HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2020
CLIMATE
Early this morning, the Secretary-General spoke by pre-recorded video message to the Japan Ministerial Meeting on Sustainable and Resilient Socio-Economic Systems in the Process of Recovery from COVID-19.
In his remarks, he stressed that the decisions being taken now will have consequences for decades and urged governments to incorporate climate action in their recovery plans.
To recover better, he said, countries need to invest in green jobs, end fossil-fuel subsidies, not bail out polluting industries, and leave no one behind.
He emphasized, as he did in recent remarks to audiences in China and India, that it makes no economic sense to burn money on coal plants. He also urged G20 members to commit to carbon neutrality before 2050.
Mr. Guterres also urged Japan and other donors to maintain their climate finance commitments and continue to support the most vulnerable.
COVID-19 RECOVERY
This morning, the Secretary-General hosted a meeting with young women economists to discuss the pandemic recovery and rethinking global economic models with a focus on jobs and climate action.
The Secretary-General said that even before the pandemic, the quality of jobs was deteriorating, and with COVID-19, unemployment, underemployment, and unpaid labour have reached crisis proportions. He added that we must do all we can to consider new ways of providing new skills to young workers and ensure that they have the right abilities for the economy of the future.
He also underscored that we must not lose sight of the long-term threat of climate change, and that recovery strategies must take this threat into account.
The Deputy-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed also addressed the roundtable and thanked the participants for their insights, adding that it’s important at this moment to be willing to discuss the hard questions, including our economic models and financial architecture, and to pursue innovative solutions that perhaps were not considered feasible before the pandemic.
G20
The Secretary-General spoke at the extraordinary meeting of the G20 foreign ministers. He told them that COVID-19 respects no borders – and that demands that we strengthen cooperation across our own.
He has said that concerns are growing that some of the current movement restrictions could outlast the immediate crisis. Furthermore, he warned, the adoption of ad hoc measures could create a patchwork of unworkable travel requirements, creating significant obstacles to global economic recovery.
The Secretary-General urged the G20 to agree on common objective criteria in relation to the removal of travel restrictions, based on scientific evidence.
He also called on the G20 countries to increase investments on systems and practices that support safe travel; to boost coordination in preventive measures; to ensure full respect for international human rights and refugee law and to agree that future vaccines will be considered a global public good to be available and affordable everywhere for everyone.
He added that we still have a long way to ago in our capacity to fight the pandemic together and that we still lack effective international solidarity to respond to the economic and social impacts and the underlying fragilities exposed by the pandemic.
CAMEROON
Turning to Cameroon, the Secretary-General strongly condemns the attack on civilians in a village hosting internally displaced persons in the Far North Region of Cameroon that took place on Tuesday, this week. The suicide bomb attack led to the killing of at least seven civilians and wounded another 14.
This horrifying attack comes just a month after 18 people died and 15 were injured by an armed group attack against a site for Internally Displaced people in the same area on the 2nd of August.
Those responsible for these atrocities must be held accountable. International human rights law and international humanitarian law must be fully respected and all civilians in Cameroon must be protected.
SYRIA
The Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, is in Moscow today where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The Special Envoy expressed his appreciation for the Russian Federation’s support of the UN facilitation and implementation of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) – that is including the work of the Syrian-led and owned Constitutional Committee, which convened in Geneva last week.
Mr. Pedersen added that the suffering of the Syrian people is acute after nearly a decade of conflict and stressed the importance of sustaining calm and building confidence.
SECURITY COUNCIL/AFGHANISTAN
Today, the Security Council held a virtual meeting on the latest report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on its work, and that was a report by the Secretary-General. During the meeting, the Council members heard a briefing by Deborah Lyons, the Special Representative in Kabul for the UN.
YEMEN
In Yemen, in late July and August, for the third time in 2020, torrential rains and flooding hit governorates across Yemen, damaging infrastructure, destroying homes and shelters, causing deaths and injuries, ruining crops and killing livestock. This makes an already catastrophic humanitarian situation even worse. That includes the growing risk of famine and the devastating impact of COVID-19.
Estimates indicated that more than 62,000 families were affected across the country.
The UN and our humanitarian partners provided emergency food supplies, hygiene kits and other essential items to more than 7,600 families affected by the floods across the country, while nearly 8,000 families have been verified for emergency assistance.
Across Yemen, 24 million people need humanitarian aid, and that includes 14 million in acute need.
