HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 23 JANUARY 2023
SECRETARY-GENERAL/CABO VERDE
The Secretary-General left Cabo Verde after a three-day visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, José Ulisses Correia e Silva. This morning, he attended the opening of the Ocean Summit, which took place in Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente, during a stopover of the Ocean Race.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General noted that in the face of climate change and plastic pollution, humanity has its own race to win - the race to protect our ocean for the future. He pointed out that the ocean supports the air we breathe, the food we consume, the cultures and identities that define us, the jobs and prosperity that sustain us. The ocean is life, he stressed. The Secretary-General emphasized that ending the ocean emergency is a race we must win, and by working as one, it’s a race we can win, he said.
He called on all to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 14, and become champions the ocean needs.
Before leaving Cabo Verde, the Secretary-General had a meeting with President José Maria Pereira Neves. On Saturday, his first day in Cabo Verde, he met with the Prime Minister.
In a press encounter, after his meeting with the Prime Minister, the Secretary-General noted that Cabo Verde is on the frontlines of the existential crisis generated by climate change, and over the past five years, has faced a severe drought. He said that he is deeply frustrated that global leaders are not giving this life-or-death emergency the action and investment it requires.
AFGHANISTAN
Following the visit last week by Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, and delegation of senior UN and NGO leaders to Afghanistan, UN Humanitarian Chief, Martin Griffiths, is leading a delegation that also includes the President and Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children US, Janti Soeripto; the Secretary General of Care International, Sofía Sprechmann Sineiro; and the Deputy Executive Director of the Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Omar Abdi.
The visit comes one month since the de facto authorities banned Afghan women from working in national and international NGOs, putting some programmes on hold and sowing fears that the already dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan will get even worse.
Some 28 million people in need in Afghanistan, a 350 per cent hike in just five years, that’s according to the latest Humanitarian Needs Overview for Afghanistan released just today.
Members of the delegation will be briefing you upon their return in New York next week.
IRAQ
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, arrived in Baghdad yesterday on an official visit that will last through tomorrow. The visit will also take her to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Yesterday she held talks with Iraqi President, Abdullatif Rashid; Prime Minister Mohammad Al-Sudani; and the Foreign Minister Fuad Mohammad Hussein, as well as Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi. She pledged the UN’s continued support for Iraq’s reform efforts, commended its constructive regional engagement, and stressed the vital importance of further advancing the role of women and youth in building a prosperous and stable Iraq.
Today, Ms. DiCarlo has been meeting with representatives of Iraqi civil society, including women leaders and youth groups. She will then travel to Erbil.
MIDDLE EAST
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, today began his travels to the three peacekeeping missions in the Middle East.
He is currently in Camp Faouar visiting the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Over the course of the trip, he will also visit a number of UN positions within the area of separation and on the Israeli-occupied Golan, as well as meet with senior Government officials in Damascus to discuss mandate implementation.
On 25 January, Mr. Lacroix will arrive in Beirut, and on 26 January he will meet with the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, and other senior officials in Lebanon, to discuss peacekeeping issues and matters related to the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). He will then travel to Naqoura in southern Lebanon on 27 January. There, he will meet the UNIFIL leadership and military as well as the civilian personnel, and will have field visits along the Blue Line.
Then, Mr. Lacroix will visit the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), which is headquartered in Jerusalem, and is the first peacekeeping mission, established in 1948. He will meet with senior Israeli civilians and military officials on the contribution of UN peacekeeping to regional security and stability as part as his stay in Jerusalem.
UN PEACEKEEPING 75TH ANNIVERSARY
The Peacekeeping department is launching a campaign to mark the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping occasion under the theme, Peace Begins with Me. The campaign promotes understanding of the challenges faced by communities in conflict, demonstrates the value and impact of peacekeeping and calls for a collective global movement for peace. The first peacekeeping deployment was in 1948 to supervise the implementation of the Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements. Since then, peacekeepers from 125 countries have served in 71 operations around the world, more than 4,100 peacekeepers have given their lives under the UN flag in the last 75 years. The campaign provides an opportunity to remember their sacrifice and be inspired by their legacy.
NIGER
In Niger, the Third High-Level Conference on the Lake Chad Region opened this morning in Niamey. The two-day event brings together the Governments of the region that’s Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, as well as international donors and partners, multilateral and international organizations.
Speaking at the opening, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, called for coordination among humanitarian, development, peace and stabilization efforts.
She stressed that the commitment must be measured in decades and not years to build lasting resilience to the shocks we know are coming and the dramatic changes that are already causing so much hardship.
SOUTH SUDAN
In South Sudan, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Peter Van der Auweraert, strongly condemned today a new attack on humanitarian workers and assets that took place in the east of South Sudan.
On 18 January, several armed attackers broke into an international NGO compound in Pibor, injuring one humanitarian worker. The attackers targeted the NGO looking for cash and other assets and stole valuables. This is the third attack this month, after the killing of two aid workers in the Abyei Administrative Area and another one in Jonglei State.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that vulnerable communities are indirectly impacted by these attacks as they hamper the delivery of much-needed life-saving humanitarian goods.
South Sudan is one the most dangerous places for aid workers, with nine humanitarian workers killed in the line of duty and 450 incidents reported in 2022, already three humanitarian workers killed in 2023.
In 2023, 9.4 million of the most vulnerable people in South Sudan will need urgent assistance and protection, that’s up from 8.9 million last year.
HORN OF AFRICA
In the Horn of Africa, across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, an estimated 22 million people are now acutely food insecure because of the ongoing drought. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), some 5.1 million children across drought-affected areas of the three countries are acutely malnourished this year.
The forthcoming March-May 2023 rains are also forecast to be below-average. WFP warns that if these rains fail, and humanitarian assistance not to be delivered at scale, food insecurity will continue to deteriorate.
To address the devastating drought-induced hunger and malnutrition, WFP is pursuing an integrated dual track approach; meeting immediate life-saving food and nutritional needs while simultaneously building resilience to extreme climate variability.
NOON GUEST TOMORROW
Tomorrow the guest will be from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, will brief the press on the International Day of Education, with the focus on Afghan girls and access to education.
HONOUR ROLL
Latvia and the Netherlands have paid their dues in full, bringing the Honour Roll to 7.
