SECRETARY-GENERAL/PEACEBUILDING
In remarks to a virtual session of the General Assembly and the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General discussed his 2020 review of the peacebuilding architecture.
He told Member States that, looking at the suffering around the world, we know that the human and financial cost of focusing primarily on crisis response is unsustainable.
He said that at the centre of his 2020 Report is the conviction that multidimensional, integrated and whole-of-society responses are vital to meet the challenges of the 21st century and leave no one behind.
He added that despite this progress, adequate, predictable and sustained financing for peacebuilding remains a critical challenge.
 
AFGHANISTAN PEACE TALKS
Today, the Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said that the UN family in the country welcomes the upcoming face-to-face peace talks between Afghan parties in Doha, Qatar. She stressed that the suffering of the Afghan people has gone on for far too long.
Ms. Lyons said that tomorrow’s opening event can be the start of something truly momentous and negotiators from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban have a unique opportunity to save the lives of many of their compatriots and to lift the country out of poverty and misery.
Ms. Lyons wished them every success and emphasized that the UN will be there to support them, as required.
While the ultimate goal of the talks is to silence the guns forever, an immediate and unconditional reduction in violence would create a more conducive environment for constructive talks, she added. In the context of the health and economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 virus, poverty and natural disasters, a pause to the fighting would enable critical humanitarian aid to reach the millions that require assistance across Afghanistan.
 
SECURITY COUNCIL
Security Council members met in a closed video teleconference session this morning on Myanmar.
Council members were briefed by the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener; the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi; and Kanni Wignaraja, the UN Development Programme’s Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.
 
GREECE/MORIA CAMP
Turning to the situation in Greece, the Secretary-General, in a tweet posted last night, said that he has been following the devastation from the fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesvos. He added that the solution lies in caring for all people affected, especially the most vulnerable, starting with transferring the population to the mainland.
The initial fire broke out on 8 September causing extensive damage to thousands of shelters for asylum seekers and common areas. 
Today, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that more fires were reported on 9 September as well as yesterday. The latest fires have affected the adjacent fields next to the Moria Reception and Identification Center (RIC), destroying what remaining accommodations were still available.
While no casualties have been reported to date, the fires have now left 11,500 asylum seekers without adequate shelter, sleeping on streets, fields and beaches on the island. Among them are 2,200 women and 4,000 children.
UNHCR warned that the coronavirus pandemic is also adding to an already desperate situation. The agency has been offering support to Greek authorities to help protect and assist the impacted asylum seekers.
 
MEXICO
The UN Human Rights Office and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the murder of journalist Julio Valdivia Rodríguez in the state of Veracruz in Mexico.
He worked as a correspondent for a newspaper in the border region between the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca. Mr. Valdivia Rodríguez is the fourth journalist to have been murdered in Mexico this year.
The Human Rights Office and UNESCO on the authorities to investigate his murder in accordance with the standards of due diligence so that this crime does not remain unpunished. The Secretary-General lends his voice to this condemnation and, as you know, he has repeatedly spoken out on this issue, stressing that all journalists should be able to do their work freely and in safety, without fear of death or harm.
 
COVID-19/CAMBODIA
On Cambodia, we have an update on what our colleagues in the UN team there, led by Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis, are doing to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UN and the Government are working together to help the poorest households, rolling out a cash transfer scheme that will help an initial group of more than 600,000 people living below the poverty line. We have provided 1,700 tablets to authorities to track these transfers and identify health, nutrition and educational needs. This has led to cash transfers to include pregnant women and households with children below the age of two.
UNESCO and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are helping the Government with distance learning for the more than 3 million students who are out of school due to the pandemic. Educational programmes are being broadcast on official channels and over social media networks, with more than one million views. The UN’s work on education also includes sign language, braille and radio programmes for multilingual education.
 
CAMBODIA/HUMAN RIGHTS
On a separate issue on Cambodia, the UN Human Rights Office today expressed its concern over the recent arrests of human rights defenders.  The Office calls on the Government to immediately and unconditionally release people detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. It also calls on the Government to end intimidation of civil society actors.
 
PALESTINE
Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, the Humanitarian Coordinator there, Jamie McGoldrick, said that the Israeli authorities’ policy of demolishing Palestinian-owned structures has continued even during the COVID-19 pandemic, undermining many people’s access to livelihoods and services.
In a statement issued yesterday, he said that, from March to August of this year, 389 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank were demolished or confiscated. That is an average of 65 per month, the highest average in four years. More than 400 Palestinians have been left homeless due to these demolitions.
 
SUDAN FLOODS
On Sudan, which saw torrential rains and floods this week, the World Health Organization said today that it is providing surgical supplies and medicine.
Nearly 30 health facilities were damaged, although this has not led to a major interruption in services.
WHO said that Sudan’s health system continues to suffer from years of underfunding, staff shortages, weakened infrastructure, and the lack of equipment, essential medicines and supplies. 
Together with the Government and its partners, WHO has identified health needs and responded to disease alerts, including diarrhoea, measles, COVID-19, and others. More information online.
 
REEM ABAZA
Today was Reem Abaza’s last briefing as Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly. I think we all agree that Reem has been absolutely fantastic during her job here, and thank you for your great work over this past year and we hope to keep seeing you in some other capacity.