Noon briefing of 1 December 2016

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
THURSDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO PRESENT NEW APPROACH TO CHOLERA IN HAITI

• At 3 pm today, the Secretary-General will present to the General Assembly the UN’s new approach to cholera in Haiti, in an informal briefing. The report unveiling that approach is now out. It provides information on the two tracks of the new approach, identifies challenges in connection with its implementation and sets out a proposed timeline.

• The UN Mission in Colombia welcomes the ratification of the definitive Peace Agreement between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) by both the upper and lower houses of parliament. This ratification opens the way for the implementation of a comprehensive agreement that holds the promise of a new era of peace after over five decades of a protracted and brutal conflict. The UN Mission expresses its readiness to fulfill its mandate to verify the Agreement on the Ceasefire and Cessation of Hostilities and Laying down of Arms.
• The High Commissioner for Human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has also welcomed the ratification of the peace agreement. He urged the Government, all political parties, including the opposition, as well as civil society, to put aside their differences, and start working for the accord’s prompt implementation.

• Yesterday, an inter-agency assessment mission reached locations in eastern Aleppo that were recently taken by the Syrian government. There were no civilians in these neighborhoods that used to be home to 30,000 people before fighting intensified last Saturday.
• Shelter, food, health and other life-saving assistance is being provided by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and local partners, with UN support, to those who have been displaced.
• Today, a UN inter-agency mission led by Humanitarian Coordinator Ali Al-Za'tari arrived in Aleppo. The mission is assessing the needs of the newly displaced people from eastern Aleppo, enhancing the current response mechanisms and looking at plans for an inter-agency cross-line mission to eastern Aleppo as requested by the UN in the December plan.
• 250,000 people in other areas in eastern Aleppo remain besieged and are in dire need of humanitarian aid. The last UN assistance to the area was in July 2016. The UN calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to all in need particularly those in hard-to-reach and besieged areas.

• The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, arrived in Aden today to meet with President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi and discuss the latest updates and the UN peace framework.
• The Special Envoy is expected to travel onward from Aden to Riyadh.

• A total of 2,885 Iraqis were killed and another 1,380 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
• The number of civilians killed in November was 926. Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 733 civilian casualties (152 killed, 581 injured).

• The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that more than 45,000 people received life-saving food or nutrition support in northeastern Nigeria in the last week through a new tactic to reach those in the most remote, hard-to-access places hit by Boko Haram violence.
• With support from UNICEF, WFP designed a Rapid Response Mechanism to supply food, nutrition and health support to people most in need in Borno and Yobe states by flying teams of specialists to remote areas where they stay up to six days. The assistance is then brought in by road. The tactic targets areas where no humanitarian assistance has so far been provided or where access is severely limited or irregular.

• Today is World AIDS Day and this year’s theme is “Hands up for #HIVprevention”, aimed at drawing attention to what HIV prevention means to specific groups of people, including adolescent girls and young women.
• As part of World AIDS Day, our colleagues at UNICEF have released a report showing new HIV infections among adolescents could rise by nearly 60 per cent by 2030 if progress in combating the disease stalls.
• UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake says that if more isn’t done, “Every two minutes, another adolescent – most likely a girl – will be infected with HIV.”
• AIDS remains a leading cause of death among adolescents, claiming the lives of 41,000 adolescents between 10-19 years old in 2015.

• The UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has released its human rights report on civilian casualties for the month of November. It documented 89 civilian casualties, including 38 deaths and 51 injuries, during the conduct of hostilities across Libya.
• Victims included 8 children killed and 16 injured. The majority of civilian deaths were caused by air strikes, while the next leading cause of death was gun shots, followed by shelling and vehicle-borne improvised explosive.

• Togo has become the 138^th United Nations Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full.