COVID-19 VACCINES
This morning, the Secretary-General took part in a joint virtual press conference with Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization as he launched the Global Vaccination Strategy.
The Secretary-General said that vaccine inequality is the best ally of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is allowing variants to develop and run wild, condemning the world to millions more deaths, and prolonging an economic slowdown that could cost trillions of dollars, he said.
Mr. Guterres noted that a plethora of global, regional and bilateral initiatives has failed to deliver, not getting us anywhere close to the first benchmark of 10 per cent vaccination in all countries by the end of September, which was the first benchmark set.
He said that the WHO’s new Global COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy is a costed, coordinated and credible path out of the pandemic for everyone, everywhere.                                                            
It is up to Member States to do their part, to come together, doing everything that is needed for this strategy to succeed, he underscored.

ETHIOPIA
As you may have seen yesterday, the Secretary-General spoke in the afternoon at the Security Council’s open meeting on Ethiopia.
He was very clear that all humanitarian aid in Ethiopia is still not reaching anywhere close to the levels needed in Tigray.
All efforts should be squarely focused on saving lives and avoiding a massive human tragedy. We will continue to play our mandated role and work with the Government of Ethiopia and with our partners to support millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, and across the country, he said.
Mr. Guterres called on Ethiopian authorities to allow us to do this without any hindrance and to facilitate and enable our work with the urgency that this situation demands.   
Our humanitarian colleagues report today that the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Tigray remains heavily constrained via the only road access route through the Afar province.
In the past week, 80 trucks arrived in Tigray carrying food, nutrition and other assistance, but, as we’ve been telling you for quite some time now, we need 100 trucks to enter Tigray every day to meet the needs on the ground. Much-needed fuel and medicine have not been allowed in since July.
A second flight by the European Union’s Humanitarian Air Bridge also arrived yesterday, carrying 10.6 tons of cargo, including nutrition supplies. While this is welcome, it is only a small fraction of the supplies needed. 
The lack of commercial supplies arriving to Tigray has led to severe shortages of essential commodities in markets. Prices of these commodities have also surged in recent months. For example, the price of cooking oil has increased by 433 per cent in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray.
Despite challenges due to the depletion of supplies, fuel and cash, our partners and us have continued to respond to some urgent needs in Tigray and scaled up responses in Amhara and Afar which have also been impacted. Since August, our partners have provided food to more than 440,000 people in Amhara and 72,000 people in Afar.

AFGHANISTAN
The World Health Organization said today that since August 30, nine flights have arrived in Afghanistan with a total of 186 metric tonnes of health supplies. This is enough to benefit 2.5 million people.
WHO said the essential medicines and other urgently needed supplies have been distributed across the country.
For its part, the UN Refugee Agency said it is scaling up its response to provide lifesaving assistance to internally displaced persons due to the conflict in Afghanistan. UNHCR said that nearly 4,500 people were supported through emergency assistance to meet their immediate needs.
As you know, last month, the humanitarian community launched the Afghanistan Flash Appeal, calling for $606 million to provide priority life-saving assistance to more than 10 million Afghan men, women and children. This money is needed to cover the costs for the most vulnerable until the end of the year. Despite the outpouring of support and global attention to the dire situation in Afghanistan, the flash appeal remains only 35 per cent funded.

SYRIA
The sixth session of the Constitutional Committee Small Body for Syria will convene in Geneva, starting on Monday, 18 October. The Co-Chairs will for the first time meet on 17 October together with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, to prepare for the session. The Committee’s sessions will be closed.
As Mr. Pedersen told the Security Council not too long ago, the Co-Chairs’ agreement on methodology is based on three pillars that formed the basis of the Special Envoy’s engagement with them: 1) respect for the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure; 2) the submission of texts of basic constitutional principles in advance of the meetings; and 3) regular Co-Chair meetings with Mr. Pedersen before and during the coming session. The Co-Chairs are also committed to setting provisional dates for future meetings and discussing a workplan. 

MALI
Peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Mali have assisted in the evacuation of wounded Malian soldiers, following a complex attack carried out yesterday by presumed members of an extremist group. The attack took place in the south-west of Bandiagara, in the Mopti region, which has seen quite a bit of the violence.
A number of soldiers from the Malian armed forces were also killed in the attack.
In a tweet, Paul Ndiaye, the Acting Force Commander, expressed the Mission’s condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.

SOUTH SUDAN
The UN Mission tells us it’s providing logistical support to set up three Special Courts in Rumbek State. The aim of these new courts is to oversee fair and speedy trials for criminal cases in that area.
The Mission also recently handed over three new police facilities to national authorities. These facilities will include detention sites for both women and men, a fully refurbished police station, and a pharmacy for police officers.
As part of its efforts to respond to COVID-19, the Mission has handed over a 24-bed isolation unit to the Nimule Hospital in Eastern Equatoria to help manage and control infectious diseases.

PAKISTAN
Turning to Pakistan, our humanitarian colleagues report that there was an earthquake there earlier of 5.9 on the Richter scale in the Balochistan Province.
The Pakistan Red Crescent Society has reported 41 deaths as of this afternoon Pakistan time, and these numbers are expected to rise.
We are engaging with the National Disaster Management Authority, which has indicated that they do not expect to request international assistance. We are also in contact with the Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority.
The main sources of electricity in the area are out, but there are no reports of disruptions to water or phone connections so far.

POVERTY INDEX
The UN Development Programme today released its global Multidimensional Poverty Index, which reveals stark inequalities among ethnic groups.
The Index, which examines the level and composition of multidimensional poverty across 109 countries covering 5.9 billion people, found that disparities in multidimensional poverty across ethnic and racial groups are greater than disparities across geographical subnational regions.
For example, in Bolivia, indigenous communities account for about 44 per cent of the population but represent 75 per cent of multidimensionally poor people. The figures are also stark in India where five out of six multidimensionally poor people were from lower tribes or castes.

WORLD COTTON DAY
Today is World Cotton Day. The aim of the Day is to raise visibility of the cotton sector as well as to raise awareness of the critical role that it plays in economic development, international trade and poverty alleviation. 
The observance also aims to use cotton as an example to highlight the importance of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

FOOD PRICES
The Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said that world food commodity prices rose in September. This was led by tightening supply conditions and robust demand for staples such as wheat and palm oil. 
In September, the FAO Food Price Index was up 1.2 per cent from August and 32.8 per cent higher than in September of last year.