HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 30 MAY 2017
 
IRAQ: SECRETARY-GENERAL SPEAKS OUT AGAINST TERRORIST ATTACKS IN BAGHDAD DURING RAMADAN

• In a statement, the Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the recent terrorist attacks in Baghdad, which have caused many multiple casualties among civilians observing the holy month of Ramadan.
• The Secretary-General expresses his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.
• He reiterates that the United Nations will continue to stand by the Government and people of Iraq in their efforts to fight terrorism and hopes the perpetrators of this outrage will be swiftly apprehended and prosecuted.

• In a statement, the Secretary-General said that he is deeply concerned by the devastating impact caused by Cyclone Mora on Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The United Nations stands ready to scale up its support to the Government-led response efforts in both countries.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the cyclone has brought flooding and landslides to various provinces and affected tens of thousands of people in both countries.
• In Sri Lanka, the Government estimates that 194 people have died, 99 people are missing, and more than 80,000 people have been displaced.
• The Government, with the support of the UN, NGOs, local partner organizations and Member States, is responding to the flooding and is providing emergency supplies such as tents and clean water.
• The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today deployed three assessment teams to four of the districts hit hardest by devastating floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka.
• The cyclone made landfall in Bangladesh yesterday, where some 2.8 million people have been affected and more than 500 shelters have been opened.

• This afternoon, the Secretary-General will deliver an address on “Climate Action: Mobilizing the World” at the NYU Stern School of Business. In his address, Mr. Guterres will describe the increasing risks from climate change and the compelling opportunities provided by climate action to create jobs, generate economic growth and build the foundations for a safer and more stable world. He will also lay out a five-point action plan to mobilize the world behind climate action.
• His address will follow a conversation with students, business leaders and academics.
• The address will be webcast at: youtube.com/unitednations.

• The Human Rights Office and the UN Mission in the Central African Republic today launched a mapping report documenting mass killings and other serious human rights violations during the multiple conflicts in the country between 2003 and 2015. 
• The report states that many of the violations may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it sets out a strategy to fight pervasive impunity in the country.
• The report, mandated by the Security Council, documents in detail 620 incidents, including horrific accounts of entire villages being burnt to the ground in reprisal attacks; multiple accounts of gang rapes of women and girls as young as five; serious violence against people on the basis of their religion, ethnicity or perceived support for armed groups, among other serious violations.
• While the report recognizes the challenging security situation in the Central African Republic, it recommends that some steps be taken immediately to initiate transitional justice processes. The Head of the UN Mission, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, said that successive conflicts have spawned multiple peace processes, but as long as impunity reigns, this terrible trajectory may continue. In documenting the violations and abuses of the past, we hope to galvanize national and international efforts to protect and bring justice to the victims of these crimes, he added.

• The Security Council met this morning on Yemen and was briefed by Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy.
• He said that tragically, the violence continues on numerous fronts, deepening the suffering of the Yemeni people.
• The Envoy said that we are not close to a comprehensive agreement, adding that the reluctance of the key parties to embrace the concessions needed for peace, or even discuss them, remains extremely troubling. Yemenis, he stressed, are paying a price for their needless delay.
• So far, he said that we have managed to avert military action in Al-Hodeidah. The Envoy said that he made clear to the parties during his recent meetings in Yemen that they must reach a compromise on the situation in Al-Hodeidah, in order to prevent such a horrific scenario.
• He appealed to the parties to stop fighting for power and strive to build a country that respects the rights of all its citizens, a country with a prosperous economy, and strong institutions.
• Also speaking at the Council meeting today was Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien, who said that the people of Yemen are being subjected to deprivation, disease and death as the world watches.
• He stressed that this is not an unforeseen or coincidental result of forces beyond our control, but rather it is a direct consequence of actions of the parties and supporters of the conflict, and is also, sadly, a result of inaction – whether due to inability or indifference – by the international community.

• The Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said today that Nigeria is facing a protection and food security crisis of “global proportions” in the north-east of the country. More than 1.8 million people have been forced to flee their homes in the six north-eastern states due to the violent Boko Haram insurgency and military counter-insurgency operations. 4.7 million people are food insecure in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, and this number may rise to 5.2 million during the upcoming lean season.
• Humanitarian partners have scaled up assistance and the delivery of food aid has increased 700 percent from October 2016. However, Mr. Kallon stressed that while the humanitarian response has increased substantially, we have not turned the corner yet and if the funding situation is not sustained, the situation can easily relapse in a famine situation. The Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria is currently 28 per cent funded.

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is appealing for urgent safe passage and admission for a group of Syrian refugees stranded in dire circumstances on the Algerian-Moroccan border.
• The forty-one Syrian refugees have been stranded on the remote Algeria - Morocco border since 17 April 2017.  Both Algeria and Morocco consider the group not to be in their respective territory.
• The group includes children, babies and women – including at least one pregnant woman reportedly in need of urgent Caesarean section.
• UNHCR calls on both governments to take instant and constructive steps to uphold international humanitarian imperatives and evacuate them.

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it received worrying reports over the weekend of armed criminals approaching migrant and refugee boats in the Central Mediterranean, wounding and stealing from passengers. Several refugees and migrants who landed on Lampedusa this weekend had gunshot wounds, and many reported that their belongings had been stolen by members of Libyan militias. Many survivors also reported having witnessed friends being fired at or killed while in Libya.
• UNHCR stressed that saving lives remains its top priority and reiterated its call for credible alternatives to these dangerous crossings for people in need of international protection.
• More than 1,720 people have died or have gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean this year alone, and while the number of peopled rescued has surpassed the 60,000 figure.

• The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations says that the third phase of training of engineering for peacekeeping for a cohort of future African peacekeepers under the Triangular Partnership Project commenced on 29 May in Kenya. The project – launched by the UN Department of Field Support with support from Japan, Switzerland and Kenya – is designed to train and equip African military engineers to be deployed to peacekeeping missions.
• In the third phase, 36 Japanese instructors will train up to 60 Tanzanian trainees plus some trainees from other African Troop Contributing Countries. A Swiss-led Training-of-Trainers course for 10 trainees as well as a Brazil-led Engineering Project Management course for up to 20 trainees drawn from different African Troop Contributing Countries will also be conducted. All current and future African Troop Contributing Countries will eventually be eligible to benefit from the project.
• After participation in the training, the military engineers are expected to deploy to peacekeeping missions, where they will fill critical gaps in current UN engineering capabilities.

• The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will hold a special meeting tomorrow on “Innovations for Infrastructure Development and promoting Sustainable Industrialisation” to find ways to accelerate the implementation of Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.

• Tomorrow is World No Tobacco Day and the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights how tobacco threatens the development of nations worldwide.
• Action to stamp out tobacco use can help countries prevent millions of people falling ill and dying from tobacco-related disease, and combat poverty.
• But this year, WHO is also presenting a first-ever report on the large-scale environmental degradation caused by tobacco.
• Entitled “Tobacco and its environmental impact”, the report reveals that tobacco waste contains over 7000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment, including human carcinogens, and that up to 10 billion of the 15 billion cigarettes sold daily are disposed in the environment.
• Cigarette butts account for 30 to 40% of all items collected in coastal and urban clean-ups.

• Saint Lucia has paid its dues in full, bringing the number of Member States which have done so to 102.