SOMALIA
The Secretary-General spoke this morning with His Excellency, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, at his request. He took note of Somalia’s concern regarding the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and “Somaliland” that was announced on 1 January. The Secretary-General recalled that the Security Council has repeatedly affirmed the respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Somalia. 
The Secretary-General hopes all parties will engage in peaceful and constructive dialogue and to refrain from any actions that could further escalate the situation. 

ECUADOR
The Secretary-General also spoke by phone with the Permanent Representative of Ecuador and I can tell you that he is very much General is alarmed by the deteriorating situation in the country, as well as its disruptive impact on the lives of Ecuadorians.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns these criminal acts of violence that we’ve seen and he sends a message of solidarity to the Ecuadorian people.

OPT
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues to cause casualties and destroy and damage critical civilian infrastructure.
Humanitarian partners continue to raise concerns over repeated denials of access to areas north of Wadi Gaza. They are also increasingly warning of a potential collapse of health services in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, where hostilities have intensified, resulting in more casualties, insecurity, and impediments to aid delivery.
The ongoing hostilities in Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis – coupled with evacuation orders in nearby areas – are putting three hospitals at the risk of closures: Al Aqsa, Nasser and the Gaza European hospital.
Yesterday, more shelling was reported near the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah.                                            
Our humanitarian partners tell us that as of yesterday, just one-fifth of the 5,000 beds needed to meet trauma and emergency needs in Gaza are available. And out of 77 primary health centres, more than three quarters are not functioning – leaving many people in Gaza without access to basic health services.
Some 350,000 people with chronic illnesses and about 485,000 people with mental health disorders continue to experience disruptions in their treatments in Gaza.
Those internally displaced by the conflict there – that’s some 1.9 million men, women and children – are at high risk of communicable diseases due to poor living conditions, overcrowding of shelters, and lack of access to proper water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.
Our humanitarian partners are working to scale up sanitation services to support internally displaced people in Rafah and Khan Younis, but aid organizations continue to face major operational challenges, including material shortages, logistical difficulties in transporting supplies, and limited space for latrine construction due to severe overcrowding in the southern part of the Gaza strip.
The combination of water trucking, desalinated water, and the restoration of one of three main water supply lines late last month has yielded just 7 per cent of water production in Gaza, compared with the water supply before 7 October. 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Moving on to the Central African Republic, our colleagues from the peacekeeping mission there tell us that, following an attack last month in the village of the Lim-Pende prefecture, peacekeepers continue to patrol the area and the situation is now returning to normal with displaced people gradually returning to the area. 
As we mentioned last week, peacekeepers have established a Temporary Operating Base and deployed a Quick Reaction Force in the aftermath of the attack by combatants belonging to the 3R armed group. The Mission’s presence has also enabled humanitarian partners to deliver aid supplies to people there. Peacekeepers are also rehabilitating damaged bridges to improve access and promote the protection of civilians.
And on a different topic, the seasonal movement of livestock – also known as transhumance – is beginning in parts of the country, with related risks for violence and tensions. The peacekeeping mission is proactively implementing measures to prevent tensions. Those include more patrols, assigning community liaison assistants, heightening human rights monitoring, and strengthening inter-communal mediation efforts.

SYRIA 
Moving on to Syria. Today, the World Health Organization completed the agency’s first cross-border mission of the year to assess the mental health support and medical supply stocks in four health facilities in Idlib, located in north-west Syria. Additional staff missions are being planned in the coming days.
This comes as we and our partners are supporting health facilities, distributing health kits, and providing winter assistance in displacement camps and communities, among other assistance.
But underfunding is overstretching the operation, and we are already seeing the consequences of this shortfall in the new year. One of our partners having reported suspending support to three water stations serving 250,000 men, women and children. Those stations are in Idlib, and that is of course due to underfunding that we’ve been talking about.
That means that residents have been relying on costly water trucking since the start of the year.
Our humanitarian colleagues also continue to be concerned over the impact of hostilities in the north-west of the country. 
Since 5 October, more than 100 people have been killed due to escalation in hostilities, and nearly 440 others injured, according to local health officials.

SUDAN
In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it’s alarmed that fighting is disrupting critical humanitarian operations in Sudan, amidst a worsening cholera outbreak. 
Nearly 9,000 suspected cases – including 245 deaths – have been reported in nine states, which is an increase of more than 40 per cent compared to the caseload one month ago. That’s according to WHO and Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health. Given the near full-scale collapse of Sudan’s health care sector, this is extremely worrying. Our humanitarian colleagues are also deeply concerned by the scale of displacement due to the spreading conflict – which has fueled the largest displacement crisis on Earth.
Since April, more than 6 million people have been displaced inside the country – including more than half a million due to the clashes that erupted in Al-Jazirah State last month.

UKRAINE
The Security Council held a briefing on Ukraine this morning. 
Rosemary Di Carlo, the head of our Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told Council members that in recent weeks, the country has been suffering some of the worst attacks since the beginning of the war. She added that civilians in frontline communities bear the heaviest burden of the missile, drone and artillery barrages. 
We are also on the brink of the third year of the gravest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War. Ms. DiCarlo said the toll of this senseless war is already catastrophic, and it is terrifying to contemplate where it could lead us. It must stop, she said. 
For her part, Edem Wosornu, from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told members of the Security Council that across Ukraine, attacks and extreme weather have left millions of people in a record 1,000 villages and towns without heat or electricity or water as temperatures dropped to below minus 15 degrees Celsius.  
The scale of humanitarian needs in Ukraine remains vast. More than 14.6 million people – about 40 per cent of Ukraine’s total population – require some form of humanitarian assistance. 

ROHINGYA REFUGEES
The World Food Programme today warned that Rohingya refugees continue to face crisis after crisis. 
In March last year, cuts in donor funding forced WFP to reduce its general food assistance voucher value for the entire Rohingya population – from $12 to $10 per person per month - and again to $8 per person per month in June. 
WFP’s goal is to give Rohingya refugees a full ration of $12.50 per person per month, with fortified rice added, as soon as possible. Even before the ration cuts, chronic malnutrition affected 40 per cent of children under five, and 12 per cent of children were acutely malnourished. The food organization is appealing to donors to continue funding humanitarian operations and provide sustained support until the Rohingya refugees can be repatriated safely and in dignity. An additional $61 million is needed to restore the full ration in 2024.

AFGHANISTAN
The World Food Programme assesses that one in three Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from as communities brace for a harsh winter. 
WFP warns that every province in the country is currently in crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Previously, large-scale and sustained donor contributions helped carry millions of Afghans through two difficult winters and pulled back more than 5 million people from the brink of famine. Now, after a year of massive funding shortfalls, WFP can only help the most desperate families survive winter with rations at the absolute minimum levels. WFP urgently needs $670 million to reach 15.2 million men, women and children with lifesaving food, nutrition, and livelihood support.    
 
UNEMPLOYMENT
And if you’re interested in employment… we should all be, I encourage you to look at the latest report from our friends in Geneva at the International Labour Organization that says that the global unemployment rate is set to increase this year. The report also raises concern about growing inequalities and stagnant productivity.

HONOUR ROLL
And I’ll finish with a quiz. What do the following countries have in common? Benin, Chad, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Senegal and Ukraine? All six qualified to be the first in this year’s Honour Roll.  We thank them – one and all - for their full payments to the 2024 regular budget.
As a reminder, Member States have 30 days to pay their regular budget assessments in full following receipt of letter from the Secretariat telling them what they owe. Those who pay within the 30-day period will be on to the Honour Roll. They have until the 8 February.