HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 31 AUGUST 2018
 
U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ATTEND FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION IN BEIJING

• Tomorrow the Secretary-General will leave for a visit to China, where he will speak at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which is a Summit being held in Beijing.
• During his visit, the Secretary-General will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and other senior Chinese officials.
• He will also meet with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, and other African leaders on the margins of the Summit.
• The Secretary-General will be back in New York on the evening of 4 September.
• And a reminder that UN Headquarters will be closed for the Labor Day Holiday on Monday.

• Today, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed concluded her visit to Oslo in Norway today, where she met with several senior government officials, including Prime Minister Erna Solberg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for International Development. They discussed the climate security nexus, multilateralism, the importance of prevention, the challenges facing human rights in today’s world and Norway’s strong support for the repositioning of the United Nations.
• Ms. Mohammed also held a town-hall meeting with students at the University of Oslo. She will be back in New York later today.

• The High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, wrapped up a visit today to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, where he spoke to the press today.
• Mr. Grandi said he had discussed the evolving situation in Syria during his meetings, especially the future of millions of people displaced in Syria as well as the millions of Syrians in neighbouring countries.
• He said the situation in Syria is very political, stressing that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) remains a humanitarian organization that is focused on one objective: to support refugees.
• The High Commissioner also emphasized that the best solution remains voluntary repatriation, adding that people should not be forced to go back.
• In Damascus, he said he echoed the appeal regarding Idlib made by the Secretary-General to find a solution that spares civilian lives and averts a humanitarian catastrophe.

• The Security Council unanimously approved the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the country (UNIFIL), which was welcomed by the new Force Commander today, Major General Stefano Del Col.
• He said that the extension, at the request of the Lebanese Government, reaffirms the importance of maintaining the cessation of hostilities along the Blue Line and the prevailing calm in the UNIFIL area of operation south of, in south Lebanon.

• As previously stated, the ongoing energy crisis in Gaza is having a devastating impact on the already dire humanitarian situation.
• Today, the Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick, wrote to the donor community informing that the United Nations Assisted Emergency Fuel Program, which provides life-saving fuel to operate standby emergency generators at critical health centers, water and sanitation facilities has run out of funding. If new funds are not received immediately he said, we will be facing a potentially catastrophic breakdown in service delivery, whereby services provided at hospitals, clinics, as well as sewage treatment, water and sanitation facilities will cease. Based on the current electricity deficit in Gaza, with up to 20 hours of power outages per day, a minimum of $4.5 million is required to enable the delivery of some 1.4 million liters of emergency fuel per month to sustain these services until the end of the year.

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, welcomed today’s release of 75 children by the Government of Myanmar, which she called an important step in strengthening the protection of children in the country.
• She said she is encouraged by the positive actions taken by the Government following her visit to Myanmar in May, when she strongly advocated for the release of all children, as well as access to Rakhine, Shan and Kahn State and the adoption of the [child] rights law.
• Ms. Gamba calls for the release of all remaining children from the Tatmadaw’s ranks and for continued collaboration with the UN.

• The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) is working with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners to establish a fourth Ebola treatment centre, in Makeke. The Mission is also supplying food, water, electricity and tents to medical personal who are involved in vaccination interventions.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is continuing to work with the Government on a 30-day readiness plan against the Ebola virus in all provinces in the country. The first phase of implementation will prioritize the six provinces at highest risk. The main objective is to ensure that these provinces can mitigate, rapidly detect, investigate and effectively respond to a possible outbreak of the disease.

• Ethiopia, Italy, Spain, Peru, Poland and the Gambia have endorsed the Declaration of Shared Commitments on Peacekeeping Operations, which we talked to you about a few days ago.
• As was previously announced, France, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Pakistan have already endorsed this Declaration.
• The Secretary-General sent the Declaration to Member States, as well as international and regional organizations, for their endorsements on 16 August. He has requested that Member States convoy their endorsements by 14 September, ahead of the Heads of State and Government Event on Action for Peacekeeping on 25 September during the General Assembly.

• Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General announced the appointment of Lt. Gen. Dennis Gyllensporre of Sweden as Force Commander for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, otherwise known as MINUSMA.
• Lt. Gen. Gyllensporre succeeds Major General Jean-Paul Deconinck of Belgium, who will complete his assignment on 2 October.  The Secretary-General is grateful for his exemplary service and leadership of MINUSMA.
• As the Chief of the Swedish Defence Staff and Head of Special Forces since November 2014, Lt. Gen. Gyllensporre has had a long and distinguished career since joining the Swedish Army in 1983. More on that is in a press release.

• In Libya, the UN Migration Agency, (IOM) is responding to the urgent humanitarian needs of hundreds of displaced Libyans and migrants affected by violence, following armed clashes in the Libyan capital.
• IOM has been providing blankets, mattresses, food and beverages to migrants who had been removed from detention centres in southern Tripoli and relocated to other areas. It is also working with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to speed up voluntary humanitarian returns.

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today urged the Greek Government to address the situation in Aegean Sea Reception and Identification Centres, commonly known as ‘hotspots’.
• The Centres are severely overcrowded with thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants living in inadequate and rapidly deteriorating conditions. Some have been living in these centres for more than six months.
• UNHCR called on the authorities to accelerate procedures for transfer to the mainland and to improve conditions in reception centres and provide alternative accommodation for the most vulnerable.