HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 1 MARCH 2023
SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVEL
The Secretary-General is in Baghdad, Iraq, where a few moments ago he held a press conference. He said that when he visited Iraq six years ago, the war against Da’esh was still raging and that his visit was one of solidarity in a moment of urgency. Today, it is a visit of hope for the future of Iraq, he said, adding that with a new government in place, there is a window of opportunity for progress. His full remarks will be shared with you shortly.
Earlier today, he met with various high-level officials including the Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani], the Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, and the President, among others. In a joint press encounter with Prime Minister Al Sudani, the Secretary-General reiterated that his visit to Iraq was to
underscore the commitment of the United Nations to advance peace, human rights, and sustainable development for all Iraqis.
We recognize that the challenges Iraq is facing did not arise overnight, he said, they are the product of decades of oppression, of war, of terrorism, of sectarianism and foreign interference, adding that no one can expect these challenges to be resolved overnight.
He also heard from representatives of women’s groups and youth groups, who voiced their views on the need for increased participation of women and youth in the country's civic spaces and also air their various concerns including on youth unemployment and climate change.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will be going to a camp for displaced people in the northern part of the country. He is expected to meet with residents and to have a first-hand look at the work that UN agencies are doing there.
In the afternoon he will head to Erbil and meet with various officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government.
LAW OF THE SEA
This morning, the UN’s Legal Counsel, Miguel de Serpa Soares, delivered a statement on the Secretary-General's behalf to the Conference that is being held under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, concerning the sustainable use of marine biological diversity.
In that statement, the Secretary-General says the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are being keenly felt around the globe, impacting our environment, our livelihoods and our lives.
The treaty being considered now, he says, can ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of over two-thirds of our life-sustaining ocean space. And it can help guarantee that marine genetic resources are accessed and utilized for the benefit of all humanity.
The Secretary-General told the delegates that, with flexibility and perseverance, they can secure an outcome to help ensure our ocean will be healthier, more resilient and more productive, benefiting for all humankind and the planet.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS
The Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed continued her engagements in Niger today. She began her day with a visit to Ecole Pays-Bas primary school - tragically impacted by unsafe schools buildings when their straw classrooms caught fire in 2021. The aim of the visit was to highlight the importance of transforming the education system and ensure uninterrupted education for all.
With the support of government, the community and other partners, the UN renovated the school block, built additional classrooms and provided essential furniture and learning materials. Sitting in their new classroom, Ms. Mohammed engaged with a group of students, girls and boys, who shared their aspirations and ambitions for the future, while explaining some of the challenges.
The Deputy Secretary-General, the UN team in Niger and partners also handed over a solar-powered digital center to the school, along with digital tablets, where students can get access to internet. Ms. Mohammed stressed this connects Niger to Africa, Africa to the world, and the other way around. And that’s development, that’s the future that can be realized, she added.
The Deputy Secretary-General also held her annual dialogue with Resident Coordinators from all over Africa, at the school yard. Ms. Mohammed urged the Resident Coordinators to engage with governments to support their ambitions to scale up efforts to tackle poverty, exclusion, embark on just transitions and advance gender equality and human rights with a sense of urgency in the lead up to the SDG Summit this September.
Ms. Mohammed also met with traditional leaders of Niger to discuss the challenges and response mechanisms to strengthen engagement with traditional leaders and their role in advancing the rights and empowerment of women and girls. Concluding the day, the Deputy Secretary-General met with President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger and Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou to discuss developmental strides the country is making across sectors and the partnership with the United Nations.
TÜRKIYE/SYRIA
Turning to Türkiye, the UN, along with its partners, are continuing to support the Government response. The World Food Programme has provided five million food packages and hot meals.
Hundreds of thousands of blankets, bed sheets, tents - including mattresses and tarpaulins - have been provided by the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. Other partners have also provided hundreds of thousands of hygiene, maternity and dignity kits.
Turning to Syria, today, 45 truckloads of vital aid from the WFP, the World Health Organization, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration crossed into north-west Syria. In total, 501 trucks have crossed since 9 February.
As of yesterday, 28 February, the UN had also carried out 15 cross-border missions to north-west Syria since the first interagency visit to Idlib on 14 February. These have enabled meetings with local partners and affected communities as well as technical and needs assessments
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us they are continuing to scale up the response but a lack of funding is hampering their efforts. So far, 30,000 people have received tents and 80,000 have received emergency non-food items. 300,000 people have received ready-to-eat food rations since the beginning of the earthquake response.
Cash remains critical to our ability to scale-up to meet needs. As of today, the Flash Appeal for Syria is 43 per cent funded, having received more than $171 million, which is good but we need more.
ETHIOPIA
Turning to Ethiopia. we, along with our partners, and the Government – launched an appeal for nearly $4 billion to reach more than 20 million people in Ethiopia this year with critical assistance, including food, nutrition support, health services and other vital aid.
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the Southern and Eastern regions of Ethiopia continue to suffer the impact of the devastating drought we have been talking about here quite a bit. Some of these areas continue to face a cholera outbreak, with 1,100 cases recorded to date. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have fled violence in Somaliland to the Somali region.
In Northern Ethiopia, humanitarian access continues to improve, following the agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities. While a few areas remain hard to reach, we, along with NGO partners and the Government have brought in more than 4,400 trucksloads of aid supplies into the Tigray region since mid-November, carrying nearly 180,000 tons of food and other aid supplies.
But this assistance needs to be sustained. More than 8.5 million people are currently targeted for food assistance across Afar, Amhara and Tigray.
