HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2022
SECRETARY-GENERAL/INDIA
The Secretary-General is in India where, today, he started the day by attending a tribute to the victims of the November 26th attacks that took place at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai.
Soon after, he participated in a UN Day Public Lecture on the partnership between India and the UN and strengthening South-South Cooperation. The event also marked the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. In his remarks at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, the Secretary-General noted that India is the biggest provider of military and police personnel to UN missions – including the first all-women UN police contingent that was sent to a UN peacekeeping mission.
The Secretary-General pointed out that as the home of one-sixth of humanity and the world’s largest generation of young people, India can make or break the 2030 Agenda.
He encouraged India’s engagement in deep reform of the global financial architecture, which currently favours the richest countries at the expense of the rest.
He also urged India to become a global superpower in renewables technology, and a manufacturing hub to fuel this revolution around the world.
He added that India’s voice on the global stage can only gain in authority and credibility from a strong commitment to inclusivity and respect for human rights at home.
Following the lecture, the Secretary-General headed to Kevadia in Gujarat State, where he met with the Minister of External Affairs of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Tomorrow, he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he will also visit a model project site, which has recently been declared India’s first solar-powered village.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, Valentine Rugwabiza, briefed the Security Council this morning.
She said that the hope for peace in the country remains. She noted the Mission’s contribution, in support of national forces, to improve security, which has allowed for the free movement of populations and the increased return of displaced people to areas recently freed from the grip of armed groups. However, she added, civilians continue to be threatened by renewed activity of armed groups in other parts of the country.
In her remarks, Ms. Rugwabiza called on the Central African government to lift restrictions on night flights, saying they are essential for the safety and security of peacekeepers and our partners on the ground.
She renewed her appeal for continued political efforts to end violence in the country as well as for sustained support from the Security Council.
MALI
A quick update on Mali. The two peacekeepers from Chad who were wounded in the IED attack are receiving medical care in Dakar, Senegal.
ETHIOPIA
The Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Nderitu, expressed grave concern over the renewed escalation of conflict in the Tigray region involving the Federal Government of Ethiopia and allies and forces backing the Tigrayan authorities. The targeting of civilians based on their ethnicity or perceived affiliation to the warring parties remains a key characteristic of the conflict and one that is worsened by horrifying levels of hate speech and incitement to violence.
Ms. Nderitu echoed urgent calls by the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union [Commission], Moussa Faki, for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
DJIBOUTI
From Djibouti, the UN team on the ground, led by Resident Coordinator Jose Barahona, continues to support authorities leading the response to the combined impacts of drought and the global cost of living crisis, among other socioeconomic challenges. The World Food Programme (WFP) launched a food assistance distribution campaign for 90,000 people facing acute and severe food insecurity in the most impacted areas. As we have mentioned before, WFP’s logistical hub in Djibouti has handled the arrival of two WFP-chartered ships from Ukraine through the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The ships docked in Djibouti at the end of August and the end of September. They carried 60,000 metric tons of food aid for the Horn of Africa region, including Djibouti. On the health front, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have supported authorities to vaccinate nearly 40,000 children against measles.
That’s 86 per cent of all children under the age of five.
UKRAINE
In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that air and missile strikes continue to impact energy and other critical infrastructure in several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, and oblasts around the country. That is between 17 October and today. The attacks resulted in massive disruptions to electricity and power-dependent water supply in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and other cities.
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to support people impacted by the crisis. Recent interventions include supporting housing repairs through cash assistance or material, including in Chernihiv city in northern Chernihivska oblast.
In Zaporizhzhia, the UN Refugee Agency will provide emergency shelter kits to the local Department of Social Protection to share with communities whose houses were damaged or destroyed in the attacks on 10 and 17 October.
Yesterday, UNICEF delivered 12 generators to the eastern Kharhivska oblast to ensure continuation of healthcare services and water pumping and treatment amid attacks on infrastructure. They also launched a cash enrollment centre in Kharkiv city in the eastern Kharkivska oblast to support people’s immediate needs.
Earlier this week, a UN inter-agency convoy reached the city of Marhanets in the central [Dnipropetrovsk] oblast. The World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF delivered food and other items to 5,000 people.
CUBA
Regarding Cuba, the UN humanitarian Chief, Martin Griffiths, has allocated $7.8 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support relief efforts after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian in late September.
The funds will help address 575,000 peoples’ needs for food security, health, water and sanitation, shelter and education. Hurricane Ian was one of the worst disasters ever to hit Cuba, pummeling the country’s western provinces and affecting an estimated 3.2 million people.
Food, health supplies, hygiene kits, shelter supplies and other items that were pre-positioned ahead of the hurricane are already reaching people in need, but they need much more support.
The UN system in Cuba, led by Consuelo Vidal, our Resident Coordinator has launched a $42 million Plan of Action to enable relief efforts and jump-start recovery. This CERF allocation will support these efforts.
PHYSICAL INACTIVITY
A new report published today by the World Health Organization is telling us that in the current decade, almost 500 million people will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases, all due to physical inactivity. According to the Global Status Report on Physical Activity, if governments don’t take urgent action to encourage more physical activity among their populations the costs for societies could reach US$ 27 billion annually.
**NOON BRIEFING GUEST
Bruno Lemarquis, the Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, briefed reporters on the humanitarian situation in the country.
NOON GUEST/ HYBRID BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow, Denise Brown, the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, will brief reporters in person.
At 1:15 p.m., there will be a hybrid briefing by Alexandra Xanthaki, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.
