HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 12 JANUARY 2016

TURKEY: SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS DEADLY TERRORIST BOMBING IN ISTANBUL’S TOURIST DISTRICT

• In a statement, the Secretary-General condemns the terrorist bombing today in Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey. This despicable crime targeting the heart of Istanbul’s tourist district has reportedly claimed the lives of ten people and injured at least 15 others.
• The Secretary-General expects the perpetrators of this attack to be swiftly brought to justice. He sends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the people and the Governments of Turkey and Germany and other foreign citizens impacted by the bombing. He wishes those injured a speedy recovery.

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TRAVEL TO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, SWITZERLAND

• The Secretary-General will depart New York on the evening of Saturday, 16 January, to travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• On 17 January, the Secretary-General will speak at the launch of the report of his High-level Panel on Humanitarian Financing in Dubai. The report will help frame the discussion at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. The Secretary-General is expected to speak to the media at the conference.
• [Also at 10 a.m. on Thursday, the co-chair of the High-level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, Kristalina Georgieva, will give an embargoed briefing by video conference on the report. We have more information in our office.]
• Later on 17 January, the Secretary-General will leave Dubai for Abu Dhabi where he will attend the World Future Energy Summit on 18 January, held during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
• The Secretary-General will deliver a keynote address on turning political commitments on climate change into practical action at the Abu Dhabi Global Action Day high-level event. He will also participate in the Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards Ceremony and a multi-stakeholder dialogue on energy hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
• On 19 January, the Secretary will depart UAE for Geneva, Switzerland, where he will meet with some of the heads UN agencies based in the city. The following day, he will travel to Davos to attend the annual World Economic Forum (WEF). He is expected to meet leaders, both from the public and private sector, and participate in WEF sessions on tackling climate change and development.
• On 22 January, the Secretary-General will leave for Zurich, where he is expected to deliver a keynote address on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the Annual Conference of Swiss Development Cooperation 2016.
• The Secretary-General is expected back in New York late on 22 January.

U.N. RELIEF WING CONFIRMS HUMANITARIAN SUPPLIES HAVE REACHED SYRIA’S MADAYA

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirms that all the trucks to Madaya and Foah/Kafraya in Syria have reached their destination and supplies have been offloaded. Distributions of supplies started on Monday night in Madaya and are ongoing. Additional deliveries are expected in the next few days.

U.N. IRAQ ENVOY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BOMBING OF MOSQUES, ATTACK ON BAGHDAD SHOPPING MALL

• Ján Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, has condemned the bombing of six mosques in Muqdadiya in Diyala Province. He appealed to all sides to refrain from being drawn into a cycle of reprisals by these outrageous acts, which aim to drive a wedge between the various components of Iraqi society.
• Mr. Kubiš also condemned the attacks on the Baghdad shopping mall and a car bombing, which claimed a number of lives and left many injured.

YEMEN: NEARLY 10 MILLION CHILDREN FACING NEW YEAR OF PAIN, SUFFERING – U.N. CHILDREN’S FUND

• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that nearly 10 million children inside Yemen are facing a new year of pain and suffering. The agency said that continuous bombardment and street fighting are exposing children and their families to a deadly combination of violence, disease and deprivation.
• UNICEF said that at least 747 children were killed and another 1,108 have been injured since March last year. Another 724 children have been pressed into some form of military activity.

U.N. PROVIDES $31 MILLION EMERGENCY FUNDS FOR BASIC NEEDS IN LAKE CHAD BASIN

• The Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, has allocated US$31 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to provide urgent food, drinking water, shelter, health care, protection and education for about 1.7 million people, among the 2.7 million people affected by Boko Haram-related violence in the Lake Chad Basin region.
• The Lake Chad Basin region, which comprises Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, is one of the fastest growing displacement crises in Africa. Of the displaced people in the region, 1.5 million are children.
• “Many people have lost everything. Hundreds of thousands of women and children continue to bear the brunt of the Boko Haram violence,” said Mr. O’Brien. “The $31 million CERF allocation will provide a much-needed injection of funds for partners to provide for the most basic life sustaining needs in the Lake Chad region. Saving lives and protecting people in the region is at the centre of the humanitarian response.”

ONE IN FOUR CHILDREN IN CONFLICT ZONES NOT GOING TO SCHOOL – NEW U.N. CHILDREN’S FUND REPORT

• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today said that in 22 countries affected by conflict in the world, nearly 24 million children – one in four children in conflict zones – are not receiving an education.
• South Sudan is home to the highest proportion of out of school children with over half of primary and lower secondary age children not accessing an education. Niger is a close second, followed by Sudan and Afghanistan.
• UNICEF fears that unless the provision of education in emergencies is prioritised, a generation of children living in conflict will grow up without the skills they need to contribute to their countries and economies.
• Education continues to be one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals.

POPE FRANCIS TO DISCUSS ROAD SAFETY WITH U.N. ENVOY

• Pope Francis will receive in private audience the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Road Safety, Jean Todt, accompanied by Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
• They will discuss the need to increase road safety globally in order to save millions of lives, in line with the objective to cut in half road traffic fatalities by 2020. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year 1.25 million people die as a result of road traffic accidents, mostly in low and middle income countries, and a further 20 to 50 million more are injured, sometimes permanently. It is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 years, and could soon become the leading cause of death among 5-14 year olds as well.

***The guests at the noon briefing were Yacoub El Hillo, UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for the Syrian Arab Republic, who briefed reporters at the start of the briefing via telephone link on the humanitarian situation Syria, as well as UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, who spoke about the Syria Pledging Conference, which will take place in London on 4 February and on new developments and pledges for educating children in conflict zones.