HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

MONDAY, 17 APRIL 2017
 
SCALE OF CIVILIANS FLEEING IRAQ’S MOSUL ‘STAGGERING’ – UN OFFICIAL

• Nearly half a million people have been forced from their homes since the start of military operations to retake Mosul began six months ago,
• Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, calling the sheer volume of civilians still leaving the city ‘staggering.’
• Ms. Grande said that the worst case scenario is that up to one million people may flee Mosul.
• Aid partners are working around the clock to expand emergency camps to shelter hundreds of thousands more people who may flee in the coming weeks and days.
• The UN estimates that, currently, as many as 500,000 people remain in Da’esh-controlled parts of western Mosul, including 400,000 people in the old city.
• Ms. Grande stressed that although nearly two million people have received life-saving assistance and families are being reached with aid, Mosul has pushed humanitarian agencies to their operational limits. “We’re doing everything we can but this has been a long battle and the assault on the old city hasn’t started,” she noted.

• In a statement issued over the weekend, we condemned the attack in Rasheedin in west Aleppo on 5,000 evacuees traveling from the towns of Foah and Kefraya to Government-controlled areas.
• We called on the parties to ensure the safety and security of those waiting to be evacuated, and stressed that those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice.
• The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O’Brien, said that he was horrified by the reports of killings of scores of people in this attack.
• Mr. O’Brien added that the perpetrators of such a monstrous and cowardly attack displayed a shameless disregard for human life, stressing that international humanitarian law is very clear: warring parties must protect civilians and distinguish between military and civilian targets.

• Over the weekend, 12 of the 17 staff members of the U.N. Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara (MINURSO), who previously had not been allowed to return, arrived in Laayoune, with one additional staff member expected to return during the course of the day. 
• Administrative procedures are being completed for the return, reassignment or retirement of the remaining four staff members.

• Over the weekend, the acting Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, Moustapha Soumaré, urged warring parties in the country to show restraint in the face of an escalation of violence and to remember their responsibility to protect civilians.
• The Mission it is concerned over reports of clashes between government and opposition forces in various locations around the country. It is monitoring the situation in Raga town in Western Bahr El Ghazal after receiving reports of clashes leading to civilian displacements. The situation remains calm but tense in Wau as peacekeepers patrol the town with a focus on protecting civilians. The Mission is closely monitoring the situation in Wunkur in Unity State, where a UN patrol over the weekend reported a large number of government soldiers and heavy weapons and the absence of civilian activity.
• Meanwhile, the patrol to Pajok in Eastern Equatoria returned to the Mission's base in Torit over the weekend. However, despite assurances from the Sudan People's Liberation Army and Government authorities, the patrol was limited to certain areas of Pajok. The Mission intends to deploy another patrol tomorrow to visit areas outside of Pajok, where displaced civilians are believed to be located.
• In addition, the World Food Programme has condemned the killing last week of three workers contracted by the agency’s office in Wau as they tried to make their way to a WFP warehouse, where they worked as porters. The Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Eugene Owusu, has called for an urgent investigation to identify those who are responsible and bring them to account.

• The World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia reported a security incident in Mogadishu yesterday.
• In the morning, an explosion occurred 100 metres behind a moving WFP convoy. The occupants of the vehicles, which included WFP staff and a visiting journalist, are safe, although two private security guards escorting the team were wounded.
• The WFP convoy was returning from KM 13, an area on the outskirts of Mogadishu where WFP is providing life-saving emergency food and nutritional assistance to people affected by drought.

• The Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Pierre Krähenbühl, met with the Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, Rami Hamdallah, in Ramallah today.

• They discussed the rights and critical needs of Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. The Commissioner-General updated the Prime Minister on his recent visit to Aleppo, Syria and the situation of Palestine Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
• They also conferred on the issue of the curriculum being taught in UNRWA schools in light of recent public misrepresentations of the matter. Mr Krähenbühl clarified that, in conformity with its practice since the 1950s based on an agreement with UNESCO, UNRWA teaches host-country curricula in its schools. This includes the Palestinian Authority's curriculum and the Commissioner-General clarified that UNRWA has no intention of changing this practice.

• On Thursday, the Secretary-General announced his choices for the positions of Executive Secretaries of the Regional Commissions.
• The appointments are as follows: Vera Songwe of Cameroon for the Economic Commission on Africa (ECA); Olga Algayerova of Slovakia for the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE); and Mohamed Ali Alhakim of Iraq for the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
• The Secretary-General has asked Shamhad Akhtar of Pakistan to continue in her role as Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
• The Secretary-General is grateful to the outgoing senior leaders who have served with distinction and true commitment to the ideals of the United Nations.

• Tomorrow in the Trusteeship Council, the President of the General Assembly will convene a High-Level Sustainable Development Goals Financing Lab to highlight the importance of sustainable finance to achieve the universal set of Goals.
• The one-day event will focus on how to drive the transformation to align financial markets with sustainable development, as well as showcase concrete ways in which Member States can approach financing of different SDGs.

• The Spokesman paid tribute to Maria Zoupaniotis, who for almost 30 years was the press counselor at the Mission of the Republic of Cyprus. She passed away on Thursday after a battle with lung cancer.

• The Spokesman said it was a privilege working with her preparing for Cyprus talks, whether in Geneva, Buergenstock, Greentree or in the Secretariat.  “Maria was a true professional and always a pleasure to work with,” he said, adding that no one could deliver a demarche like Maria.”
• He added that Ms. Zoupaniotis would make her point with tact, precision and good manners, and that she will be remembered and missed in the halls.
• The Spokesman’s Office sends its deepest sympathies and most sincere condolences to her husband and our colleague, Apostolos.

• Andorra and Dominica have paid their UN dues in full, bringing the total number of Member States which have done so to 85.