HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 7 MARCH 2024
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress.” In his message, the Secretary-General says that women and girls have made great gains – demolishing barriers, dismantling stereotypes and driving progress towards a more just and equal world. Yet they face immense obstacles with billions of women and girls facing marginalization, injustice and discrimination.
The Secretary-General underscores that ending patriarchy requires money on the table. He calls for investment in programmes to end violence against women, and to drive women’s inclusion and leadership in economies, digital technologies, peacebuilding and climate action.
And also I would encourage you to take a look at an op-ed published this week by the Secretary-General, in which he warns that at our current speed, full legal equality for women is some 300 years away and so is the end of child marriage.
Tomorrow, there will be a series of events to mark the day. The official commemoration will begin at 10 a.m. in the ECOSOC Chamber, and the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General will be there. You are welcome to join in the event.
And for the 10th year, over 100 stock exchanges around the world are hosting bell ringing ceremonies to mark the Day and raise awareness of the role the private sector can do to advance gender equality. The initiative is organized by UN Women in collaboration with the UN Global Compact and other partners. UN Women’s Deputy Executive Director, Kirsi Madi, will participate in person at the closing [bell] of Nasdaq, tomorrow.
At 10:00am on Monday in the General Assembly Hall, the official opening session of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place. The CSW68 priority theme is “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”
You can also find a list of events on the UN Women’s website.
HAITI
And just turning to the situation in Haiti. The Security Council yesterday, as you know, held a private meeting on Haiti to discuss the alarming escalation in gang violence in the country. The head of our mission in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador briefed Council members.
She underscored the need for urgent action, particularly in supporting the immediate deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission, to address the insecurity facing the Haitian people and to prevent the country from plunging even further into chaos, as gang violence in Haiti has reached unprecedented levels.
Ms. Salvador remains in close contact with the Prime Minister of Haiti, the government and other stakeholders from across the political spectrum to encourage a peaceful and constructive inter-Haitian dialogue to promote a nationally-owned political solution to this crisis.
And in answer to questions that were raised yesterday regarding official notification from Kenya, the Spokesman said that we have not yet received an official notification, in line with Security Council resolution 2699. However – as you have seen, as this was public - President Ruto of Kenya has publicly expressed that his country is ready to deploy police officers to Haiti in the context of the Multinational [Security] Support mission.
Last Friday, following the signing of a reciprocal agreement between Kenya and Haiti that paved the way for a deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti, President Ruto announced that his country was “ready for this deployment”.
Also on Haiti, on the humanitarian situation, despite limited access because of the obvious insecurity, we and our partners are using every window of opportunity to deliver aid.
Since March 3rd, WFP [World Food Programme] and its partners have delivered more than 7,600 hot meals to displaced men, women and children living in displacement sites. The International Organization for Migration has now distributed shelter material to more than 650 families.
Our partners are also providing psychosocial support to children and their families through hotlines.
As we mentioned yesterday, the healthcare system is near collapse. Many health facilities have closed or have drastically reduced their operations due to a worrying shortage of medicine and the ability of staff to get to the hospitals where they are most needed.
There is also a reported shortage of medical equipment, along with blood, beds and staff to treat patients with gunshot wounds from areas around Port-au-Prince.
The ambulatory emergency centre of Doctors without Borders in the Turgeau neighbourood of Port-au-Prince, which had been closed since December last year, reopened yesterday. MSF – Doctors Without Borders also opened a new trauma centre with a capacity of 27 beds and two operating rooms in the Carrefour neighborhood– that’s on the outskirts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
The insecurity has also forced our colleagues from the World Food Programme to suspend their maritime transport service, which is currently the only means of transporting food and medical supplies for humanitarian and development organisations from Port-au-Prince to the other parts of the country. There are currently 24 trucks with equipment, medical supplies and other food stuck at the port in Port-au-Prince. And as a reminder, WFP’s humanitarian air service is also grounded due to the activities at the airport.
Many schools remain closed in Port-au-Prince, in Delmas, in Petion-ville, in Croix-des-Bouquets and Carrefour. A more in-depth assessment is underway to determine the situation in the other communes of the capital city.
The humanitarian community continues to call on all parties to stop the violence and to allow safe, unimpeded access of humanitarian assistance to everyone who needs it and there are a lot of people who need it urgently.
