HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2017
 
SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES MORE AMBITION IN FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE, ‘DEFINING THREAT OF OUR TIME’

• In Bonn today for the high-level segment of COP23, the Secretary-General said that we need more ambition in the fight against climate change, the defining threat of our time.
• He identified five ambition action areas:
• First, reducing emissions, as 2017 will see the first increase in CO2 emissions in three years, and the window of opportunity to meet the 2-degree target may close in 20 years or less.
• Second: adaptation and strengthening resilience; the Secretary-General stressed the catalytic role that the Green Climate Fund can play on this, as well as the role of the insurance industry.
• A third action area is finance, as the Secretary-General recalled that we need to mobilize the agreed $100 billion annually for developing countries. Upholding this promise is essential for building confidence and trust, he said. He added that to meet the Paris goals, we need at least 50 per cent global coverage and a higher price on carbon to drive large-scale climate action.
• The fourth ambition action area is partnerships, the Secretary-General stressed. He said that partnerships – with the private sector, local and regional governments and civil society – will make or break efforts to implement the Paris Agreement.
• Fifth, we need heights of political leadership. The Secretary-General said he could think of no greater way for leaders to show people that they care for the well-being of their citizens than to claim the mantle of climate leadership, and he asked them to show courage, wisdom and compassion.
• In Bonn, the Secretary-General also held a series of bilateral meetings, including with President Emmanuel Macron of France and China’s Special Representative on Climate Change Affairs, Xie Zhenhua.
• Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will be in London to give a lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London on “Counter-terrorism and human rights: winning the fight while upholding our values”.

• In Vancouver, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, just addressed the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial. He said that UN peacekeeping is one of the most effective tools available to the international community to respond collectively to challenges of global peace and security.  
• Since the deployment of the first mission in 1948, he said conflicts, and therefore peacekeeping itself, have evolved and he stressed that we should not be limited by the stricture of past practice. 21st century peacekeeping must have an agile and targeted presence, a tighter command structure, and more mobility. Peacekeepers must be prepared to implement mandates safely and effectively, with the right capabilities for high-threat environments such as terrorist threats and transnational organized crime, he added.
• He also noted that women peacekeepers, troops and police are central to our strategy to protect civilians and engage with communities. While we have made some progress on reaching our goals for women peacekeepers, he said that most Member States have not met the modest target of 15% female staff officers and military observers. He also reiterated the need to ensure that we uphold the trust of the population, in particular by enforcing the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse.

• This morning the Security Council renewed the mandate of the UN mission in the Central African Republic for twelve months and authorized an increase of 900 troops in its troop ceiling, as recommended by the Secretary-General. MINUSCA’s new mandate will focus on three priority tasks: the protection of civilians; enhanced support to the peace process, including national reconciliation, social cohesion and transitional justice; and facilitating the creation of a secure environment for the immediate, full, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance.
• The Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bintou Keita, then briefed the Council on Darfur. She said that the political process to negotiate the settlement of the conflict with the non-signatories of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur remains stalled.  At the same time, she noted that armed clashes between the Government and these non-signatories have subsided.
• Ms. Keita said it is evident that Darfur today is different from the time of UNAMID’s initial deployment, given the overall improvement in terms of security. However, positive developments have not resulted in the voluntary and sustainable return of internally displaced people and nearly one third of the population in Darfur remains displaced. Ms. Keita added that this reflects anxiety about security and uncertainty about the occupation of their land, as well as the lack of confidence about their present and future prospects. Key to this dilemma, she said, is slow progress in addressing critical issues, such as land and other scarce resource management, accountability, and security sector reform. 

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today called on the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to halt the inflammatory rhetoric against protestors and to ensure that demonstrations across the country today are handled in line with international human rights laws and standards.
• Upon publication of the electoral calendar on 5 November, civil society organisations called for nationwide protests to be held today. The Human Rights Office said that, in response, a number of alarming comments were reportedly made by provincial police inspectors in Goma and Kinshasa.
• The High Commissioner called for political leaders at the highest levels to ensure respect for the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the freedom of expression. He also called on all sides to exercise restraint and to renounce the use of violence.
• The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, has also urged the authorities to respect freedom of assembly and of demonstration.

• The UN continues to be concerned for the protection and well-being of civilians in eastern Ghouta, in Syria, as civilians continue to bear the brunt of continued fighting in the past days.
• A market in Duma was reportedly hit by an air strike today, with additional air strikes and shelling reported in multiple towns in eastern Ghouta, resulting in civilian casualties. At the same time, indiscriminate shelling on different residential areas in Damascus was also reported.
• Yesterday, a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent/International Committee of the Red Cross inter-agency convoy delivered education, food, water and sanitation, health and other relief items for 107,500 people in need in the hard-to-reach area of Ar-Rastan in Homs Governorate. Solar lamps and some health items were rejected or not approved to be loaded. The last UN interagency convoy to the hard-to-reach area was on 27 August 2017.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, as of 12 November, there are over 925,000 suspected cholera cases in Yemen, with more than 2,200 associated deaths.
• Aid workers continue to respond to the outbreak, but warn that fuel to run hospital generators and to pump clean water will run out in less than three weeks. Vaccines needed to treat diphtheria will also run out in two weeks.
• Ships and planes carrying humanitarian supplies have been unable to reach Yemen since the start of the blockade.

• The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that opium production in Afghanistan has jumped to a record level this year, up by 87 per cent compared to 2016.
• According to the agency’s latest survey, the area under opium poppy cultivation also increased to a record 328,000 hectares in 2017, up by 63 per cent compared with 201,000 hectares in 2016.
• UNODC said the increase in production is mainly a result of an increase in the area under opium poppy cultivation, while an increase in opium yield per hectare also contributed.
• The agency also noted that a lack of quality education, scarce employment opportunities, and limited access to financial markets and services, are turning people to opium cultivation, and it called on the Government and the international community to reprioritize drug control in the country.

• In the lead-up to the 63rd World Children’s Day, the UN Visitors Services has inaugurated this morning a UN Kids Corridor, where tours for 5 to 10-year-olds will be conducted.
• Ms. Alison Smale, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, gave welcoming remarks surrounded by children from The Montessori “Family School” of Manhattan, who in turn sang a song of peace.
• The space, located in the west corridor of the General Assembly Building, mirrors the different stops of the regular tour route in a child-friendly way.
• Wall-sized world maps, mounted flags of the Security Council’s 15 members, a child-friendly version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a real-size refugee tent are part of the new tour area.