SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVELS
Today in Vienna, the Secretary-General joined former Governor of California and R20 President Arnold Schwarzenegger at the formal opening of the annual R20 conference, which brings together leaders at the sub-national level, the private sector and civil society to support governments in developing and financing low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure projects in the fields of renewable energy, energy-efficient lighting and waste optimization.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General underscored the importance of the work done below the national level, saying that climate action at the sub-national level is key to addressing the climate crisis. The Secretary-General said that we need a post-carbon economy, a climate-smart development pathway that can provide inclusive prosperity for all on a healthy planet. This is doable, he added, provided that there is political will. 
The Secretary-General pointed to the absurdity of the ongoing subsidies of fossil fuel. What we are doing, he said, is that we are using taxpayers’ money to boost hurricanes, to spread droughts, to melt glaciers, to bleach corals – in other words, to destroy the world. 
On the sidelines of conference, the Secretary-General met with Dr. Gunther Thallinger from the German insurance group Allianz, whom he thanked for supporting the UN's climate finance efforts.
Prior to leaving Austria, the Secretary-General sat down and interviewed Mr. Schwarzenegger for his Instagram account.
The Secretary-General is now on his way to Aachen, Germany, to take part in the ceremonies around the awarding of the Charlemagne Prize.
You will have seen that we shared the Secretary-General’s remarks yesterday at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Vienna International Center, which is home to a number of UN agencies. The Secretary-General also met with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and spoke to the media afterwards, and those press remarks are out as well.
 
SYRIA
The Security Council this morning received a briefing on Syria from Ursula Mueller, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who told Council members that an estimated 3 million people in Idlib are caught up in the crossfire of recent fighting. She said that, despite the announcement of a temporary ceasefire on 17 May, fighting in Idlib has continued, and she described repeated attacks in recent weeks on health facilities in north-western Syria.
Ms. Mueller said that so far in May, more than 170,000 ready-to-eat meals have been handed out to those who fled the latest violence, with shelter being provided for 25,000 newly displaced people.  She warned that further military operations will overwhelm our ability to respond.
She asserted that all parties are obliged to abide by international humanitarian law, and sparing hospitals and schools is a legal obligation – not an option.
Ms. Mueller also drew attention to the situation around Rukban, saying that the United Nations now has access to the more than 13,000 people who have left Rukban and is providing humanitarian assistance to them.  But access is still needed for the population inside Rukban and a third humanitarian convoy is needed to go to the area.
 
PEACEKEEPING – TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Under-Secretary General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Operational Support, Atul Khare, are in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, to attend the 5th International Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping Symposium.
They will both speak at the opening of the four-day meeting whose theme is “Predict, Prevent, Protect.” The conference, hosted by the UN Department of Operational Support in cooperation with the Kazakh Government, brings together representatives from governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to discuss peacekeeping issues.
Mr. Lacroix and Mr. Khare will also hold meetings with Kazakh officials and will also meet a contingent from Kazakhstan that has just returned from their deployment with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
 
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
A new UN human rights report has found that people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are trapped in a vicious cycle of deprivation and corruption.
The report is based on more than 200 first-hand accounts by escapees.
It says that the country’s public distribution system has been broken for two decades, forcing people to try to eke out a living in a legally precarious parallel economy, putting them at risk of arbitrary arrest, detention and extortion.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said that the rights to food, health, shelter, work, freedom of movement and liberty are universal and inalienable, but in the DPRK, they depend primarily on the ability of individuals to bribe State officials.
She stressed the need to tackle what she called the country’s profound human rights problems. Only then, Ms. Bachelet said, can the endemic system of corruption which pervades all aspects of life be effectively dismantled.
The full report is online.
 
LIBYA
Our humanitarian colleagues say that more than 82,000 people have fled their homes due to conflict and deteriorating conditions in affected areas in and around the Libyan capital Tripoli.
We estimate that over 100,000 people remain in immediate frontline areas, with over 400,000 more in areas directly impacted by clashes within one kilometre of the front, where conditions are deteriorating. Some 146 civilian casualties, including 40 deaths, have been verified.
Water shortages and electricity cuts are increasingly hitting conflict-affected neighbourhoods. A 37 per cent reduction in water supply to Tripoli from the ‘Man-Made River Project’ network remains of concern as temperatures rise.
 
NIGERIA
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said a recent spike in clashes in northwestern Nigeria has forced some 20,000 people to flee to neighbouring Niger since April.
UNHCR is working closely with authorities in Niger to provide basic assistance and register these people.
The latest surge in violence is not linked to Boko Haram, but rather to clashes between different ethnic groups, with those fleeing reporting extreme violence, such as machete attacks and sexual violence.
UNHCR says that Niger continues to be a leading example in the region for providing safety to refugees who have fled conflict and persecution. It has kept its borders open despite fighting in several regions bordering Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso.
 
AFGHANISTAN
Our colleagues at UNICEF said today that the number attacks on schools in Afghanistan tripled from 68 to 192 between the years 2017 and 2018. This marks the first time the number has increased since 2015.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said that the senseless attacks on schools; the killing abduction of teachers; and threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children.
Due to the conflict in Afghanistan, more than 1,000 schools closed by the end of last year, leaving half a million children out of school.
 
EDUCATION
Also on education, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, took part in the Third International Conference on Safe Schools in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, yesterday.
He said that, in the last five years, there have been more than 14,000 attacks on schools in 34 countries.
In Yemen, Mr. Lowcock said, some 2,000 schools are inoperable, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, children who are not in school face a higher risk of being recruited by armed groups, being kidnapped, being enslaved, and facing child marriage.
His full remarks are online.
 
ANTI-SEMITISM
Our human rights colleagues in Geneva today condemned the rise in anti-Semitic incidents taking place in Europe and in the United States.
Such events, the UN Human Rights Office said, unfortunately are not isolated, with acts of physical violence against Jews having increased in a number of countries – especially Germany, France and the United States – in recent years.
The Office urges all governments to redouble their efforts to combat racism and related intolerance in all its forms.
 
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
On Friday, too late for our briefing, we made a senior personnel announcement. The Secretary-General appointed Lt. Gen. Shailesh Tinaikar of India as his new Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS for short.
 
CONTRIBUTIONS
Today, we say a big thank you to Andorra and Guinea for their payments to the regular budget. The total number of Member States who have contributed is now 100.
 
***The guest at today’s noon briefing was Luis Alfonso de Alba, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Summit.