HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 21 MARCH 2019
NEW ZEALAND ATTACK
The Secretary-General is now back in New York following his travel to Buenos Aires.
This afternoon, he intends to visit the Permanent Mission of New Zealand to sign the condolence book for those who died in last week’s massacre in Christchurch.
In his statement on that attack, the Secretary-General underscored the sanctity of mosques and all places of worship.
Accordingly, on Friday, just after noon, he will visit the Islamic Cultural Centre of New York at 96th Street here in Manhattan.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General is announcing Denise Brown of Canada as his new Deputy Special Representative for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), where she will also serve as UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.
Ms. Brown succeeds Najat Rochdi of Morocco, who completed her assignment in February. The Secretary-General is grateful for Ms. Rochdi’s leadership and dedicated commitment during her tenure to supporting recovery, peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts in the Central African Republic.
Ms. Brown brings to the position over two decades of professional experience and an extensive knowledge in humanitarian affairs and recovery programmes with a particular focus on contexts of complex emergencies. She has been serving at World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome since 2017.
WESTERN SAHARA
Today, delegations from Morocco, the Frente POLISARIO, Algeria and Mauritania are meeting in Geneva for a second roundtable on Western Sahara, hosted by the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Horst Köhler.
During the meeting, which will last until tomorrow, the delegations are expected to discuss elements of a solution in accordance with Security Council resolution 2440, to revisit regional issues and to explore trust-building measures.
The Personal Envoy hopes the meeting will also build on the positive dynamic achieved during the first roundtable, held last December in Geneva.
CHAD
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the humanitarian community in Chad is requesting US$474 million to respond to the needs of 2 million people amid high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, displacement and disease epidemics.
Some 4.3 million people in Chad are in need of humanitarian assistance. There are also more than 650,000 internally displaced people in Chad, with continued displacements expected in the Lac region amid active conflict there. In addition, the prospects of returns by refugees from the Central African Republic and Sudan also remain limited due to ongoing insecurity in their countries of origin.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Following their visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last few days, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, and UNICEF’s Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, are calling for urgent and sustained funding for the Government-led response to meet the needs of children, families and vulnerable communities including people with disabilities.
Mr. Lowcock said that we can beat back the massive and protracted humanitarian crisis in the country, but we urgently need donors to provide further funding as needs continue to outpace resources.
The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for the DRC requires US$1.65 billion to provide 9 million people with life-saving assistance.
IRAQ
The UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL announced this morning the completion of the first exhumation of a Yazidi mass grave in Iraq’s Sinjar region, in the village of Kojo.
The Investigative Team reports that the victims’ remains and associated evidence have arrived safely at the Medico-Legal Directorate in Baghdad. The UN Mission in Iraq has a press release with more details.
INDONESIA
Our humanitarian colleagues report that according to the Indonesian Government, more than 100 people have died, an estimated 160 people are injured and almost 9,700 others are internally displaced following flash flooding in several districts. Some 79 people are still missing.
The central and local governments, civil society and the private sector are providing assistance, with a joint search and rescue mission ongoing.
Severe infrastructural damage has also been recorded.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which this year is being held under the theme, “Mitigating and countering national populism and extreme supremacist ideology.”
In his message, the Secretary-General said this day is an occasion for all of us to renew our promise to end racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred. He highlighted the recent massacre at two mosques in New Zealand as the latest tragedy rooted in such poison.
The Secretary-General said we must all work harder to repair the fissures and polarization that are so prevalent in our societies today.
Also today, we mark a number of other international days: the International Day of Forests; the International Day of Nowruz; World Down Syndrome Day and World Poetry Day.
EXHIBIT
Today, the Department of Global Communications officially opens a new exhibit, called “From Africa to the New World: Slavery in New York”.
It will be displayed until 8 April in observance of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The exhibit looks at the impact that the transatlantic slave trade had on persons of African descent, both free and enslaved, in New York City during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
HONOUR ROLL
We thank Iraq, which has paid its regular budget dues in full, and this payment takes the Honour Roll to 74.
