HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2018
SAUDI ARABIA
The Secretary-General has just returned to New York after having been in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, yesterday, where he witnessed what he called a "historic moment" - the signing of a peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Speaking to reporters with the Saudi Foreign Minister after the event, the Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation to the role played by His Majesty, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for bringing the parties together. The Secretary-General noted that the agreement means there is a wind of hope blowing in the Horn of Africa. He pointed to other progress that’s being made in the region, including talks between the leaders of Djibouti and Eritrea.
While in Jeddah, he met separately with King Salman, as well as with the Crown Prince and the Foreign Minister. In all of these meetings, he discussed the funding shortfall for UNRWA [the UN Relief and Works Agency] and the situations in Syria's Idlib as well as in Yemen.
PHILIPPINES
We expect to issue a statement on this later today, but I do want to say for now that we extend our condolences to the victims of Typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines and China, as well as those of Hurricane Florence, that hit North and South Carolina.
In the Philippines, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is working closely with the Government to coordinate rapid assessment and response. Major areas of need include food, health, water, sanitation and hygiene as well as shelter. Access to high mountainous areas is often of concern as well as potential floods and landslides.
The United Nations stands ready to support the Government’s relief efforts as needed.
YEMEN
Martin Griffiths, the Special Envoy for Yemen, is in Sana’a; he’ll also be there tomorrow. On Wednesday, he will travel to Riyadh for two days and then go onward to New York, to be here during the General Assembly.
Over the weekend, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, initialed a note verbale with authorities in Sana’a to enable the medical transfer of critically ill patients, by chartered flight, to a medical facility that is equipped to manage such cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with all parties to confirm the operating procedures for the humanitarian air bridge.
And an independent international company has been contracted to review the medical records of the patients who are selected to ensure they are eligible for the service. The humanitarian air bridge will operate for an initial period trial of six months.
MIDDLE EAST
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said yesterday he was concerned at the intention of the Israeli authorities to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar, also known as Abu Al-Helu, a community of 181 people, over half of whom are children. He calls on the authorities not to proceed with the demolition and to cease efforts to relocate Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank. Such actions are contrary to international law and could undermine the chances for the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.
Today Mr. Mladenov extended his condolences to the family of Ari Fuld, an Israeli-American civilian, who was stabbed in the West Bank yesterday. Everyone must stand up to violence and condemn terror, Mr. Mladenov said.
And today, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jamie McGoldrick announced the release of $1 million from the Humanitarian Fund for the Occupied Palestinian Territory to prevent the collapse of life-saving services in the Gaza Strip.
The funds will be allocated to the UN-Assisted Emergency Fuel Programme, which provides emergency fuel, mainly for back-up electricity generators, to around 250 critical health, water and sanitation facilities in the Gaza Strip.
While the allocation will provide enough fuel for one-and-a-half months, at least $2 million in additional support is still needed to cover the bare minimum.
SOUTH SUDAN
On peacekeeping, our colleagues report that a Nepalese peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was shot and wounded by a Government soldier while travelling in a convoy in the town of Yei over the weekend, on Saturday.
The peacekeeper was evacuated to the UN base before being airlifted to Juba for further medical treatment.
In a statement over the weekend, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, David Shearer, described the attack as unacceptable, and said the perpetrator must be found and held accountable by the authorities of the Government. He added that it was beholden on the Government to bring their forces under control.
In the same statement, Mr. Shearer said it was disheartening that, despite the signing of the revitalized peace agreement by all parties to the conflict days ago, fighting is continuing in South Sudan’s Central Equatorian region.
He said all forces must disengage as required by the peace agreement, and the parties must work together to build trust between themselves and with the people of South Sudan.
DPRK
Back here, as you will have seen, Rosemary DiCarlo, the Head of the Political Affairs Department, briefed the Security Council this morning on developments in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and she recalled that the Secretary-General has welcomed the commitment made by Chairman Kim Jong Un on 5 September to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo also said the Secretary-General, during his upcoming high-level week during the United Nations General Assembly, will discuss how he and the UN system can further support the parties and what steps can be further taken towards advancing sustainable peace, security, and complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions. He hopes that the inter-Korean summit, as well as the planned summit between the leaders of the US and the DPRK, will further contribute to the process.
CLIMATE
Late on Friday, UN officials welcomed the outcomes of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
The Secretary-General said the Summit had “brought together actors demonstrating the vast opportunity afforded by climate action. They are betting on green because they understand this is the path to prosperity and peace on a healthy planet.”
The UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said the Summit will encourage governments worldwide to step up their actions, demonstrating the vital role that states and regions, cities, companies, investors, and civil societies are playing to tackle climate change.
The outcomes of the Summit will provide a valuable contribution ahead of General Assembly discussions and New York Climate Week, taking place in a few days’ time, as well as for the Climate Change Conference in Poland in December.
PEACEKEEPING
Also an update on the Declaration of Shared Commitments to UN Peacekeeping — part of the Secretary-General’s efforts to renew our collective action to strengthen and support UN peacekeeping operations.
We’re now pleased to announce that one hundred and nine (109) countries have now endorsed the Declaration.
They represent:
• 15 of the top 20 uniformed personnel contributors accounting for 84% of all personnel contributions;
• 9 of 13 states that host peacekeeping operations;
• 10 of the 15 current Security Council members and 4 of the 5 incoming Council members;
• 8 of the top 10 countries by assessed financial contributions which make up almost 80% of all contributions to peacekeeping.
The Secretary-General calls on all remaining Member States to join in endorsing the Declaration before the High-Level event on 25 September.
The list of endorsing countries is published daily on the website of the Peacekeeping Department.
CARRIBEAN
A new report released today says that the UN Development Programme (UNDP) mobilized $25 million dollars to increase resilience and restore over 800 buildings for the most vulnerable people in Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, which were hit by two powerful back-to-back hurricanes a year ago.
UNDP partnered with the governments, the private sector and other UN agencies to install more resilient roofs in devastated houses and nearly 1,000 contractors were trained in more resilient recovery techniques. Thousands of tonnes of debris were also removed and recycled, allowing for recovery of roads and important sites.
