HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 11 JUNE 2021
SECRETARY-GENERAL/G7
This morning the Secretary-General landed in London on his way to the G7 meeting in Cornwall, where he will go tomorrow morning.
In London, the Secretary-General held a series of bilateral meetings with senior British officials. He met with Alok Sharma, the president of the COP26, which will take place in Glasgow in December; Lord Ahmad, the Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth; and also Lord Goldsmith, the Minister for the Pacific and the Environment.
And at 1 pm our time, the Secretary-General held a press conference in the UK about the G7 meeting. In the briefing to the G7 press, the Secretary-General underscored the pivotal moment in which we find ourselves. He will outline the necessary bold steps that the international community needs to take in the face of both the Covid pandemic and the climate change crisis.
ETHIOPIA
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today warned that in Tigray, more young children and babies slide dangerously close to sickness and potential death from malnutrition.
UNICEF says that it is working with partners to provide nutrition, health care and clean water support. However, without humanitarian access, an estimated 33,000 severely malnourished children in currently inaccessible areas in Tigray are at high risk of death.
UNICEF said that it is scaling up its nutrition response in Tigray across all seven zones, focused on screening and treating children suffering from severe wasting. Since February, 250,000 children under five years of age have been screened for wasting and more than 7,000 of them have been admitted for treatment.
The UN Children’s Fund requires $10.7 million to provide ready-to-use therapeutic food to children in Tigray and affected neighbouring zones in Amhara and Afar regions. The funding will also enable UNICEF and partners to provide routine medication and scale up life-saving treatment of wasting and counselling of mothers and caregivers on recommended infant and young child feeding practices.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The Humanitarian Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, David McLachlan-Karr, has condemned an attack on the Boga General Referral Hospital in the province of Ituri.
The attack, which took place on Monday, happened in the context of clashes that left at least 10 people dead on the same day. The hospital normally serves over 80,000 people in the Boga health zone, where it is located. It was destroyed and looted during the attack.
Since the beginning of the year, health authorities have documented at least four attacks on medical facilities in the Boga health zone alone, as well as the abduction of health workers. The attack on the hospital is part of a recent series of serious incidents affecting civilians and humanitarian organizations in the Ituri Province. You will recall that last week, 55 civilians were killed in attacks on the towns of Boga and Chiabi.
The province of Ituri hosts 1.65 million internally displaced people. Some 2.8 million people - half the Ituri population - are severely food insecure, including 810,000 people in the IPC Phase 4 – or emergency phase.
YEMEN
The UN is deeply concerned by yesterday’s missile and drone attack in Yemen, in the Marib City, which reportedly caused dozens of civilian casualties. It also occurred close to the compounds in Marib City where humanitarian workers are housed.
This incident follows an attack on a fuel station over the weekend in Marib City, which also caused casualties.
Yesterday’s attack reinforces yet again how civilians in Yemen are bearing the brunt in this conflict. The United Nations urges the parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including ensuring the protection of civilians, aid workers and civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan is currently 43 per cent funded, with $1.65 billion having been received out of the total $3.85 billion requirement.
IRAN
The Islamic Republic of Iran has paid the minimum amount due and is no longer under Article 19 of the UN Charter.
IRAQ
The Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Irena Vojáčková-Sollorano, has visited the Shariya Camp for displaced people in Dohuk governorate. The visit came in the aftermath of a fire on 4 June that destroyed some 288 tents in the camp, leaving over 1,000 people homeless.
Resources were swiftly deployed last Friday to put out the fire, secure the area and support those affected, including with temporary tents, alternative shelters, water and hot meals. During her visit to Dohuk, Ms. Vojáčková-Sollorano met with families that were affected by the fire and listened to their concerns and the challenges facing them.
LIBYA
Ján Kubiš, the Special Envoy for Libya, has been continuing his travels and meetings in which he has emphasized the importance of holding inclusive Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Libya on 24 December 2021 and of starting the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces from the country.
At the national level, the Special Envoy held a series of telephone calls with several Libyan interlocutors, including Prime Minister Abdelhamid AlDabaiba, and the Commander of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, General Khalifa Haftar.
He also visited Moscow from 7- 9 June and held a series of meetings with senior officials of the Russian Government, including Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergey Vershinin and Mikhail Bogdanov.
WEST AFRICA
The UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel has launched a Regional Working Group on climate change, the environment, security and development in the region.
The working group, launched in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), aims to combine the knowledge and expertise of its members to promote an integrated and harmonized approach to climate change-related risks.
