Noon briefing of 23 February 2018

• The Secretary-General will travel to Geneva over the weekend, where, on Monday, he will speak at the opening of the 37th session of the Human Rights Council. He will also speak at the Conference on Disarmament.
• The Secretary-General intends to have bilateral meetings with a number of officials attending those two events.

• This morning, the Secretary-General met with his senior management group. This was their first meeting since the group achieved gender parity. There are now 23 women and 21 men. By the end of the month there will be 24 women.
• The Secretary-General said at the meeting that while this is cause for celebration it is also just one part of the UN’s roadmap for gender parity. He emphasized the importance of continuing to work to fight sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment within the organization, and achieve gender parity not just as the senior management level but across the board. He said the aim is to achieve gender parity by 2021 at all levels.

• This morning, the Deputy Secretary-General spoke at the UN Association USA Global Engagement Summit.
• She told participants that the UN depends on the support of concerned global citizens who believe in the Organization and who can galvanize political commitment to our common cause.
• “Your voice can be heard and amplified in boardrooms and the corridors of power, explaining not only how the UN is effective, but how it is reforming to do even better,” she said, and added that the UN is working to become more nimble, effective, flexible and efficient to help tackle today’s challenges and help all Member States achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

• The United Nations takes note of the recent decision by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn to resign, to ‘allow further political reforms to take place in the country aimed at widening democratic space.’ The Government of Ethiopia has expressed the intention to continue with implementation of governance reforms and increase participation in the political process.
• The United Nations welcomes the steps so far undertaken in that direction, including the release of detainees. The United Nations considers Ethiopia a valued partner in peace and security, development, humanitarian and human rights issues in the Horn of Africa and the African continent, and will continue to support the Government and people of Ethiopia in implementing reforms that would enhance governance, stability and development.
• The United Nations also takes note of the recent declaration of a State of Emergency and stresses the importance of avoiding actions that would infringe on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of citizens, the peace, security and stability of the country, or impact on the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

• Today the Secretary-General signed the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, which establishes a set of guiding principles aimed at significantly improving the coordination and coherence of the United Nations system to support Member States on the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
• The Coordination Compact is an agreement between 36 United Nations entities engaged in providing support to Member States on how to counter and prevent acts of terrorism and violent extremism. It will be signed by the heads of these entities, as well as INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, as a symbol of their commitment to coordinating activities at Headquarters and in the field. It also adopts a common framework for monitoring and evaluation which will help to show the impact of UN efforts in this area.
• The principal aim of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact is to ensure that the United Nations system can have a better impact and provide stronger and more efficient counter-terrorism capacity-building support to Member States.

• The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, will be travelling to the Middle East from 24-28 February, where he will be visiting the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in Jerusalem and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
• Throughout his trip to the three UN missions, he will hold meetings with senior Government officials and key stakeholders to discuss UN Peacekeeping challenges and opportunities in the region. He will also meet with personnel to thank them for their work and their contribution to peace and security in the region.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today said it remains deeply concerned by the intense fighting in Eastern Ghouta. Over the past four days, almost 400 people, including women and children, have reportedly been killed and over 1,000 have been injured by ground-based and airstrikes.
• This week, the UN and its partners reported a total of 24 attacks on hospitals and health facilities (16 hospitals, 8 health centers) depriving tens of thousands of people of basic health services. At least two medical workers have been killed.
• In addition, private bakeries in Misraba, which normally provide some 40,000 bread bags daily, were reportedly damaged by airstrikes. Bread is reportedly still available, but has increased 25-fold in price.
• Over the same time period, Damascus city has continued to be hit by mortars.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs called for an immediate cessation of hostilities lasting for at least one month throughout Syria to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid and services; and evacuation of the critically sick and wounded.

• In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, the UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock today stressed to Member States that now more than ever it is critical to sustain international support for the neighbouring countries and communities hosting some 5.5 million Syrian refugees.
• The UN Principals said they are “deeply shaken and distraught by the brutality and utter disregard for civilian lives” and urged for an immediate ceasefire, protection of civilians and unfettered humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta.
• “It is vital for the international community to continue to support Syrian refugee families whose needs and challenges increase with every passing day, week, month and year in displacement,” the UN Principals said.
• And the UN Migration Agency today launched an appeal for $193.7 million dollars to help 3 million displaced Syrians and the communities that host them.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that food and basic commodity prices continue to rise in Yemen, putting these essential items increasingly out of reach. In January, average food prices rose to 55 per cent higher than prior to the escalation of conflict in 2015. Before the Coalition blockade in November and December of last year, food prices had already been about 30 per cent higher than prior to the escalation of the crisis. Fuel prices are now more than double the pre-crisis average, which has knock-on effects in the prices of drinking water and other basic commodities.
• Clashes continue along the west coast of Yemen and in Taizz, more civilians are fleeing their homes. Over the last several days, emergency assistance has been delivered to 8,800 IDPs across the governorates of Lahj and Aden, including 1,500 particularly vulnerable people in Aden. The response is also continuing along the west coast where fighting remains active. About 100,000 people have been newly displaced in Yemen since December 2017, mainly due to fighting along the west coast and in Taizz.