As a reminder the $674 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is only 2.5 per cent funded. That is only $17 million received.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to in Gaza, where the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that in February, according to OCHA, half of the 224 aid missions planned to areas requiring coordination were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, so half of the 224 went through.
Following Israeli naval fire that hit a UN-coordinated food convoy heading to north Gaza on 5 February, there was an operational pause and, as a result, only 24 missions were planned to the besieged north last month. Of them, just six were facilitated. By contrast, of 200 planned missions to areas where access requires coordination south of Wadi Gaza, 105 were facilitated by the Israeli authorities.
As you know, aid workers face significant risks due to the ongoing hostilities, and humanitarian operations have been impeded by active fighting, bombardment, and other challenges.
However, we and our partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance to civilians in Gaza, wherever and whenever we can. Last week, 19 humanitarian partners provided health services to some 80,000 patients – and more than a dozen of the WHO’s Medical Teams treated 13,000 patients.
Shelter supplies are urgently needed. Last week, our partners distributed more than 1,800 tarpaulins, 2,500 bedding sets, 2,500 blankets and nearly 1,400 sealing-off kits to weather-proof shelters. We will share all that in writing with you.
SUDAN
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke to a meeting of the Security Council on Sudan, where yet another humanitarian crisis is unfolding in front of our very eyes, and he made an appeal calling on all parties in Sudan “to honour the values of Ramadan by honouring a Ramadan cessation of hostilities,” adding that this cessation of hostilities must lead to a definitive silencing of the guns across the country and set out a firm path towards a lasting peace for the people of Sudan.
Mr. Guterres said that he counts on his Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, to continue leading the political efforts and to promote the coordination of international mediation initiatives.
Mr. Guterres addressed the humanitarian crisis in Sudan extensively in his remarks, saying it is reaching colossal proportions.
As we have been briefing you constantly, half of the population in Sudan – that is some 25 million men, women and children – need life-saving assistance.
Sudan is now home to the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, with 6.3 million people being internally displaced, and 1.7 million people having fled to neighbouring countries.
Some 18 million people are acutely food insecure.
The Secretary-General underscored that we and our humanitarian partners are doing everything we can to stem this suffering. He urged the international community to provide financial support to the Humanitarian Response Plan, which remains gravely underfunded, as most of our humanitarian appeals are.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our peacekeeping colleagues tell us that intense fighting is continuing in North Kivu between members of the M23 and the Congolese forces, including in the Nyanzale, Kikuyu and Kirima areas.
The fighting has led to large displacements of civilians towards Kanyabayonga and Rwindi, including more than 2,000 displaced men, women and children seeking shelter near the UN base in Rwindi.
UN Peacekeepers have also established humanitarian corridors in the area to ensure the safe movement of civilians and to support the disbursement of humanitarian aid. And in nearby Ituri province, peacekeepers yesterday exchanged fire with members of the CODECO militia, following an attack in Largu, a community located about 20 km south east of Djugu.
The population fled the area, with many seeking protection at the UN base in Drodro. Later in the day, peacekeepers and the Congolese army repelled another attack by the same armed group in Drodro, with the exchange of fire resulting in the militia withdrawing. Joint patrols with the Congolese army continue in the Drodro-Largu area to ensure the protection of civilians.
And the head of World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She issued an appeal to the international community for urgent resources to respond to the deepening hunger crisis in the eastern part of the country, adding that women are bearing the brunt and a disproportionate brunt of this humanitarian emergency. While this conflict continues, she said, emergency relief will remain critical and humanitarian assistance must keep pace with the rapidly growing needs in the DRC.
SOMALIA
The deputy heads of Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Food and Agriculture Organization arrived in Somalia today on a joint mission to urge continued global support for Somalis suffering from the impact of hunger, conflict and climate change. The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, and FAO’s Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol, will meet people on the frontlines of the climate crisis – including displaced farmers – as well as Government officials, donor partners, and aid workers looking to scale up response efforts.
As you know, at the start of 2023, Somalia was still experiencing its worst drought in decades.
SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES
A new report from the International Telecommunication Union says that internet use in the world’s 57 small island developing states and territories has outpaced the world average over the past decade.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The Philippines and Palau paid their dues to the regular budget.
BRIEFINGS TODAY AND TOMORROW
Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of UNDP’s Asia and the Pacific Bureau and Stephen Rodriques, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Kabul, briefed reporters on the socio-economic situation in Afghanistan.
Tomorrow, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of the Peace operations department, will brief reporters as the guest at the noon briefing.