The members will examine the “adverse implications of climate change” in the region, with the aim to assist governments and the UN system to address these challenges.
Their work will be done in coordination with the Economic Community of West African States, linking regional policy development with local and national action.
MOZAMBIQUE
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said that it remains gravely concerned for the safety of civilians in northern Mozambique.
According to UNHCR, armed conflict and insecurity in the coastal city of Palma continue to displace thousands of people, two and a half months after a brutal attack by non-state armed groups. People are fleeing daily in a desperate search for safety both in Mozambique and across the border in Tanzania.
UNHCR continues to advocate for the internally displaced to receive protection and assistance in Mozambique and for vulnerable people seeking safety in neighbouring Tanzania to access asylum.
For its part, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that following the Palma attack, there are some 2,000 registered children who have no idea where their parents are, or if they are even alive. UNICEF warned that what is happening in Cabo Delgado is a children’s crisis, an emergency on top of an emergency. It is a deadly cocktail from the impacts of climate change, conflict and COVID-19.
MYANMAR
On Myanmar, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today warned that a further escalation in violence was unfolding across the country. She said that it must be halted to prevent even greater loss of life and a deepening humanitarian emergency.
She said there appear to be no efforts towards de-escalation but rather a build-up of troops in key areas, contrary to the commitments the military made to ASEAN to cease the violence.
The High Commissioner encouraged the intensification of regional diplomacy, including by ASEAN and other influential States, to insist on the immediate cessation of violence and ongoing human rights violations. Dialogue is urgently needed with the National Unity Government and civil society stakeholders.
FIJI
The UN team in Fiji, led by the Resident Coordinator Sanaka Samarasinha, is supporting authorities by mobilizing resources to ensure there are adequate supplies and equipment for testing, contact tracing, treatment and vaccination.
The rollout of the vaccines began in March this year with initial supplies from the COVAX Facility. To date, Fiji has received nearly 60 per cent of its initial COVAX allocation, with the remaining 43,200 doses due to arrive by the end of this month. As of today, nearly 230,000 individuals have received their first dose—that’s nearly 40 per cent of the target population.
The UN team has also provided essential medical and laboratory items, and has provided support on the vaccine rollout, procurement and supply operation of vaccine doses, including freight, logistics and storage. Additionally, the UN team also procured and delivered several machines for testing and 2.5 million units of personal protective equipment, 4,600 units of biomedical equipment, nearly 45,000 units of testing equipment, including swabs, and other medical supplies. Our team is also monitoring the impact on food security, nutrition, and livelihoods across Fiji, especially for those employed in the informal sector who have lost their jobs.
CENTRAL AMERICA
The international community yesterday reaffirmed its solidarity with forcibly displaced people in Central America and Mexico and with the seven countries that make up the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework, known as MIRPS. This happened during the Solidarity Event for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities in Central America and Mexico, which was hosted by Costa Rica.
The event announced $110 million in contributions, including $7.6 million from the Spanish Government.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, encouraged continued cooperation, saying that the crisis in Central America is both humanitarian in its impact and related to security and development in its roots.
SCIENCE REPORT
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today launched its Science Report, showing that spending on science worldwide increased 19 per cent between 2014 and 2018. There was also an increase of 13.7 per cent in the number of scientists, and according to the report, this trend has been further boosted by the COVID crisis.
However, these figures hide significant disparities. The report says that just two countries, the United States and China, account for nearly two-thirds of this increase, while four out of five countries lag far behind, investing less than 1 per cent of their GDP in scientific research. The scientific landscape thus remains largely a landscape of power.
UNESCO stresses that the world must focus on providing science with the tools it needs and that science must become less unequal, more cooperative and more open.
WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR
Tomorrow is World Day Against Child Labour. This year, the Day focuses on action taken for the 2021 International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), today, one out of every 10 children is in child labour. ILO and UNICEF warn that the COVID-19 crisis threatens to reverse years of progress in tackling the problem.
INTERNATIONAL ALBINISM AWARENESS DAY
Sunday, 13 June, is International Albinism Awareness Day. This year’s theme is: Strength Beyond All Odds. In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General says that the theme reflects the resilience, perseverance and achievements of people with albinism in the face of pervasive misconceptions, discrimination and violence.
The Secretary-General urges all nations and communities to protect and fulfil the human rights of all persons with albinism and provide necessary support and care.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Lebanon has now paid its regular budget dues. That brings the number of paid-up Member States to 107.
