SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit. He told leaders that eight years ago, Member States gathered in this Hall to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals. With the world watching, he said, they made a solemn promise to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all, adding that the Sustainable Development Goals aren’t just a list of goals. They carry the hopes, dreams, rights and expectations of people everywhere and they provide the surest path to living up to our obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is now 75 years old.  The Secretary-General told leaders that at the halfway point to the SDG deadline, “the eyes of the world are on you once again,” and noted that over the weekend, young people and civil society groups came to the UN — or marched in communities around the world — demanding urgent action. Now is the time to prove you are listening, he told them.

CLIMATE AMBITION SUMMIT
As you know, first of all tomorrow we have the official opening of the High-Level segment of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General will speak around 9 a.m. I think the list of speakers as it stands has been shared with you. We will have a background briefing at 3 p.m. in this room on the Secretary-General’s remarks.
And on Wednesday the Climate Ambition Summit convened by the Secretary-General will take place at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 4. 
The Summit this year sets a high bar for participation. It will showcase leaders who are “first movers and doers” from government, business, finance, local authorities, and civil society who have credible actions, policies and plans to keep the 1.5°C degree goal of the Paris Agreement alive. At last count, 112 countries and about 100 non-state entities have formally responded to the Secretary-General’s invitation for countries to demonstrate ambitious and credible policies and plans. 
The Secretary-General’s Climate Action Team has been engaging governments that have put forward plans, as well as businesses and local authorities with transition plans to reach net zero in line with the UN-backed credibility standard and accountability of net zero pledges.
The Summit aims to demonstrate that the acceleration required on decarbonization and climate justice is possible and to inspire more leaders to come forward with credible actions, policies and plans to lead up to COP28 and beyond.

AFGHANISTAN
The Secretary-General noted on social media that today marks two years since girls were banned from attending high schools in Afghanistan. 
He said that this is an unjustifiable violation of human rights that inflicts long-lasting damage on the entire country.
The Secretary-General stressed that girls belong in schools. Let them back in, he said. 

SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that intense clashes in the capital, Khartoum, over the weekend resulted in civilian casualties.
Our humanitarian partners also tell us that renewed clashes in South Darfur have displaced many people in the city of Nyala.
People continue to be displaced, with more than 5.1 million having fled their homes since mid-April – 4.1 million within Sudan and more than 1 million were forced to seek refuge outside of the country. 
The newly displaced families are arriving in areas that were already facing challenges due to existing crises, with basic services being overstretched. 
According to our partners, since the beginning of the current conflict, at least 435 children have reportedly been killed and a further 500 have died from hunger – although the true toll is likely to be much higher. 
On Wednesday, there will be an event on the sidelines of the General Assembly to mobilize resources and show support to the people of Sudan. 
The $2.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan, which seeks to help 18 million people, is just over 25 per cent funded.

UKRAINE
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that increased hostilities have impeded humanitarian access in recent weeks. 
OCHA has recorded more than 30 incidents in which aid deliveries were disrupted during July and August. At least 13 cases involved violence against humanitarians, with at least one aid worker killed and eight others injured in the line of duty. 
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that shelling of aid distribution sites has also affected relief efforts. 
In addition, restrictions by local authorities, often in areas of intensified hostilities, have impeded humanitarian access. This includes stricter access permits and evacuation orders, especially in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions both on the Ukraine side, along the border with the Russian Federation. 
Despite these challenges, 15 inter-agency humanitarian convoys successfully delivered critical supplies to more than 20,000 people who remained in communities near the frontline during July and August.

LIBYA
On Libya, nearly one week after Storm Daniel hit the country, nearly 4,000 (3,958) people have died, according to the World Health Organization. More than 9,000 people are still missing. 
Some 40,000 people have been displaced in the northeast, according to the International Organization for Migration, including 30,000 in Derna. 
According to UNICEF, nearly 300,000 children have been exposed to Storm Daniel and now face increased risk of diarrhea and cholera, dehydration and malnutrition, as well as increased risks of violence and exploitation. The National Centre for Disease Control has already detected at least 55 children fell sick as a result of drinking polluted water in Derna.                            /...
Despite significant access challenges, authorities and humanitarian organizations are reaching more people in need as response efforts are quickly scaled up. 
UN Member States and multilateral institutions continue to increase their support through much-needed funding, the deployment of specialized response teams and in-kind assistance.
(The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, and the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Georgette Gagnon, visited Labraq and Derna on 16 September, together with the assessment team comprised of the UN Agencies, Funds and Programme.)

INTERNATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY
Today is International Equal Pay Day. 
Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for human rights and gender equality. It takes the effort of the entire world community, and more work remains to be done.

BRIEFINGS
Just a few more programming notes before we go to your questions and Georgette. At 2 p.m., there will be a hybrid briefing here on the Universal Health Coverage Global Monitoring Report for 2023. Speakers will include Dr. Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General of Universal Health Coverage, at the World Health Organization along with Dr. Samira Asma, the Assistant Director-General of Data, Analytics and Delivery at WHO, and Dr. Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank.
And, also, and I’m sure you’re sorry to hear that, but we will not be briefing you on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week because I think you have other things to focus on. If there is even more bad news than there usually is, we will brief you.