HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2023
PAKISTAN
At 3 p.m., this afternoon, the Secretary-General will be speaking at an informal briefing marking one year since the devastating floods in Pakistan.
He will be talking about the progress made on the relief efforts as well as reconstruction and prevention measures. He will also be calling on donors and the international financial institutions to make good on the commitments that they made at the Conference that we co-hosted back in January. He will also stress that while Pakistan is responsible for less than one per cent of the greenhouse gases – its people are 15 times more likely to die from climate-related impacts than people elsewhere. He will underscore that no country can afford a climate breakdown, and all countries must support those who are most vulnerable.
MIDDLE EAST
Tor Wennesland, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council on the Secretary-General’s recent report on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, in which he said that we remain deeply troubled by the unrelenting expansion of Israeli settlements and settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with over 10,000 housing units advanced in this reporting period alone.
He said he remains gravely concerned by the intensification of violence in the West Bank and in Israel, at levels not seen in decades and the use of increasingly lethal weaponry, including in densely populated areas. Immediate steps need to be taken to de-escalate tensions, adding that he was disturbed by the high levels of settler-related violence, often in the proximity of Israeli Security Forces, with perpetrators rarely held to account.
Mr. Wennesland reaffirmed that there is no substitute for a legitimate political process that will resolve the core issues driving the conflict.
SECURITY COUNCIL/SYRIA
And at 3pm this afternoon, Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy for Syria ,and Edem Wosornu, the Director of Operations and Advocacy at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, will be briefing Council members on the situation in Syria.
Mr. Pedersen will be available afterwards, in person, at the stakeout.
Also the Head of the Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bintou Keita, will also be available at the stakeout tomorrow after she briefs the Council on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN
In a statement issued today, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, reiterated her strong concern over the ongoing situation in the South Caucasus region in which it is reported that tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have left the area for Armenia in the span of just a few days. She said the images of people leaving due to fear of identity-based violence are very alarming, indeed.
She called on all efforts to be made to ensure the protection and human rights of the ethnic Armenian population who remain in the area and for those who have left. She stressed that protection and equal rights of minorities is a cornerstone of international human rights law and must be ensured.
LIBYA
Georgette Gagnon, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, has just completed her second visit to Derna since the devastating floods hit that city.
Humanitarian needs remain critical, she said. UN agencies have found that half of the 78 health facilities in Derna and parts of Al-Jabar Al-Akhdar are either partially or totally non-functioning. Rushing floodwater also destroyed water networks and sewage pipes.
UN agencies and its partners, who were on the ground in the affected areas within hours of the floods, are providing safe drinking water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, school supplies, blankets, food items and psychosocial first-aid services, as well as supporting the establishment of six field hospitals.
Ms. Gagnon highlighted progress on the ongoing efforts to remove debris and rehabilitate roads and deliver humanitarian assistance to impacted people.
In meetings with local authorities, she discussed the importance of full access by humanitarian workers, and the need for strong coordination among relevant national and international stakeholders assisting in the recovery. She highlighted the need to accelerate early recovery efforts to advance longer-term reconstruction.
UN agencies have appealed for $71.4 million to meet the immediate needs of some 250,000 impacted people in the next three months.
MALI
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today it is deeply concerned by escalating tensions and clashes in parts of northern and eastern Mali, including Timbuktu, Gao and Menaka.
Humanitarian agencies continue to provide assistance, reaching 1.2 million people across the country so far this year. However, this is only a fraction of the 9 million people who need humanitarian assistance across the whole of Mali.
To maintain operations and scale up the humanitarian response, aid agencies need safe and unimpeded access to affected communities.
They also urgently need additional resources to ensure critical enabling services are in place for humanitarian action, including logistics and mine action activities.
The $752 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Mali is only 22 per cent funded with critical sectors facing even bigger funding gaps. For example, food security is 18% funded; Health: 17% funded; Water Sanitation and Hygiene, only14% funded. We need more cash.
On the peacekeeping end. Peacekeepers in Mali are continuing their activities to draw down and withdraw from the country in an extremely challenging security environment, to say the least. Our colleagues from the ground report that clashes in recent weeks in the Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu regions are impacting the Mission’s drawdown and withdrawal plan. Contingency plans are also in place, in case the security situation continues to deteriorate, as it executes the next phase of the drawdown and withdrawal plan that will include the closure of Tessalit and Aguelhok bases, in the North, and the camp in Douentza, in central Mali, over the next three months.
Up until now, and as we mentioned, four of the 13 bases – namely: Ogossagou, Ber, Goundam and Menaka – have been vacated and handed over to the competent Malian authorities.
From 1 October onwards, the Mission will use its remaining capacities to focus on its safe and orderly drawdown and withdrawal. In line with Security Council resolution 2690, the Mission will no longer be authorized, nor will it have the means and capacities to respond to imminent threats of violence against the civilian population or to contribute to the safe civilian-led delivery of humanitarian goods and services.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
In the Central African Republic, our peacekeeping colleagues there are facilitating the final phase of the repatriation to Uganda and reintegration of ex-combatants belonging to the Lord’s Resistance Army, as well as their associates.
A total of 67 individuals, including 16 ex-combatants, 15 women, and 36 children, were identified and transferred from Mboki to Bangassou, after which they will return to Uganda.
Since July, this process has resulted in over 75 ex-combatants and their associates returning to Uganda. It is an essential pillar for sustainable peace in the Central African Republic.
The deployment this month of UN peacekeepers and personnel of the Central African Armed Forces to the Mboki and Obo areas, in the Haut-Mbomou prefecture, has helped facilitate this process. It has also contributed to gradually restoring security for the local population, through joint patrolling.
COSTA RICA
In Costa Rica, the Government and the UN team in the country, led by the Resident Coordinator, Allegra Baiocchi, today announced an alliance to create the first National Strategy against Hate Speech and discrimination in Latin America and the Caribbean. Costa Rica has experienced a sustained growth of hate speech on social networks, which has tripled since 2021, particularly against women and historically marginalized groups. The strategy will be ready in the next few months. It will be a consultative process with contributions from civil society, academia, the private sector, institutions, multilateral organizations, and national and international experts. It will include fact-finding investigations through the use of artificial intelligence, workshops, national consultations, high level panels and discussions and political agreements.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
The Secretary-General has appointed Shoko Noda of Japan as Assistant Administrator and Director of the Crisis Bureau of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
She succeeds Asako Okai, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed his appreciation for her service and commitment to the UN.
Ms. Noda is currently the UNDP Resident Representative in India. Previously, she was the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in the Maldives.
WORLD TOURISM DAY
In his message to mark World Tourism Day, the Secretary-General says we recognize the vital need for investing in sustainable and resilient tourism, such as adopting zero-emission pathways and lowering energy consumption, in order to build a sector that delivers for people and planet.
BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, will host his post-GA press conference.
