MALI
The peacekeeping Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, and UN headquarters, including the Secretary-General, are following the situation in Mali very closely. The Secretary-General calls on all Malians to preserve the integrity of the country’s democratic institutions.
The UN affirms that, together with ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union and other partners, the Organization will continue to accompany Malians in their efforts to consolidate peace and democracy.
COTE D’IVOIRE
The Secretary-General is closely following developments in Côte d'Ivoire ahead of the presidential election scheduled for October 31st.
The Secretary-General is concerned about the violent events reported in the country over the past few days, which led to the death of several people in Daoukro, Bonoua and Gagnoa. He extends his condolences to the bereaved families and wishes a prompt recovery for the injured.
The Secretary-General urges all stakeholders to engage in dialogue to resolve their differences and to create an environment conducive for a peaceful, inclusive and credible election. He reassures the Government and people of Côte d'Ivoire of the continued support of the United Nations.
LEBANON RULING
The Secretary-General takes note of today’s delivery by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of the judgement in which Mr. Salim Jamil Ayyash was convicted in relation to the 14 February 2005 attack in Beirut that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri as well as 21 other people and injured 226 more people. In the same judgment, the three other accused, Mr. Hassan Habib Merhi, Mr. Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Mr. Assad Hassan Sabra were found not guilty.
The Secretary-General’s thoughts are with the victims of the 14 February attack, and their families. The judgement in the case is a reflection of the international community’s commitment to justice for the terrible crimes committed on that day.
The Secretary-General expresses his deep appreciation for the dedication and hard work of the judges and staff involved in the case throughout the years.
The Secretary-General notes the independence and impartiality of the Special Tribunal and calls upon all to respect the decisions of the Tribunal. The Secretary‑General also calls on the international community to continue to support the independent judicial proceedings that remain before the Tribunal.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an independent court of law established at the request of the Government of Lebanon, with a clear mandate from the Security Council. That statement has been distributed to you.
LEBANON/HUMANITARIAN
Two weeks after the explosions in Beirut, we, along with our humanitarian partners continue to provide emergency assistance to those most in need.
The UN Population Fund supported mobile medical units which are providing first aid services to dozens of women affected by the explosions and distributed almost 2,000 dignity kits for pregnant women.
The UN Development Programme is providing cash-for-work assistance to help 200 people who are food insecure in Beirut. This work includes cleaning and maintenance of public areas affected by the explosions.
The UN’s partners are also working to protect more than 40,000 vulnerable men, women, girls and boys. They are also helping people to access mental health services and psychosocial support.
LEBANON/REFUGEES
The High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, began a four-day visit to Beirut today to support and listen to the people of Lebanon, as well as to migrants and refugees impacted by the devastating blast.
This is Mr. Grandi’s first field mission since the COVID-19 lockdown. The visit reaffirms the UN Refugee Agency’s solidarity and commitment to Lebanon.
Relative to its national population, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees in the world.
UNHCR is concerned about the impacts of a severe economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic on those refugees. Together with the impact of the Beirut port blast, these three factors are harming the most vulnerable and poorest parts of the population throughout the country.
While in Lebanon, the High Commissioner will see the response in the most impacted neighbourhoods.
He will also review UNHCR’s overall humanitarian response in northern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, where UNHCR has helped to expand hospitals and ICU capacity in public hospitals to address the pandemic.
He will also visit Syrian refugees, who have been severely impacted by the economic crisis and the COVID-19 measures.
YEMEN
This morning, the Security Council held a closed videoconference on Yemen.
The Acting Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ramesh Rajasingham, briefed members, telling them that we continue to work with the Houthi de facto authorities to expedite the UN mission to the SAFER oil tanker. We all share the same objective of preventing a major catastrophe from the tanker, and the UN remains eager to assist.
On 16 August, the de facto authorities issued permits for mission personnel to travel to Yemen, following the official UN request that was issued on 14 July. This is an important step forward. It came after several exchanges with the de facto authorities to reconfirm the UN mission’s technical scope and expertise.
When issuing the travel permits, the de facto authorities also sent a detailed list of equipment and supplies they want the team to bring, as well as specific repairs they expect the team to complete.
Then UN technical experts are reviewing these latest requests now to confirm feasibility, as well as any implications on timelines.
The immediate priority is to deploy to the site as quickly as possible to conduct the technical assessment. This will provide unbiased evidence of the way forward. We also want to complete whatever feasible initial repairs that can be safely undertaken during that mission.
The UN is optimistic that this work can get started as quickly as possible, and we hope to have the final clearances – beyond the entry permits for the team – that we hope they will likewise be forthcoming.
