SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVEL
The Secretary-General arrived in Doha in Qatar today. At this moment, he just started the first session - a working dinner - of the meeting he is hosting with special envoys on Afghanistan to reach points of commonality on key issues, such as human rights, especially for women and girls, inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking.
The meeting, which will end tomorrow, is intended to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban on these issues. 
And you have been asking me for the list of countries that have sent envoys to this meeting. I can tell you that the countries are: China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. And we are as we speak sending you a note to correspondents with that list for those of you who were not able to type fast enough. And we’ll have updates from the meeting as it goes and the Secretary-General is scheduled to speak to the press in Doha tomorrow before he goes on for onward travel which I’m about to announce now.

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENTS
He is scheduled to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, tomorrow 2 May. On 4 and 5 May he will chair this year’s first session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination.  
The Board meets twice a year and brings together the leaders of the UN agencies, funds and programmes and is the highest-level coordination forum of the UN system. 
Prior to the meetings of the CEB, the Secretary-General will, on Wednesday, is scheduled to attend a State dinner hosted by the President of Kenya, William Ruto. Earlier in the day, he will meet with UN staff at the UN office in Nairobi. He is also scheduled to hold a press conference at the UN office in Nairobi.
On 5 May on Friday, the Secretary-General will travel to Bujumbura, in Burundi, to take part in the 11th High- level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region. 
At the meeting, which will take place on 6 May, leaders from the Great Lakes region will take stock of progress and challenges in the implementation of the agreement that was signed in Addis Ababa ten years ago. They will discuss the implementation also of the Luanda and Nairobi agreements which are more recent.
While in Bujumbura, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with the President of Burundi, as well as leaders from the region attending the meeting.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
Our Deputy Secretary-General over the past few days has been travelling. She arrived last night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to engage in a high-level strategic dialogue with officials of the African Union and the UN Country Team.
Earlier today, she met with the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union and later, with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed. In the past few days, while in Nairobi, she participated in activities during the Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend, joining leading voices from across Africa.

SUDAN
On Sudan, you will have seen that yesterday the Secretary-General dispatched Martin Griffiths, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, to the region to explore how we can bring immediate relief to millions of people whose lives have been turned upside down by the ongoing fighting in Sudan.
Mr. Griffiths arrived in Nairobi, where he met President Ruto and also the Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly who was there, and others to discuss what he called the "catastrophic" situation in Sudan.
The UN and our partners are doing our best to reboot the humanitarian response in the country, Mr. Griffiths said and as you'll recall, massive looting has depleted us of most our supplies, and we're urgently exploring ways to bring and distribute additional supplies.

SUDAN HUMANITARIAN
Just a bit more information on what’s going on on the ground. The World Food Programme is immediately lifting the temporary suspension of operations. Distribution of food is expected to commence in the states of Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile in the coming days to provide the life-saving assistance that many so desperately need right now.
As you know, the suspension of operations was put in place after the tragic deaths of three WFP team members on April 15.
Where the security situation allows it, including in Eastern Sudan, our partners are continuing their operations, mainly in health and nutrition services. 
The World Health Organization has distributed fuel to some hospitals in Sudan – and is also working to offload six containers of medical supplies that arrived by ship in Port Sudan on the Red Sea. This includes supplies for treating traumatic injuries and severe acute malnutrition.
Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund is supporting partners on the ground with life-saving healthcare and supplies for safe births.
The UN Refugee Agency, in consultation with the Governments and partners, are planning for over 800,000 people who may flee fighting in Sudan to the seven neighbouring countries. Without a quick resolution of the crisis, we will continue to see more people forced to flee in search of safety and humanitarian assistance.
The latest figures from our teams on the ground confirm that 73,000 people have arrived in neighbouring countries, including Sudanese refugees and also returning refugees, notably South Sudanese refugees who had taken refuge in South Sudan.

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Senior personnel announcement to share with you. Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Clementine Nkweta-Salami of Cameroon as his Deputy Special Representative for the UN Mission in Sudan, UNITAMS.  She will also serve as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.  
She succeeds Khardiata Lo N’Diaye of Senegal, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedication.
Ms. Nkweta-Salami brings to the position 30 years of experience in humanitarian affairs and protection, mainly in the field.  
For the past three years, she served as Director of the Regional Bureau for the East Africa, Horn and Great Lakes Regions of Africa for the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

PERU
Quick update for you from Peru, where the Central Emergency Response Fund from the UN has just approved the disbursement of $6.9 million to provide assistance to about 245,000 people impacted by the rains and floods in the north of the country. 
This contribution will enable UN agencies to supply shelter, health services, food security, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education and protection to people in need.

AFRICA DIALOGUE SERIES 
A couple of programming notes. The 2023 edition of the online Africa Dialogue Series gets underway today.
Entitled “Market and Scale: Unlocking Industrialization through Intra-African Trade,” the dialogue series will focus on how the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area could accelerate Africa’s development, lift millions out of poverty and contribute to achieving the promises of the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s own 2063 Agenda. 
In a pre-recorded video message to launch the Dialogue, the Deputy Secretary-General said that industrialization has become a must for Africa’s economic transformation. 
The Africa Dialogue Series will culminate with a High-level Policy Dialogue on the 22, 23 and 24 May, including the participation of the Secretary-General.

 PHOTO EXHIBIT
At 2 p.m. today if you’re free, in the General Assembly’s visitors’ lobby, our colleagues from the Peacekeeping department are launching a photo exhibition to mark 75 years of UN peacekeeping. 
The exhibit is part of a year-long global campaign under the theme Peace Begins with Me, which seeks to demonstrate the powerful impact that UN Peacekeeping and its partners have on the lives of millions of people caught up in conflict.
The exhibit features a collection of pictures of peacekeepers in action - from the very first deployment of military observers to the Middle East in 1948 through the 12 missions that are operating today.

GUEST TOMORROW
Tomorrow, we will be joined by Guilherme Canela De Souza Godoi, Chief of the Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists of UNESCO.
He will brief on the World Press Freedom Day, which is … what day is World Press Freedom Day? Okay just checking. Edie.