HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Youth standing up for human rights is the theme for this year’s Human Rights Day.
In an event that began a few minutes ago, the Secretary-General said that throughout history and across the world, young people have been at the forefront of standing up for what is right.
As someone who grew up under a dictatorship, he said, he is deeply inspired by the energy and passion young people bring to the struggle for human rights.
The Secretary-General reiterated that human rights are at the core of the United Nations and inform all of our work.
He highlighted some of the challenges we currently face. Human rights violations, misogyny and exclusion are widespread and systematic, he said. Inequality is growing and hate speech is poisoning public debate. The climate crisis, urbanization and endless conflict, he added, are denying millions of people their fundamental rights and freedoms.
In her own message, Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it is particularly fitting that this year, we mark this day during the UN conference in Madrid to uphold climate justice.
She added that the global climate emergency presents perhaps the most profound planet-wide threat to human rights we have seen since World War II. From the right to life, to health, to food, water and shelter, to our rights to be free of discrimination, to development and to self-determination, its impacts are already making themselves felt.
 
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVEL
Just a reminder that the Secretary-General will be heading back to the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid. Tomorrow, he will take part in several events, including the High-Level Meeting of Caring for Climate organized by the UN Global Compact and the High-Level Event on Global Climate Action. He will be there until the closing of the Conference, which is scheduled to take place on Friday evening.
 
COP25 UPDATE
In Madrid, at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP25, 15 initiatives have been recognized by the UN Global Climate Action Awards.
The award-winning projects range from an in-app programme that has helped plant 122 million trees, to a women-led project that generates clean energy from the ocean, and Quebec’s international climate finance programme, which is uniquely funded by the province’s own carbon market.
 
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVEL
In Jordan, yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, visited a number of installations of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and received information about the Agency’s health programme and services to Palestine refugees.
She visited the Nuzha Health Centre, in the north of Amman, and the Nuzha Elementary Girls’ School, where she also engaged with a group of students representing the school parliament from that area.
The Deputy Secretary-General said that the role that UNRWA plays in ensuring that the protection and human development of Palestine refugees is a constant priority is remarkable.  She said that quality health and education are key to any individual and societal well-being, and that is what she saw in the UNRWA facilities in Jordan.
 
FLOODS
For the past few weeks, we’ve been telling you about the flooding that has been affecting many parts of Africa.
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that at least 170,000 people have been impacted by heavy rains in the Republic of the Congo – that’s Congo Brazaville. This includes some 30,000 refugees from the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The UN is supporting the Government-led response efforts and has sent food, hygiene kits and other urgently-needed supplies by boat to the hardest-hit area.
Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, some 140,000 people have been affected by flooding.
The UN and our partners are supporting the Government response, sending nearly 2,600 metric tons of food and supplies for thousands of households.
 
U.N./O.S.C.E.
Today, Miroslav Lajčák presented to the Secretary-General the signed letter on the occasion of issuing the Joint Statement to Supplement the 1993 Framework for Cooperation and Coordination between the United Nations Secretariat and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Mr. Lajčák presented the signed letter in his capacity as OSCE Chairman-in-Office and on behalf of the Secretary General of the OSCE, Thomas Greminger.
The Secretary-General and Mr. Lajčák reaffirmed commitments to continue to enhance the partnership between the United Nations Secretariat and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, answering the calls of the General Assembly and Security Council for closer partnership with regional organizations.
 
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION/EBOLA
In an op-ed published today, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said a manmade terror is keeping health workers awake at night in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Dr. Tedros was in eastern DRC last week to follow up on the recent attacks against Ebola responders. He said health workers dedicated to helping their neighbours should not be confronted by such violence and fear.
He is calling for increased security, effective dialogue at community level, and a clear demonstration of political will to protect humanitarian operations.
 
SMALLPOX
Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) marks the fortieth anniversary of the signing of the certificate of the eradication of smallpox.
Smallpox was a terrible disease that had killed 30 per cent of the people who contracted it and had caused 300 million deaths between 1900 and 1978.
In 1967, WHO had intensified its efforts through the global eradication programme. The last naturally occurring case of the disease had been detected in Somalia in 1977.
Five months after the signing of the certificate of eradication in December 1979, at the thirty-third World Health Assembly, the WHO Member States had declared the disease eradicated.
 
BANGLADESH
Also on vaccines, the UN is helping the Government of Bangladesh immunize more than 635,000 Rohingya refugees and people from the host community in Cox’s Bazar against cholera.
The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and other partners are supporting the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its three-week campaign in Cox’s Bazar, where the number of cases of acute watery diarrhea is on the rise.
Both WHO and UNICEF have prepositioned medical supplies to respond quickly to any cholera outbreak.
 
GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM
And I would like to flag that the first-ever Global Refugee Forum is taking place between 16 and 18 December 2019 in Geneva.
Hosted by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Government of Switzerland, this global conference, will be attended by leaders and ministers, is the first high-level gathering to follow up on the practical implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, which was affirmed at the UN in New York one year ago.
The aim of the Forum is to give impetus towards achieving the Compact’s objectives and to translate international solidarity into concrete action.
 
WESTERN SAHARA
Lastly, I wanted to say that there were rumours that the Secretary-General has made a decision on the appointment of his next Personal Envoy for Western Sahara.
This is not true and baseless. The process to select the Personal Envoy for Western Sahara is ongoing. The Secretary-General looks forward to appointing an Envoy as soon as the process is completed.