HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANIE TREMBLAY,
ASSOCIATE SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2022
SECRETARY-GENERAL AT COP27
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the launch of the report of the High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitment of Non-State Actors.
You will remember that the Secretary-General announced the establishment of the Group during last year’s COP. Today’s report proposes recommendations to businesses, financial institutions, cities and regions so they can ensure high credible and accountable net-zero pledges. The report focuses on four key areas: environmental integrity, credibility, accountability and the role of governments.
In his response to the report, the Secretary-General was very clear: “Let’s tell it like it is,” he said. “Using bogus ‘net-zero’ pledges to cover up massive fossil fuel expansion is reprehensible. This toxic cover-up could push our world over the climate cliff. The sham must end,” he said.
He called on all non-state actors to review their pledges and align them with his and the report’s guidelines. He also called on leaders to provide non-state entities with a level playing field to transition to a just, net-zero future. Those remarks have been shared with you.
And also earlier today, the Secretary-General also spoke at the event on Accelerating Adaptation in Africa and he met with regional groupings and leaders on the sidelines of the conference.
Tomorrow, he will take part in the launch of the former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s climate TRACE initiative, and he will also meet with his Youth Advisory Group and other young activists.
UKRAINE
In Ukraine, Denise Brown, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator there, was in the city of Zaporizhzhia today, where she heard the stories of people whose lives have been torn apart by the war and have seen how humanitarians are working tirelessly to help them.
Zaporizhzhia, which has been targeted several times in recent weeks with missile strikes, is now home to 160,000 people who fled from other parts of the country.
Today, Ms. Brown visited a centre established by authorities of the city of Melitopol, currently under the control of Russian forces, to help people who fled that city.
Ms. Brown said that, in this centre, the UN, the humanitarian community, authorities and volunteers have come together and they are doing remarkable work to provide the Melitopol people with the support they need. Every day at this centre, more than 200 people receive essential services and supplies.
On Kherson, our humanitarian colleagues say they continue to receive reports of attacks impacting civilian infrastructure, adding to an already complex situation on the ground. Yesterday, for example, a school was destroyed in Zolota Balka village.
The UN and our partners are working to support people in the areas we can access, which are the ones under the control of the Ukrainian Government. In the past eight months, we have reached nearly 100,000 people with critical assistance in the Kherson region, with most of them having received cash assistance.
Last month, the World Food Programme and its partners distributed food to 57,000 people in retaken areas of Kherson. Just a few days ago, UNICEF delivered nearly 30 generators to clinics and pumping stations. This will ensure that medical facilities in the towns that are back under Ukraine’s control can have electricity, and that water and heating systems serving over 12,000 people will be up and running again. Our work to support people in the Kherson region will continue in the days ahead.
HAITI
In Haiti, UN colleagues and partners continue to scale up their response to the cholera outbreak which as you know, as we mentioned a few days ago, has now spread beyond the metropolitan area of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The UN’s Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) continues to support the Ministry of Health in epidemiological surveillance. It is also procuring and distributing medical equipment and therapeutics to the 20 cholera centres (CTC) that operate throughout the country.
UNICEF and PAHO have recently been supported by USAID, which has transported approximately 14 metric tonnes of critical supplies from Panama City, in Panama, to Port-au-Prince to be used by PAHO and UNICEF in their cholera response.
Also, since mid-September, the World Food Programme has reached over 71,000 people with different types of assistance, distributing close to US $600,000 in cash and also 530 metric tonnes of food. Over 43,000 hot meals have also been delivered to internally displaced people who are hosted in sites as well as in cholera treatment centres in Port-au-Prince.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) has supported 24 of its partners with fuel and the humanitarian air service, UNHAS, has undertaken over 200 flights as part of the response effort.
SYRIA
On Syria, senior UN officials in the region have expressed their deep concern over the escalation of hostilities in the country’s north-west. Muhannad Hadi, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis; Ayman Gharaibeh, the Director of the UN Refugee Agency’s Middle East and North Africa Bureau; and Sudipto Mukerjee, the acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, issued a joint statement on this topic yesterday.
They say that shelling, airstrikes and clashes were reported yesterday in the vicinity of Idleb City, causing fires and destroying tents and homes of hundreds of displaced families in three camps supported by humanitarian organizations.
Reports indicate that at least nine civilians were killed – including four children – and 75 civilians were injured.
At least 400 families have reportedly been displaced and 60 shelters were completely destroyed. These incidents are just the latest of the hostilities in north-west Syria.
At least 121 civilians have been killed and at least 210 others have been injured this year, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
All parties to the conflict must take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Humanitarian conditions continue to decline in north-west Syria due to the ongoing hostilities and a deepening economic crisis. Today, 4.1 million people – 80 per cent of them women and children – rely on UN assistance to meet their most basic needs.
Cross-border assistance remains an indispensable part of the operation by the UN and our partners to reach all people in need. The Secretary-General, in his most recent report last month, expressed hope that the Security Council will find a consensus to prolong the cross-border mechanism in January of next year.
SRI LANKA
In Sri Lanka, our UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, has revised its Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan.
This Plan now aims to help 3.4 million people and continues through this December.
Since June, the Plan has been responding to the Government’s request for UN-backed support for Sri Lanka amid its worst socioeconomic crisis since independence. Donor support has helped the humanitarian community reach more than 1 million people over the past couple of months with cash, food, school meals, medicine, protection, and livelihood support.
While we and our partners have raised around $78 million so far to tackle the needs, the revamped Plan now needs nearly $150 million.
The Plan’s revised targets include immediate food assistance for 2.4 million vulnerable and food-insecure people as well as support for 1.5 million people who work in agriculture and fishing - to revive food systems that have been severely disrupted.
The Resident Coordinator stresses that safeguarding livelihoods is safeguarding lives. She thanked the international community and called on continuous support to address the pressing needs of the Sri Lankan people.
FASHION AWARD
And finally, a note of a completely different kind for you.
Last night, the United Nations received the Environmental Sustainability Award at the Council of Fashion Designers of America – it was yesterday, the 2022 Fashion Awards. The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, accepted the prestigious award on the UN’s behalf.