By the end of August, the Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen was 24 per cent funded, the lowest figure ever seen in Yemen so late in the year; so far, we have received only $811.5 million of the $3.38 billion that we need. We urge donors to pay all outstanding pledges immediately and we urge those who have yet to pledge or pay to do so and increase support.
LEBANON
In Lebanon, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that response activities a month after the explosion in Beirut are keeping pace with evolving needs.
Following the immediate distribution of more than 7,300 weatherproofing kits, the shelter response is moving into cash for shelter, as well as on medium-term repairs and longer-term rehabilitation projects.
A range of medical services, including 2,800 consultations and at least 1,100 wound-care sessions, were provided to almost 8,000 patients. Three emergency medical teams initially deployed for the explosions are now being paired with six government hospitals to increase the capacity due to COVID-19 case management, as well as infection prevention and control.
Some 12,500 metric tonnes of wheat are being offloaded at the Beirut Port in response to the loss of the 15,000 metric tonnes of stocks stored in the silos [at the time of] the explosion. The wheat will be distributed to millers across Lebanon to support food security far beyond the immediately affected area.
To date, the UN-coordinated response to the explosions is seeking $344.5 million to address the immediate lifesaving needs for three months, and that response is less than 17 per cent funded.
ECCAS
In letters sent to both the departing President of the Economic Community of Central African States – otherwise known as ECCAS - and the new president of the ECCAS Commission, the Secretary-General congratulated the organization for ambitious institutional reforms initiated. These reforms have led to the creation of the new Commission.
The Secretary-General said the establishment of the new Commission will provide ECCAS with a mandate and adequate tools to respond more effectively to the challenges facing the region.
He reiterated the UN’s continued support for ECCAS in its efforts to consolidate regional integration, to build peace, security as well as economic and social development throughout Central Africa.
COVID-19/PEACKEEPING
In Lebanon, peacekeepers from the UN Mission there provided medical supplies to the villages of Al Qulaylah and Zibqin, in the country’s southwest. The supplies included surgical materials, infrared thermometers and surgical masks.
The UN Mission also finished renovating a government hospital in Bint Jbeil, which I am mispronouncing, also in the south-west of Lebanon. The repairs were made at the hospital’s hematology department at the request of the local authorities. This will help ensure better treatment of patients suffering from serious blood diseases such as leukemia, lymphomas and myelomas.
In South Sudan, the UN Mission and our partners there recently refurbished a COVID-19 critical care unit in Yambio in Western Equatoria. The renovated centre will have a fully equipped isolation facility. The Mission contributed a generator, beds, mattresses, bed linen, and a water tank to this facility.
COVID-19/KYRGYZSTAN
In Kyrgyzstan, the UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Ozzonia Ojielo, is working with authorities to address the impacts of the pandemic, including on the most vulnerable.
The UN team has delivered personal protective equipment – including gloves, gowns, and respirators – to 20 medical facilities in the capital and other hard-hit provinces. These facilities include hospitals for infectious diseases and centres for maternal and child health.
The supplies were purchased with money from the UN’s “Recover Better Fund”.
Health workers are still among the most vulnerable, being infected at a higher rate than others. Women are especially impacted, as they comprise more than 80 per cent of the healthcare force in the Kyrgyzstan.
UNHCR EDUCATION REPORT
A new report by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, predicts that unless immediate and bold action is taken by the international community, millions of young refugees living in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities will have fewer opportunities to begin or to continue their education. The report, entitled “Coming Together for Refugee Education”, states that in the current context, many refugee children may not have an opportunity to resume their studies. The agency says that even before the pandemic, a refugee child was twice as likely to be out of school than a non-refugee child.
Filippo Grandi, who heads UNHCR, said he was especially concerned by the impact on refugee girls.
GLOBAL FOOD PRICES
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations today said that the global food prices rose for the third consecutive month in August. This was influenced by generally firmer demand and a weaker U.S. dollar. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 96.1 points in August, up 2.0 percent from the previous month, reaching its highest level since February 2020.
WEST BANK
In response to questions about an incident depicted in a video from two days ago which appears to show Israeli soldiers violently restraining an elderly man, Al-Haj Khairi, during a demonstration in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, the spokesman said the following:
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, said that such incidents risk heightening tensions and that they must be avoided. He also said that Security forces should show restraint in responding to grievances and added that Grievances must be heard and expressed peacefully.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Paraguay and Zambia have both paid their regular budget dues in full. This takes the number of fully paid-up Member States to 114.
