Noon briefing of 17 August 2023

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 17 AUGUST 2023

MALI
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) confirms that a convoy carrying peacekeepers and equipment from its camp in the city of Goundam in Timbuktu region, as part of the withdrawal process, reached Timbuktu city without incident on Wednesday. The complex operation involved the withdrawal of personnel from the Ivorian military contingent, as well as UN Police officers and a Bangladeshi Formed Police Unit. The peacekeepers had been helping to protect the local population, in the face of regular attacks with improvised explosive devices, in an area that has one of the highest levels of insecurity and presence of extremist groups, particularly the Goundam-Timbuktu axis.
MINUSMA currently has a presence at 13 sites. In close consultation with the Transition Government of Mali and other stakeholders, the Mission has been carrying out a phased withdrawal by first moving personnel and equipment from remote camps to larger hubs so that smaller sites can be closed. The Ogossagou temporary base was the first to shut down on 4 August.
Personnel and Contingent-Owned-Equipment are gradually being repatriated to home countries, and United Nations-owned equipment is being disposed of in accordance with relevant UN Financial Regulations and Rules, including through transfer to other UN peacekeeping operations.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Mission and the UN Human Rights Office on the ground have released a report on human rights violations and abuses during the first half of the year. The report confirms that armed group attacks have had an increasingly devastating impact on civilians, particularly in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. It reveals that in the first six months of 2023, an average of nine civilians were killed daily in the eastern DRC, with armed groups accounting for 95 per cent of documented fatalities – that’s more than double the number in the same period of 2022.
The report also highlights 30 incidents related to the pre-electoral environment, including attacks by armed groups on voting centers as well as violations and abuses targeting human rights defenders, journalists, and opposition figures, including extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests by security services.

SECURITY COUNCIL/DPR KOREA
This morning, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, briefed Security Council members on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Mr. Türk said that information collected by his office indicates increasing repression of the rights to freedoms of expression, privacy and movement; the persistence of widespread forced labour practices; and a worsening situation for economic and social rights, due to the closure of markets and other forms of income generation.
He also said that State-run institutions have continued to rely on forced mobilization of men and women, and even children, to maintain the operation of key sectors of the economy, such as construction, mining, and agricultural production.
Mr. Türk said that offers of humanitarian support have been largely rebuffed but added that his office continues to encourage the government to respond positively to his offer of technical assistance.
He also urged DPRK authorities to engage in meaningful dialogue, and to reset much-needed freedoms as a foundation for enduring peace.

SECURITY COUNCIL/ UKRAINE
This afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., the Security Council will hold a meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Izumi Nakamitsu, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, is expected to brief Council members.

SECURITY COUNCIL/ NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Yesterday, the Security Council held a meeting on the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Briefing Council members, the Director of Operations and Advocacy at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Edem Wosornu, said that OCHA is not currently in a position to independently verify information regarding the movement of people or goods through routes that include the Lachin corridor, or on the well-being of civilians in the areas where Russian peacekeepers have been deployed.
However, Ms. Wosornu said, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is aware of ongoing reports on these issues including around shortages of food and medicines, and disruption to energy supplies that are required to maintain critical infrastructure and services such as health and water facilities.
She stressed that international Humanitarian Law is very clear: parties must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need.

MYANMAR
The Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths just concluded a three-day visit to Myanmar and today called for expanded humanitarian access and increased funding to assist the 18 million people in need of aid across the country.
Mr. Griffiths said that successive crises in Myanmar have left one third of the population in need of humanitarian aid and have also led to a surge in the number of displaced persons from 380,000 at the start of 2021 to 1.9 million at present.
During his visit, Mr. Griffiths met with families affected by conflict and natural disasters, including with Rakhine and Rohingya communities and with Myanmar authorities. He visited Rakhine state, still reeling from the impact of cyclone Mocha three months ago.

NICARAGUA
The Secretary-General is following with concern developments in Nicaragua, particularly rising tensions between the Nicaraguan Government and the Catholic Church, including the recent closure of the Central American University (UCA). 
The Secretary-General reminds that the closing of an education center, alleging national security concerns, should be carried out in keeping with the international obligations stemming from the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. More specifically, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [in its General Comment No. 13 on The Right to Education] has emphasized that a State party which closes a university or other educational institution on grounds such as national security or the preservation of public order has the burden of justifying such a serious measure in relation to each of the elements identified in article 4 of the Covenant.

LEBANON
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said today that it received alarming reports that armed individuals continue to occupy its installations, including a school compound in Ein El Hilweh Palestine refugee camp, in the south of Lebanon.
UNRWA facilities have reportedly been damaged by the recent fighting in the camp. The Agency condemns these acts, and calls to protect all its facilities, including schools, at all times.
UNRWA also urges all relevant parties to immediately vacate its premises so that critical services can be restored and the delivery of assistance to Palestine Refugees in need continues.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today that an elementary school for Palestinian children ages 6-12 was demolished in the West Bank area of Ein Samiya, just a few days before the start of the new school year.
According to UNICEF, three schools have been demolished across the West Bank in the past 12 months, affecting 78 students.
The school served pupils from the few Palestinian families remaining in the herding community of Ein Samiya, following the displacement of most of the community amid settler violence and diminishing grazing land.
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners are currently assessing the urgent needs of 60 herding communities facing similar challenges.

WESTERN SAHARA
The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to the region has visited all concerned more than once since taking up his functions, as reflected in the reports of the Secretary-General on Western Sahara. In particular, he has visited Morocco twice, as well as other regional interlocutors. He also invited all concerned, as well as members of the Group of Friends of Western Sahara, to informal bilateral consultations at UN Headquarters in New York in March.
Future travel to the region will be announced in due course. The Personal Envoy will brief the Security Council in October, shortly after the publication of the report of the Secretary-General to the Council on Western Sahara.

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY
This year will mark 20 years since the 2003 suicide bomb attack on the UN headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 UN staff.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that 2023 is set to become another year of high aid worker casualties. So far this year, 62 humanitarian workers have been killed in crises around the world, 84 have been wounded and 34 kidnapped.
South Sudan has ranked highest in insecurity for several consecutive years. Forty attacks on aid workers and 22 fatalities have been reported as of 16 August. Sudan is a close second, with 17 attacks on humanitarians and 19 fatalities reported so far this year. Other aid worker casualties have been recorded in the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and Ukraine.


Humanitarians launched a campaign to highlight their continuing commitment to deliver for the communities they serve, no matter who, no matter where and #NoMatterWhat.
The commemoration will be observed tomorrow here at the headquarters, with a brief ceremony organized by the UN Staff Union’s Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service, and wreath-laying by Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Department of Operational Support.