HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 6 APRIL 2023
AFGHANISTAN
The UN senior leadership in Afghanistan is continuing to engage with the de facto authorities to seek additional clarity on the ban. Until additional information is received, the United Nations in Afghanistan instructed all Afghan staff members, both women and men, not to report to the office.
Today, the Special Representative of the Secretary-Generay, Ms. Rosa Otunbayeva is briefing the Security Council in closed consultations, on the latest developments and the UN engagement on the ground. The whole UN family in Afghanistan is tirelessly working as we strive to maintain essential humanitarian space and deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance. Afghan women and men are essential to all aspects of the UN’s work in Afghanistan. Afghan women’s meaningful participation is essential to reach safely and effectively populations in need with principled and quality assistance. Afghan women will not be replaced by men.
The United Nations remains committed to assisting the Afghan people, two-thirds of whom (28 million men, women and children) are in need of life-saving assistance, which includes 20 million people who are food insecure, six million of whom are one step away from famine.
The Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, noted that Afghanistan is rapidly moving towards a cliff-edge due to severe under-funding and bans on female aid workers.
Mr. Alakbarov said that “we urge the international community not to punish the Afghan people by further withholding critical funding.” He noted that aid agencies remain on the ground delivering life-saving assistance to millions, and national and international NGOs have continued to implement programmes over the past three months despite very challenging circumstances.
LEBANON-ISRAEL
The United Nations condemns the multiple rockets being fired from Lebanon into northern Israel today, and urges all actors to exercise maximum restraint.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), remains in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line. The UN urges the parties to liaise with UNIFIL and avoid any unilateral action that could further escalate the situation.
YEMEN
In Yemen, after being secured through the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to replace the Safer tanker, the Nautica, which is a very large crude carrier set sail today from Zhoushan in China to remove more than a million barrels of oil from the decaying Safer tanker, which is off the coast of Hudaida.
The vessel is expected to arrive in early May, needs to make one more stop for some technical modifications along the way.
David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, who has led the UN system-wide efforts on the Safer since September 2021, confirmed that the sailing of the vessel brings us closer to preventing a catastrophe.
The UNDP which is implementing the operation as part of a UN-coordinated initiative is contracting a leading global marine salvage company to ready the Safer and safely carry out the ship-to-ship transfer of oil as soon as this be technically and practically feasible.
SYRIA/TÜRKIYE
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that 900,000 ready-to-eat rations of dry food and 1.7 million of hot meals have been distributed to date in Syria, through the UN and partners.
In the northwest, 50 more trucks carrying aid have entered now from Türkiye since the earthquakes this week raising the total number to 1,250, and more than 100,000 people have received emergency tents, shelter kits and other supplies.
While the Syria Earthquake Appeal is 95.4 per cent funded, the Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria is only 6.3 per cent funded. Urgent additional funding to support more than 15 million people across Syria is needed.
And in Türkiye, the UN and partners have provided shelter support - including tents, toolkits and tarpaulins - to nearly 770,000 people.
More than 2 million people have now received food aid.
ETHIOPIA
The UN team in Ethiopia, led by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Catherine Sozi, is working to vaccinate thousands of children and vulnerable populations in Tigray. The aim is to close the immunization gap resulting from lack of access to services due to the two-year conflict.
The World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and national health authorities are rolling out a Measles Supplemental Immunization Activity that kicked off last week for a period of 12 days. The UN team, along with partners, plan to vaccinate more than 830,000 children under the age of five in 76 districts of Tigray, which were, for the most part, inaccessible.
Supplying Vitamin A, deworming, and malnutrition screenings for children under five and pregnant and lactating mothers, are also part of this campaign.
In addition, the UN team and authorities conducted a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the first three months of this year, reaching more than 1.2 million people in the region.
SOUTH SUDAN
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is working with local authorities in Lakes State to establish Youth, Peace and Security Committees in conflict-prone areas where it’s common to have intercommunal violence related to cattle raids and involving young people.
The Mission recently donated additional assets, such as solar panels, motorbikes and ploughs to be drawn by oxen, to provide livelihood opportunities for the youth. The Mission is also designing additional projects to address cross-border, cattle-related conflicts between the neighbouring states of Warrap, Lakes, and Unity States.
MOZAMBIQUE
The World Food Programme (WFP) today has urgently called for $26.7 million to support 541,000 people impacted by Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique.
WFP notes that the affected people are living without critical support and with no alternative for meeting their basic needs.
This crisis is unfolding at the beginning of the main harvest season, compounding the situation of people already facing high levels of hunger. And it adds that this is a concern in areas already reporting crisis levels of food insecurity, according to the latest data.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. This Day highlights the positive influence that sports can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development.
Tomorrow is the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The Secretary-General has underscored that preventing genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international law is a shared responsibility.
Tomorrow is World Health Day, which is also the 75th anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization. WHO says that the history of the agency demonstrates what is possible when nations come together for a common purpose.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Guatemala made full payment to the UN’s regular budget, bringing the total number to 87 fully paid-up Member States.
