HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 19 JUNE 2017
 
IN EUROPE, DEPUTY U.N. CHIEF TO TAKE PART IN EVENTS SPOTLIGHTING PLIGHT OF REFUGEES, DEVELOPMENT

• This afternoon, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, will depart New York for Vienna, Austria, to participate in the R20 Austrian World Summit tomorrow. The Deputy Secretary-General will also join UN Refugee Agency colleagues to mark World Refugee Day.
• On Wednesday, the Deputy Secretary-General will leave Vienna for Cannes, France. She will participate in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and discuss ways to build on the progress of Common Ground, an initiative by the world’s biggest advertising agencies to raise awareness and encourage action in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The Deputy Secretary-General will return to New York on 22 June.

• The Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, is in Colombia today for a three-day visit and is expected to meet with President Juan Manuel Santos later today.
• You’ve seen that over the weekend, the UN System in Colombia condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Bogota.
• They stressed that terrorism in all its forms is a threat to peace and security, and said they are determined to continue to support the Colombian people and Government on their path to sustainable peace in the country.

• The UN Development Programme (UNDP) today welcomed Achim Steiner as he begins a four-year term as Administrator of the Organization.
• Mr. Steiner said that he very much looks forward to working with all UNDP staff and UN Member States to continue the fight to end poverty, protect the planet and promote peace and justice around the world.
• Mr. Steiner brings more than three decades of leadership experience in global development issues and international cooperation. He is a passionate advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and the need for unprecedented global cooperation to deliver on this ambitious agenda.

• Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. The theme this year is: “Preventing Sexual Violence Crimes through Justice and Deterrence.”
• In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General said: “Rape and sexual violence in conflict are tactics of terrorism and war, used strategically to humiliate, degrade and destroy, and often to pursue a campaign of ethnic cleansing.  They should never be downplayed as war’s inevitable by-product.  Sexual violence is a threat to every individual’s right to a life of dignity, and to humanity’s collective peace and security.”
• He added that the UN is making every effort to address the root causes of conflict-related sexual violence by using preventive diplomacy, fostering peacebuilding and development, encouraging national action, and ending gender discrimination.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that there has been no major displacement of civilians so far as a result of the Iraq Security Forces’ operation to retake Mosul’s Old City from Da’esh.
• Preparations are under way to help between 100,000 and 150,000 people still in the area who might flee.
• Since the start of the Mosul operation last October, nearly 900,000 people have been displaced from Mosul, more than three quarters of those from western Mosul.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) deeply concerned for the protection and safety of 100,000 people in areas of Deir Ezzour city, besieged by Da’esh since July 2014. Civilians continue to be subjected to violence, humanitarian aid is limited and basic services, especially medical care, is lacking.
• On 16 June, due to heavy airstrikes, about 250 people reportedly fled Abu Kamal city in rural Deir Ezzour to the countryside. On 17 June, over 500 mainly women, children and elderly reportedly fled from Raqqa governorate to Al-Mayadin and Abu Kamal cities in rural Deir Ezzour.
• The UN continues to provide basic food, nutrition and medical supplies to people in need in Deir Ezzour through World Food Programme (WFP) airdrops. But continued clashes between Government of Syria and Da’esh forces may jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian aid should landing sites for aid become unsafe.
• The UN calls for safe, unimpeded and sustained access to all people in need across the country, particularly the more than 4.5 million men, women and children in hard-to-reach and besieged areas.

• Over the weekend, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, condemned the shooting and stabbing attack by Palestinian assailants in the vicinity of the Old City of Jerusalem in which one Israeli Border Police officer was killed and at least four others, including civilians, were injured. 
• He said that such terrorist acts must be clearly condemned by all. He said he was appalled that once again some find it appropriate to justify such attacks as “heroic”. They are unacceptable and seek to drag everyone into a new cycle of violence.
• We echo Mr. Mladenov’s condemnation.

• In Geneva, the Third Thematic Session of the Global Compact on Migration began today under the theme “International cooperation and governance of migration in all its dimensions, including at borders, on transit, entry, return, readmission, integration and reintegration.”
• Speaking at the two-day event, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on International Migration, Louise Arbour, emphasized that smart, responsible and cooperative arrangements can allow nations to fully realize the benefits of migration. She argued they could trigger a virtuous cycle in which the public trust in states’ ability to control their borders would be restored, resulting in more acceptance of migrants.
• The next thematic session will take place on 24 July.

• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today announced that they have appointed 19-year old Syrian refugee and education activist Muzoon Almellehan as a Goodwill Ambassador.
• The appointment makes Muzoon the first person with official refugee status to become an Ambassador for UNICEF.
• Muzoon fled the conflict in Syria along with her family in 2013, living as refugee for three years in Jordan before being resettled in the United Kingdom. It was during her 18 months in the Za’atari camp that she began advocating for children’s access to education, particularly for girls.

• In a statement issued yesterday, the Secretary-General said that he was shocked and horrified by the many lives claimed by devastating fires that hit the Pedrógão Grande region of Portugal.  
• He has spoken with the Portuguese President and Prime Minister to express his deep sadness and condolences to the Portuguese Government and people.

• Saturday was the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. This year, the theme for the Day focused on the link between land degradation and migration.
• Speaking today at an event to mark the Day, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva stressed the need to invest in preparedness and build resilience of farmers so they can face situations of extreme drought.
• “For years, the focus has been responding to droughts when they happen, rushing to provide emergency assistance and to keep people alive," he said, noting that while "of course, that is important," investing in preparedness and resilience is essential.
• On Sunday, the UN observed its first the Sustainable Gastronomy Day.
• The Day acknowledges gastronomy as a cultural expression related and reaffirms that all cultures and civilizations are contributors to sustainable development.
• It also emphasizes the need to focus the world’s attention on the role that sustainable gastronomy can play by promoting agricultural development, food security, nutrition, sustainable food production and the conservation of biodiversity.

• Serbia has become the 108th Member State to pay its UN budget dues in full.

 
***The guest at the noon briefing was Ninette Kelley, Director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees New York Office, who spoke to reporters about the agency’s latest Global Trends report.