MADAGASCAR
In Madagascar, we are also continuing to support the Government to help people impacted by Tropical Cyclone Freddy. At least 226,000 people were impacted, including almost 150,000 who are in need of humanitarian assistance. The number of people displaced by the cyclone has increased to nearly 38,000, according to the authorities. Hundreds of schools have been damaged, as well as health centres.
So far, the World Food Programme has provided more than 53,000 hot meals in 56 shelters. To help people recover from the disaster, WFP will be providing cash-based transfers to nearly 100,000 people and food assistance to approximately 30,000 people for the next 6 months.
For its part, the WHO has shipped medicine to health centres, while UNICEF has sent emergency school kits and safe drinking water to the impacted regions. More than 70,000 children are currently out of school. UNICEF and the UN Population Fund are also providing psychosocial support for displaced families and are working on how to report and respond to any cases of sexual exploitation and abuse.
OCHA has allocated $100,000 to support the UN Humanitarian Air Service, to help the air service fly things around.
UN INTERIM SECURITY FORCE FOR ABYEI
The mission in Abyei condemned the movement of armed elements within the southern part of the so-called Abyei Box. That took place yesterday. While the armed elements remain visible, the Mission is deeply worried that this latest development within the southern part of Abyei will further aggravate the conflict in the area and cause untold suffering and humanitarian concerns for civilians in the area.
The mission noted that Abyei Box remains a weapon-free area that should not have the presence of any force - either conventional or armed elements of both communities. It is therefore important that all respect the relevant Security Council Resolutions in this regard.
UNISFA condemned the renewed fighting within and around the borders of the Box and urged all parties to
A ceasefire and allow the political process to resolve the lingering crisis. They stress that it is against any form of unauthorized deployment within that area.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
And, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, clashes between the Congolese army and the M23 are continuing some 25 to 70 km northwest of Goma.
The Head of our peacekeeping mission there, Bintou Keita, is currently in the eastern part of the country. She met with the Ituri military Governor today, who has requested the peacekeeping Mission’s support to continue building the capacity of Congolese security forces.
Earlier this week, she met with the North Kivu military Governor and members of the Provincial Security Committee to strengthen cooperation and to address security challenges. Ms. Keita also engaged with civil society representatives and women leaders facing challenges in their communities.
MALI
In Mali, the peacekeeping mission there today paid tribute to the three Blue Helmet soldiers from Senegal who died last week when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device. Staff Sergeant Eugene Mingou; Corporal Ousseynou Diallo and Private 1st Class Pierre Boubane deployed to Mali in September 2022, in Ogossagou base. The base had been established in the aftermath of two attacks that killed around 200 civilians in 2019 and 2020.
Two of the fallen peacekeepers had served under the UN flag in Liberia, in Sudan, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Head of the peacekeeping mission in Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, noted that their service illustrated the courage and devotion of peacekeepers.
LEBANON
The UN team in Lebanon, led by UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza, is working with authorities and partners to combat the spread of cholera in a country that is already plagued by a severe economic and financial crisis. There has been more than 6,500 suspected and confirmed cases of cholera and 23 associated deaths since the first case was reported five months ago.
The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Lebanese Humanitarian Fund together have allocated a total of $9.5 million to prevent the spread of cholera, targeting more than 1.5 million people across Lebanon and including refugees from Syria and Palestine.
With the support of WHO and the International Coordination Group, as of 15 February, a total of 1.1 million Oral Cholera Vaccines have been administered nd the vaccination campaign that began in mid-November 2022 and reached over 90 per cent coverage by the end of last year.
SUDAN
Turning to Sudan. Today, in a statement, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in Sudan, Volker Perthes, regretted and condemned the killing of a young demonstrator, who was shot dead yesterday in the Sharq Alnil area of Khartoum.
Mr. Perthes stressed that the use of live ammunition against protestors is unacceptable and contravenes Sudan’s human rights obligations. The Special Representative called upon the authorities to take urgent measures to stop the excessive use of force against protestors.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Head of our peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, Valentine Rugwabiza, held a press conference today. She reiterated the importance of ensuring inclusive local elections - slated for July this year - with an emphasis on women’s participation. She also advocated for the adoption of the new electoral code which promotes gender parity.
This week, the Mission continued to reinforce its capacity to address the threat of explosive devices through the deployment of explosive ordnance disposal teams, as well as by providing specialized training for search and detection teams within the Central African defence forces in Bangui.
CHILDREN/SOCIAL PROTECTION
The International Labour Organization and the UN Children’s Fund today released a report showing that the number of children without access to social protection is increasing year-on-year, leaving them at risk of poverty, hunger and discrimination. The report warns that an additional 50 million children under the age of 15 missed out on a critical social protection provision between 2016 and 2020, driving up the total to 1.46 billion children under 15 globally.
ILO and UNICEF note that globally, children are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty – approximately 356 million children. A billion children also live in multidimensional poverty – meaning without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, or water.
The number of children living in multidimensional poverty increased by 15 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing previous progress in reducing child poverty and highlighting the urgent need for social protection.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Two important days. Today is Zero Discrimination Day. Under the theme “Save lives: Decriminalise”, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, otherwise known as UNAIDS, is highlighting how the decriminalisation of key populations and people living with HIV saves lives and helps advance the end of the AIDS pandemic.
Today it is also the first World Seagrass Day. Despite its important contribution to sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation, seagrasses are in danger and only about a quarter of all seagrass meadows fall under marine protection areas. The most recent census estimates that 7 per cent of this key marine habitat is being lost worldwide every year.
HYBRID BRIEFING
Ambassador Pedro Comissário Afonso, the Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of March, briefed reporters on the Council’s programme of work for the month.
