened after they were alerted about a potential risk of attack by another armed group, the CODECO group. 
Peacekeepers also conducted patrols with the Congolese Armed Forces to protect civilians on the Drodro-Maze-Lida axis, southeast of Djugu, where they observed the presence of armed militias.

UKRAINE 
In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that another attack on Odesa last night injured civilians, including children, and severely damaged homes. That’s according to aid workers on the ground.   
And this afternoon, according to local authorities, several civilians were reportedly injured in an attack in the Dnipro region, just five days after the last attack in the area. 
In Odesa, humanitarian organizations are providing families with emergency assistance – including hot meals, water, blankets, towels, hygiene kits, repair materials, and psychological and legal assistance. 
The attack on Odesa follows strikes on civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv Region just a day earlier, which authorities say killed and injured civilians. 
Homes, a school, agricultural facilities, and other civilian premises were damaged. In Kharkiv the TV tower was destroyed, partially disrupting telecommunications. 
As attacks across Ukraine continue, humanitarian workers are complementing Ukrainian authorities’ efforts to deliver emergency medical services, primary health care, including mental health assistance. 
The World Health Organization has verified nearly 100 attacks on health care in Ukraine this year.

HAITI 
In Haiti, our humanitarian colleagues say that the procurement of essential supplies, including food and medicines, is becoming increasingly challenging with the international airport closed, main ports barely functioning and roads leading out of the capital blocked.
Fuel availability has also become a pressing issue with prices soaring on the black market and transportation costs on the rise. And you will have noted that yesterday there was a long briefing on Haiti in the afternoon with Catherin Russell from UNICEF, OCHA and our head of the political mission there.

MIGRANTS/REFUGEES  
Couple of more notes if you’ll bear with me. Just want to highlight again the plight of men, women and children looking for a better life. UNHCR said it was concerned about the increasing number of deaths due to boat tragedies, including the one that happened today and resulted in the deaths of at least five people, including a child, who attempted to cross the English Channel. UNHCR stressed that alternatives must be identified while respecting international law.
And our colleagues at IOM said that another tragedy took place off the coast of Djibouti, as a boat capsized with 77 migrants on board, including children. IOM said that at least 28 people are missing, and 16 are confirmed dead. The IOM team in Djibouti is supporting local authorities with rescue. 
The International Organization for Migration said this incident shows the urgent need to strengthen search and rescue capacities, facilitate safe and regular migration routes, and promote evidence-based actions to prevent even more deaths.

UK-RWANDA ASYLUM LAW
On a related note, today, in a joint statement the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, [Filippo] Grandi, and [Volker] Türk, sounded the alarm once again on the harmful impact of the newly passed asylum law in the United Kingdom and Rwanda will have on human rights and refugee protection. They are calling on the UK government to reconsider its plan to transfer asylum-seekers to Rwanda and to instead to take practical measures to address irregular flows of refugees and migrants, based on international cooperation and respect for international human rights law.

INTERNATIONAL DAYS
A couple of international days. English and Spanish Language Day. Related to languages - today is also the World Book and Copyright Day. In her message, Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), says that for books to be able to unleash their full potential, it is essential that they reflect the linguistic diversity of our world, and every written language brings with it a particular worldview, with its symbols and its values.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
There are only two countries in the world that are double landlocked. One already paid.
We thank our friends in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for their full payment, which brings us to 102 fully paid up Member States.