HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 5 JANUARY 2023
UKRAINE /FACT-FINDING MISSION
The Secretary-General has decided to disband his Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) regarding the 29 July 2022 Incident at Olenivka in Ukraine in the absence of conditions required for the deployment of the Mission to the site. The establishment of the FFM has been announced on 3 August 2022 following the requests from the Governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The Secretary-General is very grateful to Lt. Gen. dos Santos Cruz of Brazil, Ms. Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir of Iceland, and Mr. Issoufou Yacouba of Niger for their availability to undertake the task.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for full respect of international humanitarian and human rights law, including the protection and treatment of prisoners of war.
UKRAINE/HUMANITARIAN
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today two inter-agency convoys, facilitated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, delivered aid to two towns in the southern Khersonska oblast. The aid was from the International Organization for Migration, the UN Refugee Agency, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization. It included medicine, emergency shelter kits, blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene kits and solar lamps.
The aid is intended for 5,000 residents of the towns of Novoraisk and Mylove, which had been heavily affected by fighting. The Government of Ukraine regained control of these towns late last year.
Several civilian casualties were also reported on both sides of the front lines in the eastern Donetsk region, where shelling continues to damage homes and infrastructure.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/PORTUGAL
The Secretary-General is on leave in his home country, Portugal. This afternoon, in Lisbon he will receive the University of Lisbon Award, and he will make some remarks.
Tomorrow also in Lisbon, the Secretary-General will take part in a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Expresso newspaper, which will be webcast on the newspaper’s website.
On Sunday he heads to Geneva where on Monday he will participate in the conference to support Pakistan and the recovery from the floods.
SYRIA
The Security Council met this morning on the question of Syria’s reported chemical weapons programme.
Members were briefed by Adedeji Ebo, the Director and Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
MIDDLE EAST
This afternoon at 3 o’clock, the Security Council will have a briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.
Council members will receive a briefing on the latest developments, including on the situation at the holy sites in Jerusalem, from Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
The Secretary-General reiterates the importance of upholding the status quo, in line with the special role of Jordan, and he calls on all to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around Jerusalem's holy sites.
ETHIOPIA
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in the northern parts of Ethiopia, aid continues to be sent into the Tigray region. Between November of last year, following the cessation of hostilities and the end of December, more than 3,000 trucks carrying food, as well as health, shelter, water and other supplies, have been brought into the region through four road corridors. Some health and nutrition supplies were sent by air.
Since mid-November, food has been distributed to more than 2.2 million people. However, some areas remain challenging to reach, including some border areas in the north and some areas off the main roads.
OCHA warns that malnutrition rates remain alarming. One third of children screened in late December were acutely malnourished – 4 per cent of them severely malnourished.
There continues to be gradual improvements in the resumption of basic services in Tigray for the population. Ethiopian Airlines has now resumed passenger flights to Mekelle and Shire. The first bank resumed some operations in Mekelle January 2nd, with some having re-opening in other parts of Tigray in December.
The telecommunications and electricity supply have also been restored. However, full banking services, public transportation and the delivery of commercial supplies have not yet resumed.
Humanitarian needs also remain extremely high in parts of Afar and Amhara – regions that have been impacted by the conflict. The distribution of food and other assistance continues, although gaps remain, including in areas where people are returning to their homes.
Meanwhile, in eastern and southern parts of Ethiopia, communities continue to suffer from the devastating drought which has been impacting the Horn of Africa as a whole. Nearly 12 million people are estimated to be food insecure, and more than 8 million people are in need of water and sanitation and hygiene assistance. An active cholera outbreak also continues in parts of the Oromia and Somali regions of Ethiopia.
The humanitarian response is being scaled up in drought-affected areas, more resources are needed.
NEPAL
Hanaa Singer-Hamdy of Egypt took up her post as a new Resident Coordinator in Nepal on 1 January. She was appointed by the Secretary-General and confirmed by the host government.
Resident Coordinators are leading the UN teams on the ground to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.
COVID-19
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said today that four years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is in a much better place than it was earlier due to clinical care management, vaccines and treatments; but the threat from the pandemic persists.
In his opening remarks at the first information session of the year, Dr. Tedros pointed to the major inequalities in access to testing, treatment and vaccination. According to the WHO, every week, at least ten thousand people die of COVID-19, while the true toll is likely much higher.
