NOON BRIEFING GUEST TOMORROW
Tomorrow, the guest at the noon briefing will be Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait. She will be here in the room to brief on her recent visit to Moldova and how their programme is supporting Ukraine refugee children. She will also discuss Education Cannot Wait’s first emergency response launched in Ukraine.
UKRAINE/SECRETARY-GENERAL
Speaking of Ukraine, you will have heard what the Secretary-General just said moments ago. He called for a 4-day Holy Week humanitarian pause beginning on Holy Thursday and running through Easter Sunday, according to the Orthodox calendar, to allow for the opening of a series of humanitarian corridors.
The Secretary-General noted that humanitarian needs are dire, adding that people do not have food, water, supplies to treat the sick or wounded or simply to live day-to-day.
For all these life-or-death reasons, the Secretary-General called on Russians and Ukrainians to silence the guns and forge a path to safety for so many at immediate risk. He emphasized that the 4-day Easter period should be a moment to unite around saving lives and furthering dialogue to end the suffering in the country.
UKRAINE/HUMANITARIAN
Also, this morning, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, our friend Martin Griffiths, met online from New York with representatives of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and other religious organizations representing Christians, Muslims and Jews in Ukraine and echoed their appeal for an immediate cease of hostilities for the duration of the sacred days for all three religions.
Further to what Mr. Griffiths told you yesterday, he continues his work with the Ukrainian Government and the Russian Federation to negotiate humanitarian pauses that will allow humanitarian access for the areas hardest hit by the fighting to deliver aid that people desperately need and to facilitate safe passage of civilians stranded in areas impacted by the fighting.
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the most recent escalation of hostilities is taking a toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure, adding to an already dire humanitarian situation in the country.
We also have seen that fighting has intensified in southern Ukraine, around Mykolaiv and Kherson in addition to the fighting and airstrikes that we’ve seen over the last few days. Heavy shelling in Mykolaiv has left the city without piped water for at least five days, forcing people to use water from streams and rivers. Aid workers on the ground have raised alarms about the lack of water in at least two hospitals in the city.
Across Ukraine, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the war, according to our colleagues in the Office for Human Rights, but we know that the death toll is much higher, as many reports we have received are still being verified.
For its part, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization today said that some $115.4 million are urgently needed to prevent a further deterioration of the food insecurity situation and worsening of the disruption of food supply chains in Ukraine. FAO said there is urgency to support Ukrainian farmers in planting vegetables and potatoes during this spring season, and farmers should be allowed and supported to go to their fields to save the winter wheat harvest.
FAO estimates that one‑third of the crops and agricultural land may not be harvested or cultivated this year. Preliminary data collected by FAO, through ongoing assessments, demonstrates that farmers at all levels need cash to procure inputs and services for food production and to maintain their farming operations.
UKRAINE/SECURITY COUNCIL
This afternoon in this very building at 3:00 p.m., the Security Council will hold a meeting on Ukraine, with focus on the situation of refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees. The Director General of the International Organization for Migration, António Vitorino, and the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Kelly Clements, are expected to brief Council members and we’ll share their remarks under embargo as soon as we get them.
And I also just want to flag that this morning, the Council held consultations on Libya and received a briefing from Rosemary DiCarlo, our head of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and as well as on the Middle East and other matters, they received a briefing from Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
AFGHANISTAN
I was also asked for reactions on the ghastly attacks on school in Kabul and I can tell you that the Secretary-General condemns today’s deadly attacks on schools in Kabul. He extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a swift recovery to those injured. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools, are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Also the head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, condemned the attack emphasizing that those responsible for the crime of targeting schools and children must be brough to justice. She extended her deepest sympathies to the victims’ families and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
ECOSOC YOUTH FORUM
Today was the start of the Youth Forum of the Economic and Social Council. The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, took part in a Q&A session with young people. She heard their concerns which ranged from the impacts of the pandemic on youth regarding their education and employment, to how climate change will change their future. She emphasized that the UN is ready to engage with them and that she was hopeful that younger generations are pushing world leaders and the UN to act on these issues and that they are already working on solutions.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, also attended the Forum. She stressed the need to protect open spaces where youth can stand up for human rights without facing attacks, intimidation and harassment in many countries, adding that her office is developing a toolkit on the human rights of young people with a focus on those who are especially vulnerable.
SRI LANKA
I have an update for you from Sri Lanka, where the Resident Coordinator, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, has tweeted that she is deeply concerned by reports of harm to protestors in Rambukkana. She called on the restriction of the use of force as a vital way to protect citizens and their right to exercise fundamental freedoms.
In Sri Lanka, the UN team that she leads also continues to support the country’s health and socio-economic response to and recovery from COVID-19.
To date, more than 82 per cent of Sri Lanka’s target population – which is all people above the age of 12 – have been fully vaccinated. We and our partners have helped deliver more than 5 million doses to Sri Lanka through COVAX.
Additionally, we’ve helped establish a centrally managed, digital home-based care system for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic people, which helped to significantly reduce the burden on health facilities.
The UN team on the ground is still also working on food security and nutrition, remote learning, and combating sexual and gender-based violence, among other areas.
HORN OF AFRICA
From the Horn of Africa, where we continue to flag the dire humanitarian situation. Today the World Food Programme says today that the number of hungry people could soar from 14 million to 20 million by the end of this year. WFP says this will happen if the desperately needed rains continue to fail to materialize and urgently needed humanitarian funding fails to come in.
With Somalia facing the risk of famine; half a million Kenyans are one step away from catastrophic levels of hunger; and with malnutrition rates in Ethiopia being well above emergency thresholds, the World Food Programme warns that time is fast running out for families who are struggling to survive.
WFP says the situation has been compounded by the fallout from the conflict in Ukraine, with the cost of food and fuel soaring to unprecedented highs.
Drought-affected countries across the Horn of Africa are likely to be the hardest hit by impacts of the conflict.
The cost of a food basket has already risen, particularly in Ethiopia by 66 per cent and Somalia by 36 per cent.
WFP last appealed for desperately needed funding in February, yet less than 4 per cent of what was needed was raised. Over the next six months, WFP needs $473 million to scale-up assistance and save lives across the three countries – Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
We hope to have someone from WFP brief you on that soon, on the ongoing situation on the Horn of Africa soon.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Our colleagues in the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have intensified its patrols in Ituri province to help protect civilians and deter further violence following a series of attacks on villages last week. Additional patrols were carried out by peacekeepers in the Djugu and Komanda areas in the past few days to monitor the security situation after the attacks, allegedly committed by the CODECO militia.
The ongoing insecurity in the area has disrupted some humanitarian activity in parts of Irumu and Mambasa territories which is worsening the already dire situation for many people, including those who have been displaced by the conflict.
DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY
Last but not least, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, working with their partners, have announced a new set of targets for universal and meaningful digital connectivity to be achieved by 2030.
The 15 aspirational targets, developed as part of the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, are meant to help countries and others prioritize interventions, monitor progress, evaluate policy effectiveness, and galvanize efforts around achieving universal and meaningful connectivity by 2030.
More information can be found online on ITU’s website and on the website of the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology.
