HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 19 JUNE 2018
 
IN NORWAY, SECRETARY-GENERAL SPOTLIGHTS NEED FOR WOMEN IN MEDIATION PROCESSES

• The Secretary-General is in Norway today, where just a few moments ago he held a press conference with Prime Minister Erna Solberg. He praised Norway for being a strong pillar of multilateralism and a strong defender of the rules-based international order and thanked the Prime Minister for her efforts to promote the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular for the protection of the oceans. He added that we must all assume the protection of the oceans as a collective responsibility.
• Earlier this morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the Oslo Forum, where he emphasized the role of mediation to solve conflicts. In particular, he focused on the importance of having women involved in mediation processes.
• On the sidelines of the Forum, he met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Ines Eriksen Soreide, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, the Foreign Minister of Oman, Alawi bin Abdullah, and the German Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Niels Annen.  The Secretary-General then had an audience with King Harald V and Crown Prince Haakon, who is one of UNDP’s longest serving ambassadors.
• The Secretary-General also visited a newly inaugurated exhibition on the Sustainable Development Goals at the Nobel Peace Centre and he met with representatives of the High-Level Panel on Building a Sustainable Ocean Economy.
• He will depart shortly for Moscow.

• Martin Griffiths, the Special Envoy for Yemen, is continuing his diplomatic efforts. He has left Sana’a and is travelling to Jeddah, where he will be meeting key officials from the Coalition.  He will also contact the Government of Yemen to discuss with them his mediation efforts on Hodeidah.  Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Griffiths briefed the Security Council on the framework that he has been discussing with his interlocutors, as well as on the situation in and around Hodeidah.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that heavy fighting and airstrikes are continuing in several locations in Hodeidah City and districts south of the city. An estimated 5,200 families have fled the fighting since 1 June, moving to safer areas within their home districts or neighbouring areas.
• Humanitarian partners continue to distribute emergency kits and other assistance to affected people. Assistance includes about 50,000 litres of water being trucked to affected areas every day, in addition to 20 newly established water points.  A concerted effort is underway to engage the parties to ensure the safety of humanitarian partners on the ground, and to remind them of their obligations under international humanitarian law.
• The World Food Programme also reports they are unloading food from three ships in Hodeidah harbour, which will give them the ability to feed about six million people for one month.

• At the invitation of the Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, consultations were held in the United Nations Office at Geneva today with senior representatives of Iran, the Russian Federation and Turkey, on the way ahead for the implementation of the Sochi Final Statement and the establishment of a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned constitutional committee, facilitated by the UN, within the framework of the Geneva process and in accordance with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).
• During the meeting, constructive exchanges and substantive discussions took place on issues relevant to the establishment and functioning of a constitutional committee, and some common ground is beginning to emerge. The Special Envoy now anticipates inviting Iran, the Russian Federation and Turkey back to Geneva in the next few weeks, in order to widen the common ground.
• The Special Envoy welcomes the three countries’ re-affirmation of their support of the United Nations’ role in facilitating the establishment and functioning of the constitutional committee.
• In response to questions about Afrin yesterday, the Spokesman said that the UN remains concerned about both the 136,000 people estimated to remain in Afrin District and the 134,000 people who were displaced to the Tal Refaat sub-district, Nabul and Zahraa towns and surrounding communities. A needs assessment conducted in Afrin district last month found that services and markets were limited with many service providers displaced during the military operations.
• While Damascus-based UN agencies and their partners have not been granted permission to deliver assistance to Afrin district by the Government of Syria, over 10 cross-border humanitarian organizations have been delivering aid and providing services to Afrin district from Turkey.

• Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council this morning and said that settlement activity has continued in the occupied Palestinian territory. He reiterated that all settlement activity is illegal under international law.
• The Special Coordinator noted the recent violence in the region, including during the protests in Gaza. Mr. Mladenov said that Israel has a duty to protect all its citizens but it must do so while using lethal force only as a last resort. 
• He welcomed Egypt’s decision to open the Rafah border crossing and expressed the hope that the situation in the Sinai will allow for the border opening to be sustained.
• Mr. Mladenov also warned that the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, is weeks away from painful cuts because of its budget shortfall and added that a pledging conference for UNRWA will be held in New York on 25 June.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that some 215,000 people remain at risk of landslides and floods in Cox’s Bazaar, including an estimated 42,000 refugees in the highest-risk areas who have been prioritized for relocation due to imminent risk.
• Improvements to camp infrastructure including road construction and dredging of waterways continue, led by the Government.
• 30 mobile medical teams are also on stand-by and ready for deployment as needed, and an Early Warning Alerts Network has been established to identify and respond to any outbreaks.

• Forced displacement reached a new high in 2017 for the fifth year in a row, led by the crisis in Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan’s war, and the flight into Bangladesh from Myanmar of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.
• In its annual Global Trends report, released today, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency said 68.5 million people were displaced as of the end of 2017.
• Among them were 16.2 million people who became displaced during 2017 itself, either for the first time or repeatedly – indicating a huge number of people on the move and equivalent to 44,500 people being displaced each day, or a person becoming displaced every two seconds.
• Refugees who have fled their countries to escape conflict and persecution accounted for 25.4 million of the 68.5 million.
• In short, the world has almost as many forcibly displaced people in 2017 as the population of Thailand. Across all countries, one in every 110 persons is someone displaced.

• The Czech Republic has paid its budget dues in full, becoming the 104th Member State to do so.