CAMEROON: U.N. OFFICIAL APPEALS FOR MORE HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT FOR NIGERIAN REFUGEES

• The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Ursula Mueller, today travelled to Maroua in the Far North Region of Cameroon, to see first-hand the impact of the deterioration of the security situation on the civilian population. Ms. Mueller, who is on a four-day mission to Cameroon, travelled to the Zamai site for internally displaced people and to Minawao refugee camp. Since January, the Zamai IDP site has seen its population increase to more than a thousand.
• During her visit to Minawao camp, which hosts 62,000 refugees from Nigeria who fled the violence from Boko Haram, Ms. Mueller said that every day, 50 more people are coming to the refugee camp, in desperate need of health services, food and protection. She said that there are increased needs for humanitarian aid and life-saving assistance and that the humanitarian community can step up if the financial resources are provided by the international donor community.
• Large-scale displacement fuelled by the Boko Haram crisis in the north and the neighbouring crisis in the Central African Republic are compounding high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in Cameroon. This year the humanitarian community has requested US$305 million to assist 1.3 million people in Cameroon.

• Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, yesterday delivered to the Permanent Representative of Honduras the report of the exploratory mission that was deployed to Honduras by the UN Department of Political Affairs from 6 to 10 February 2018, at the request of the Honduran Government. Mr. Jenča conveyed the gratitude of the Secretariat to the Honduran Government, following its request for technical support from the UN for the implementation of a process to facilitate a future national dialogue. He also thanked political parties and civil society for their trust in the Organization.
• The mission among other things assessed conditions for a possible dialogue. The mission’s report was presented with the aim of suggesting measures that would contribute to the promotion of the necessary political reforms within the framework of the Honduran Constitution, respect for human rights and the rule of law. The report recommends a series of confidence-building measures that could help establish the basis for a future dialogue. The mission believes such measures can help reduce tensions and generate credibility in such a process.

• UNICEF today said that urgent efforts are needed to help more than 720,000 Rohingya children who are threatened either by the approaching cyclone season in Bangladesh or by ongoing violence and denial of their basic rights in Myanmar.
• In a report marking six months since the start of the latest exodus of Rohingya refugees into southern Bangladesh, UNICEF says that floods caused by the forthcoming cyclone season are likely to engulf the fragile and insanitary camps where most of the refugees are living, raising the likelihood of waterborne disease outbreaks and forcing clinics, learning centres and other facilities for children to close.
• According to the report, an estimated 185,000 Rohingya children remain in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, fearful of the violence and horror that drove so many of their relatives and neighbours to flee. In Bangladesh, there are estimated to be around 534,000 Rohingya refugee children from last year’s and previous influxes.

RWANDA: U.N. CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE REFUGEE SAFETY AFTER RECENT VIOLENCE TURNED DEADLY

• In Rwanda, the UN Refugee agency is calling on the government to ensure the safety and protection of refugees after clashes with police led to the deaths of at least five refugees
• The agency said that police used teargas and fired angry shots at Congolese refugees from the Kiziba camp who were protesting outside the UNHCR’s field office. UNHCR also appealed to refugee leaders to avoid further confrontation and again urged them to respect laws and seek solutions through peaceful negotiations. The refugees are protesting food ration cuts.
• As we mentioned yesterday, underfunding has severely affected humanitarian operations in Rwanda, with UNHCR’s 2018 appeal for $98.8 million funded at only 2 per cent.

• A statement issued today from our colleagues at UNAIDS. The statement says that the agency’s Deputy Executive Director, Luiz Loures, has informed the UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, that he will not to seek the renewal of his position. Dr. Loures will end his term at the end of March 2018.
• Mr. Sidibé has accepted the decision and conveyed the same to the Secretary-General. He also thanked Dr. Loures for his 22 years of dedicated service to the agency.

• The Government of the Netherlands has made its full payment to the UN’s regular budget. This payment takes the Honour Roll to 60.