A spill from the tanker would primarily affect people in areas controlled by the de facto authorities, who bear the responsibility to meet these people’s essential needs. A spill would devastate coastal communities and could close Hudaydah port for months. This would cut off millions of Yemenis from reliable access to food and other essential items – nearly all of which must be imported.
The tragic explosions in Beirut earlier this month underline the urgency of resolving posed by the tanker. The recent oil spill in Mauritius – which leaked only a tiny fraction of what is onboard the SAFER – makes this even clearer.
Also briefing was the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy for Yemen.
BURKINA FASO
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the country has reached a tragic milestone, with more than one million people forced to flee their homes because of violence. The new data, published by national authorities yesterday, includes 453,000 people displaced since the beginning of 2020.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, 1 in 20 people are displaced in the country. Burkina Faso is now the world’s fastest-growing humanitarian and protection crisis. The agency says that attacks by armed groups in the north and east of the country have forced people to move multiple times. The regions of “Centre Nord” and “Sahel” host about 76 per cent of the displaced.
In this context, host populations are at a breaking point as they share the few resources they have, while also facing poverty, strained health services and rapidly disappearing livelihoods. The additional impact of COVID-19 is clearly devastating.
Shelter, food, water, protection and health services are desperately needed, said UNHCR, which, as you can imagine, is appealing for more support. And education also remains a priority.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBILC
The UN Mission in the country reports that the UN Peacekeepers took control of the town of Koui, in the northwest prefecture of Ouham-Pendé. This has forced combatants from the armed group Retour, Réclamations, Réhabilitation - better known as 3R - to leave the city.
Three positions of the armed group located between Koui and Bocaranga were also taken over by peacekeepers with no casualties reported among blue helmets and civilians. The UN Force is currently patrolling in the city, where the situation remains relatively calm.
As a reminder, following a growing threat and attacks by members of the 3R, the UN Mission and the Central African armed forces launched a joint military operation last June to protect civilians and restore State authorities in the country’s northwest. This includes the important task of securing the voter registration exercise ahead of the December 2020 presidential and legislative elections.
EDUCATION
In a letter sent on behalf of 280 leaders from all walks of life, Gordon Brown, the Special Envoy on Global Education, called for urgent action to address the emergency triggered by COVID-19.
The letter, addressed to the members of the G20, the World Bank, the IMF and others, said there is a real danger that the health crisis will create a COVID generation who lose out on schooling and whose opportunities are permanently damaged.
An immediate concern is the fate of an estimated 30 million children who, according to UNESCO, may never return to school.
Gordon Brown and the leaders who signed the letter are calling on the G20, the IMF, the World Bank and regional development banks and all countries to recognize the scale of the crisis and to support the initiative to enable to catch-up to happen, and progress towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals related to education to be resumed.
The proposed initiatives include a pledge signed by every country to protect front line education spending, an increase in international aid for education, and funding from the IMF.
COVID-19/CHILDREN
A new survey by the UN Children’s Fund has found that children are at increased risk of violence, exploitation and abuse because the pandemic has severely disrupted violence prevention and response services.
Of the 136 countries which responded to the survey, 104 of them said services related to violence against children had been disrupted.
UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore said the ongoing school closures and movement restrictions have left some children stuck at home with increasingly stressed abusers. She added that the subsequent impact on protection services and social workers means children have nowhere to turn for help.
VIDEO GAMES
The UN Environment Programme today said that developers and CEOs from 11 video gaming companies committed to integrating environmental storylines and messages into live games that will reach 250 million players around the world.
This is the result of the first Green Mobile Game Jam, which took place from March to April this year, and which was supported by UNEP.
The participants of the Jam were asked to address themes ranging from climate change, supporting action around reforestation and restoring nature to exploring how games can integrate education on renewable energy.
The full list of games, which includes Subway Surfer, Angry Birds 2 and Golf Clash, can be seen on UNEP’s website.
WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY
Tomorrow 19 August is World Humanitarian Day.
It was on 19 August 2003 in Baghdad that terrorists rammed a truck bomb into the Canal Hotel, which at the time served as the UN headquarters in Iraq. As a result, 22 of our colleagues were killed, with many, many more being injured.
In his message for the day, the Secretary-General will stress that humanitarian workers are being stretched like never before as they respond to the global crisis of COVID-19, and the massive increase in humanitarian needs resulting from the fallout of the pandemic.
As part of the Day’s commemoration, the #RealLifeHeroes campaign is paying tribute to those humanitarians who are treating and preventing COVID-19, providing food to vulnerable people in need, providing safe spaces for women and girls in lockdown; delivering babies; fighting locusts and running refugee camps, all during the pandemic. Many of these people are often in need themselves, like many refugees who are helping their host communities.
