Noon briefing of 31 August 2020

This morning, the Secretary-General held a virtual town hall with young women from civil society organizations to hear about their experiences on the impact of the pandemic and their recommendations in addressing the crisis and building back better.
The Secretary-General told them that the pandemic is exposing and worsening the considerable hurdles women face in achieving their rights and fulfilling their potential.
“Progress lost may take years, even generations, to recover,” he said, adding that protecting the rights of women and girls during this time is a top priority for the United Nations.
The Organization has called on countries to take action to put women and girls at the centre of the pandemic recovery by ensuring they still have access to healthcare, protecting them from gender-based violence, expand social safety nets and recognize the value of unpaid work. He emphasized that as countries rebuild, their approach must be more equal, inclusive and resilient.
The Secretary-General listened to their views and encouraged them to continue to be part of the conversation with the United Nations.

DARFUR
The Joint Special Representative for the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Jeremiah Mamabolo, attended the initialing of a peace agreement today between the transitional Government of Sudan, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and Sudan Liberation Movement–Minni Minnawi (SLM/MM), in Juba, South Sudan.
Mr. Mamabolo congratulated the Sudanese people on this significant step and commended, in particular, the signatory parties for their determination, courage and commitment to lasting peace in Sudan.
He expressed hope that this agreement is perceived as the start of a process that includes all in a positive move towards peace, justice and national unity. This includes the full realization of the hopes, dreams and aspirations of all the people of Sudan, including Darfuris.
Mr. Mamabolo also said that he hopes those who remain outside will soon join the peace process to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the Sudanese people and the objectives of the December 2018 Revolution.

SYRIA
The Small Body of the Syrian Constitutional Committee wrapped up its session in Geneva on Saturday.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Geir Pedersen, said that the tone of the talks was respectful and that he received a clear message from the Co-Chairs and the members that they are keen to meet again.
Mr. Pedersen also expressed his appreciation for the strong support of the international committee for the work of the Constitutional Committee.

YEMEN
The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, yesterday expressed his deep concern over the major fuel shortages in Ansar-Allah controlled areas, calling on the parties to work urgently with his Office to reach a solution that guarantees Yemenis’ access to their basic needs of fuel and oil derivatives and the use of associated revenues to pay civil servant salaries.
Mr. Griffiths said that fuel shortages have devastating and widespread humanitarian consequences for the civilian population. Life in Yemen is unforgiving enough without forcing Yemenis to struggle even harder for their everyday needs that are connected to fuel such as clean water, electricity and transportation. The flow of essential commercial imports, including of food, fuel and medical supplies, and their distribution to the civilian population across the country must be ensured.
He said that there have been detailed discussions with both Parties to reach a solution that guarantees meeting the critical and urgent priorities of ensuring Yemenis’ ability to receive the fuel and oil derivatives they need through the Hudaydah port, and the use of associated revenues to pay the salaries of public sector employees.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
In a statement, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jamie McGoldrick, today called on Israel to immediately allow the resumption of fuel into the Gaza Strip, in line with its obligations as an occupying power, to ensure that the basic needs of people are met and to prevent a collapse of basic services.
He also called on the Hamas authorities to cease and prevent the launching of incendiary balloons, rockets and other actions that risk further destabilizing the situation.
Mr. McGoldrick said that, in the context of an escalation of hostilities with Palestinian armed groups launching projectiles into Israel, Israel has limited the transfer of certain goods into blockaded Gaza, reduced the permissible fishing area and prevented fuel deliveries, including the UN-facilitated fuel for Gaza’s sole Power Plant.
As a result, the Gaza Power Plant ceased operations on 18 August, sharply reducing electricity provision to nearly 2 million Palestinians to a maximum of four hours per day.
In addition, and marking a significant deterioration in the health situation, on 24 August, the first cases of COVID-19 outside the quarantine facilities were confirmed. To date, there are 280 known active cases, 243 of which are from community transmission.
The situation is hindering the provision of services in the quarantine facilities and the capacity of the health system to cope with the increased demands.

LATIN AMERICA
A report released today by the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) shows the consequences and measures taken by educational systems in the region in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.
The report warns that because of the economic contraction, the amount of resources available for education could fall by more than 9 per cent in 2020 alone, with the real budgetary consequences coming to light in 2021.
The document stresses the urgency of calculating the costs of national educational systems and prioritizing spending, as well as ensuring the protection of education as a fundamental human right and harnessing the transformative potential of education, not only to build resilient systems but also to contribute to the social recovery.

HAITI
In Haiti, the Core Group – comprising the Ambassadors of Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the United States, France, the European Union, the Organization of American States, as well as the Head of the UN Integrated Office in the country (BINUH) – has condemned in the strongest terms the assassination, on Friday, August 28, of Maître Monferrier Dorval, President of the Bar of Port-au-Prince.
They added that Maitre Dorval was not only a respected lawyer, he was committed to the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in Haiti. His murder is an attack on these fundamental values.
The Core Group called for an investigation by the relevant authorities, including the Haitian National Police, adding that the perpetrators of this murder should be arrested and brought to justice.

COVID-19/WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SURVEY
The World Health Organization (WHO) today published a first indicative survey on the impact of COVID-19 on health systems based on 105 countries’ reports. Data collected from five regions from March to June 2020 illustrate that 90 per cent of the countries experienced disruption to their health services, with low- and middle-income countries reporting the greatest difficulties.
Most countries reported that many routine and elective services have been suspended. Critical care – such as cancer screening and treatment and HIV therapy – has seen high-risk interruptions in low-income countries.
Countries also reported disruptions in malaria diagnosis and treatment, tuberculosis case detection and treatment and antiretroviral treatment. While some areas of health care, such as dental care and rehabilitation, may have been deliberately suspended in line with government protocols, the disruption of many of the other services is expected to have harmful effects on population health in the short- medium- and long-term.
WHO will continue to work with countries and to provide supportive tools to address the fallout from COVID-19. Given countries’ urgent demand for assistance during the pandemic response, WHO is developing the COVID19: Health Services Learning Hub, a web-based platform that will allow sharing of experiences and learning from innovative country practices that can inform the collective global response.

MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
This past weekend, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called for the immediate disembarkation of more than 400 rescued migrants and refugees currently on board three vessels in the Central Mediterranean.
The UN agencies stressed that a solution must be found, and the vessel provided with a safe port for disembarkation. UNHCR and IOM noted that the lack of agreement on a regional disembarkation mechanism is not an excuse to deny vulnerable people a port of safety and the assistance they need, as required under international law.
UNHCR and IOM also said that they are deeply concerned about the continued absence of dedicated EU-led search and rescue capacity in the Central Mediterranean. With relatively fewer NGO vessels compared to previous years, the gap is increasingly being filled by commercial vessels.

DESECRATION OF THE QURAN IN MALMO, SWEDEN
The High-Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Miguel Moratinos, has expressed his unequivocal condemnation of the burning of the Quran by far-right extremists in the city of Malmo, Sweden. The incident on Friday, which triggered riots in Malmo, was termed by the High-Representative as despicable and totally unacceptable nor justifiable.
Mr. Moratinos noted that such deplorable acts perpetrated by hate-mongers including by far-right extremists and other radical groups incite violence and tear apart the fabric of our communities. These acts are an affront to the objectives and values embraced by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations which works on the promotion of mutual respect and understanding and strengthening intercultural and interreligious dialogue.
He called on religious leaders across the faith spectrum to renew their denunciation of all forms of violence based on religion or belief.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Sri Lanka has paid its regular budget dues in full, bringing to total number of Member States which have done so to 112.