SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Secretary-General in the General Assembly Hall outlined priorities for 2024. One of his main priorities is to be here tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. for a press conference to answer your questions and I can tell you he is very much looking forward to that.
In his remarks this morning to the delegates he covered topics from peace and war to climate and technology.
The Secretary-General’s underlying message is that peace is the raison d’être of this Organization. He lamented that his vision of this world is that the one thing missing most dramatically is peace in all its dimensions, and that as conflicts rage and geopolitical divisions grow, peace in our world is threatened, and as polarization deepens as human rights are trampled, peace within communities is undermined and our world has entered “an age of chaos” he said.
The Secretary-General also spoke about the situation in the Middle East and he reiterated his calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza.
He also reiterated his call for a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine in line with the UN Charter and international law, and also spoke about the Sahel where terrorism is spiking, and civilians are paying a terrible price.
The Secretary-General also underscored that the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti must be deployed without delay and urged Member States to provide the necessary financial support.
The Secretary-General concluded by saying that peace can achieve wonders that wars never will, and while wars destroy peace builds. But in today’s troubled world, he said, building peace is a conscious, bold and even radical act., noting that it is humanity’s greatest responsibility - individually and collectively to build peace.
The Secretary-General said that for his part he will never give up pushing for peace.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Jamie McGoldrick, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestine Territory, was in Gaza today and also in Gaza today was Sigrid Kaag, our senior humanitarian coordinator, as recently named. Ms. Kaag also met with the Head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society in Rafah and Mr. McGoldrick visited a number of humanitarian operations including a water desalination plant in south Gaza, where he saw how spare parts and construction materials are sorely needed to swiftly repair critical water infrastructure.
And as you know it has now been four months since the escalation of hostilities, and our colleagues at OCHA are warning that severe food shortages, a breakdown in health services, and inadequate facilities for water, sanitation and hygiene are putting children under the age of five – as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women – at increased risk of malnutrition.
A new screening by our humanitarian partners indicates a sharp rise in acute malnutrition – with a 12-fold increase compared to the rate recorded before the hostilities. These initial findings suggest that without adequate care and preventive services, the situation will only worsen.
Last week, our humanitarian partners distributed supplementary nutrition assistance to nearly 42,000 children under the age of five, and almost 4,000 pregnant and lactating women.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine. Denise Brown, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine denounced a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns that took place overnight this morning.
As reported to us by the national authorities, the attacks caused scores of civilian casualties in six regions of Ukraine and have massively disrupted essential services at the height of winter, including electricity, water and gas supplies, especially in Mykolaiv City and Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Ms. Brown said that humanitarian workers mobilized an emergency response in Kyiv and Mykolaiv, delivering food, water, warm clothes, repair materials and psychosocial assistance. They also registered people impacted by the attacks for cash assistance.
Humanitarian workers also provided support to people after recent attacks in the Kharkiv Region, including in Velykyi Burluk Town, which had suffered repeated aerial attacks yesterday, damaging a hospital.
Ms. Brown repeated that attacks in Ukraine – which are killing and injuring civilians and damaging civilian infrastructure – are deeply concerning and civilians must be spared from violence.
SECURITY COUNCIL
And yesterday afternoon also on Ukraine, Rosemary Di Carlo, the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs briefed Security Council members noting that the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine significantly increased in December and January compared with previous months, reversing a trend of decreasing civilian casualties throughout 2023, Adding that as the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, the UN is increasingly concerned about the safety and security of humanitarian aid workers.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, wrapped up his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a renewed call on the M23 armed group to immediately cease its offensive in the country’s east and to respect the Luanda Roadmap. He expressed his solidarity with the impacted populations and reiterated the commitment of the UN Mission to implement its mandate to protect civilians.
In Kinshasa yesterday, he met with President Félix Tshisekedi. They discussed reinforcement of the presence and capacity of Congolese defence and security forces in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
As we mentioned before, UN peacekeepers are due to exit from these three provinces, as part of the Mission’s disengagement plan from the DRC.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - HUMANITARIAN
And staying in the DRC, our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that they are deeply concerned about the escalating humanitarian crisis in the DRC particularly in the Masisi territory, in North Kivu.
Fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 armed group has displaced at least 130,000 people in different areas of the Masisi territory in the past two weeks.
This is adding to an already dire situation in North Kivu.
People who have been displaced – including 26,000 men, women and children now in the town of Sake in North Kivu and 24,000 people in the town of Minova in South Kivu – have limited access to food, clean water, health care and shelter.
The clashes have also impacted the road between Sake and Bweremana, which is a major route connecting the provinces of North and South Kivu. This risks isolating Goma, which is a city of 2 million people which also hosts more than 500,000 displaced people. It could jeopardize food security and economic activities in Goma and the area.
The growing insecurity in Masisi is preventing some 630,000 people who were previously displaced from accessing crucial medical care, including medical assistance for those injured in the conflict.
The risk of further violence, including in Goma, remains high.
We continue to call for unimpeded humanitarian access to address people’s urgent humanitarian needs.
We also urge all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and take concrete action to protect civilians.
SUDAN
Over the past few weeks, we have been updating you on the dire situation in Sudan.
Today, we and our partners appealed for $2.7 billion at an event in Geneva to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs of civilians in Sudan and another $1.4 billion to support 2.7 million people who are living in five countries outside of Sudan and have been pushed out by conflict. That is $4.1 billion combined.
The appeal is a stark reminder that half of Sudan’s population needs humanitarian assistance and protection. Intense hostilities continue to damage critical civilian infrastructure, and nearly three-quarters of health facilities are out of service in states impacted by the hostilities, while diseases including cholera, measles and malaria are spreading.
From Geneva, our Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, stressed that last year’s appeal was less than half funded, and there is a need to do better this year, and for his part, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who recently met with displaced families in inside Sudan and refugees in Ethiopia, said the message he got from them was that they want peace so that they can be able to go back home and rebuild their lives.
We urge generous donors to listen to these voices, and to contribute and help the people of Sudan who are in need.
AFGHANISTAN
Speaking of need, the UN World Food Programme today welcomed a contribution of $3.8 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support Afghans forced to leave Pakistan and return to Afghanistan. The funding will allow WFP to provide cash assistance to nearly 33,000 families. This is more than 230,000 children, women and men, including persons with disabilities returning to Afghanistan.
WFP says that these families are arriving at the worst of times - in winter - when hunger bites hardest in Afghanistan and humanitarian funding is at a low point.
Because of funding shortages last year WFP was forced to reduce ration sizes and to scale back life-saving food assistance, which impacted 10 million people.
MYANMAR
In Myanmar, our UNICEF colleagues say that they are appalled by the deaths of four school children and two teachers as the result of an air strike on two schools in Kayah state, that took place on Monday.
UNICEF strongly condemns any strikes against schools and places of learning, which must always be safe spaces for children.
Attacks against schools are a grave violation of children’s rights and international humanitarian law. The ages of the children who were killed were between 12 and 14. Many more were injured.
CHILE
And turning to Chile, the Secretary General is deeply saddened by the tragic death of the former President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera.
President Piñera will be remembered for his long public service and his strong commitment to democracy in Chile. His calls for climate action resonated at the General Assembly and globally.
The Secretary-General expresses his heartfelt condolences to the family of President Piñera and to the people and Government of Chile.
RESIDENT COORDINATOR / YEMEN
Senior personnel appointment, the UN Development Coordination Office tell us that we have a new Resident Coordinator in Yemen.
The Secretary-General has appointed Julien Harneis, following confirmation by the host Government.
He took up his post this week and will also serve as the Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
With more than 30 years of experience in development coordination, humanitarian assistance and management, Mr. Harneis will lead the work of our UN team on the ground, boosting Yemen’s commitments to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and leave no one behind.
HONOUR ROLL
Lastly, a little quiz for you. No bad puns or quirky factoids. It’s not really funny for us. How many Member States have paid their dues? That would be 43. That’s the last receipt to date that would qualify for the Honour Roll. They have until the end of day tomorrow to send in their checks or suitcases full of cash. We will take cash. No pressure, we will of course, be happy to continue to report on those who pay in full – in total recognition that every country has different budgeting cycles - not to mention different national dishes, drinks and different mountain ranges.
James.
