Noon briefing of 27 June 2023

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 27 JUNE 2023

MIDDLE EAST
Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council this morning that, in recent weeks, we have seen an alarming spike in violence across the northern and central occupied West Bank, leading to numerous Palestinian and Israeli casualties.
The mounting violence, he said, is taking place against the backdrop of deeply worrying settlement-related developments that alter the already fragile dynamics on the ground, as well as a worrying deterioration in relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Wennesland said that he remains deeply troubled by the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, that fuels violence and is impeding access by Palestinians to their land and resources, reshaping the geography of the occupied West Bank and threatening the viability of a future Palestinian State.
He noted that Israeli settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. He called on the Government of Israel to cease the advancement of all settlement activity immediately.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
Today, in China, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, met with the Inner Mongolia Provincial leaders. She acknowledged the regional efforts on climate action and long-term investments in afforestation.
This was followed by a visit to the world’s first zero-carbon industrial park in Ordos.
Ms. Mohammed also visited an afforestation project and sand drift prevention projects in Kubuqi, which also hosts China’s largest single-stage solar farm.

GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that halfway into 2023, it has only received 20 per cent of the $54.8 billion it needs to help people in need around the world.
At the end of last year, the number of people who needed aid was a record 349 million, but that number has climbed to 362 million. This means that one in 22 people globally now require assistance.
With needs growing exponentially, funding is struggling to keep pace.
OCHA also warns that unequal funding across emergencies and key sectors have challenged our ability to respond to surging needs. Current underfunded crises include Myanmar, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venezuela, Somalia and Afghanistan.
These funding gaps have real consequences on millions of people, and we encourage donors to continue to contribute generously to the humanitarian response plans.

UKRAINE
The UN, along with its partners, are continuing to help people impacted by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. Since June 6th, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) organized 15 inter-agency convoys, which delivered more than 60 truckloads of vital supplies to over 20 villages and towns of the Dnipro and Kherson regions, including Kherson city.
The latest inter-agency convoy today reached two villages in the Dnipro region, carrying water, food, hygiene kits and medical supplies to nearly 2,000 civilians in the area. These villages, which are less than 10 kilometres from the front line, have been completely cut off from water since June 7th, affecting more than 10,000 civilians.
Yesterday, another inter-agency convoy delivered aid for around 1,500 civilians in the town of Antonivka, which is approximately 2.5 kilometres from the front line in the Kherson region. Last Friday, humanitarian workers reached two other villages, also in Kherson, with enough aid for nearly 2,000 people.
These inter-agency frontline convoys are in addition to the aid that UN agencies and Non-governmental organizations are providing.
Overall, humanitarian workers have distributed more than 2.6 million litres of drinking water and over 180,000 rations of food. Cash assistance has reached more than 11,000 people, with another 35,000 people set to receive cash in the coming days.

AFGHANISTAN
A United Nations report released today shows that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) remain a significant concern in Afghanistan - despite an overall decline in civilian casualties since the Taliban takeover - characterized by a rise in attacks on places of worship and against the minority Hazara community.
The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) notes that of the 3,774 civilian casualties between 15 August 2021 and 30 May 2023, three quarters were caused by indiscriminate improvised explosive devices in populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets. According to the report, the majority of civilian casualties resulted from attacks carried out by the self-identified Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP).
The report recommends that the de facto authorities implement protection measures with a view to preventing the recurrence of similar attacks, taking into account the specific risks faced in places of worship and educational facilities and within Hazara Shi’a communities.

CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT
The annual report on children and armed conflict was published this morning and Virginia Gamba briefed journalists on the report this morning. As she mentioned in her briefing, in 2022, children continued to be disproportionately affected by armed conflict.
The United Nations verified over 27,000 grave violations, impacting close to 19,000 boys and girls in 24 country situations and one regional monitoring arrangement that covers the Lake Chad Basin.

MICRO-, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES DAY
Today is Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day. The theme of this year’s Day focuses on women and young people’s entrepreneurship and resilient supply chains.
In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General says that these businesses play a big role in economies, communities, and livelihoods around the world. However, enterprises owned by young people and women are some of the most at risk.

UN HOLIDAY
On a programming note, tomorrow will be Eid Al-Adha and the UN will be closed.
We will resume our regular schedule on Thursday, and we hope to have our guest, UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, here to brief on her recent trip to Haiti.