HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 11 APRIL 2024
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/BRUSSELS
Today, in Brussels, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, delivered a keynote address at the Global Gateway High-Level Education Forum.
She emphasized that with major education events being convened in Paris, New York and Fortaleza, 2024 is the time to strengthen support for countries on SDG4 and education transformation, especially on digital learning, education financing, teachers, skills and country level collaboration as we approach the Transforming Education Summit’s two-year anniversary.
Also today, the Deputy Secretary-General met with Hajah Lahbib, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium. They discussed a number of issues, including the country’s cooperation with the UN, forthcoming milestones such as the Summit of the Future, as well as the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General attended the Spotlight Initiative’s Governing Body meeting. She highlighted that, seven years into this partnership, it is evident that a comprehensive, large-scale investment in ending violence against women holds immense potential.
Also yesterday, Ms. Mohammed participated in the 4th Annual EU-UN Strategic Dialogue on Sustainable Development, where she addressed various topics, including the Summit of the Future, the reforming of the international financial architecture, and the collaboration on digitalization and skills for the future.
The Deputy Secretary-General held several bilateral meetings with senior Belgian and EU officials, as well as with major education stakeholders. She will be back in New York later today.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Martin Griffiths, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, met yesterday with the heads of the World Food Programme (WFP), Cindy McCain; UNICEF, Catherine Russell; and the World Health Organization,
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; the Special Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator, Sigrid Kaag; the acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick and Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.
Mr. Griffiths said that the UN welcomes all efforts to increase the amount and type of aid delivered for the people of Gaza, whether by air, sea or, most importantly, land. The UN trusts that no effort will be spared to ensure that aid reaches those who need it across the Gaza Strip, including in the north, that the safety of the UN’s aid workers and of civilians remains paramount, and that the independence of the UN’s humanitarian operations is maintained.
The UN will continue to work with all those committed to alleviating the humanitarian suffering in Gaza and to advocate for principled and safe aid delivery. That is our commitment and obligation to our teams and to the people we serve.
GAZA
Yesterday, a UN team carried out an assessment in Khan Younis following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from that part of southern Gaza.
The team reported widespread destruction: Every building they visited – and most of those they observed – had been damaged, and paved roads had been reduced to dirt tracks.
The team inspected a UN warehouse, four medical centres, and eight schools. They saw very significant damage in all but one of them.
Streets and public spaces in Khan Younis are littered with unexploded ordnance, posing severe risks to civilians. The team found unexploded 1,000-pound bombs lying on main intersections and inside schools.
Residents who returned to the area, and some who remained during the fighting, told the team about dire shortages of food and water and the loss of critical health services due to the destruction of Nasser and Al Amal hospitals.
Staff from across the UN humanitarian system participated in that mission.
On Tuesday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jamie McGoldrick, was also in Khan Younis, where he visited an UNRWA school that is now sheltering thousands of people. He said the community there needs more supplies and support, including food, water, health and sanitation assistance.
Yesterday, Mr. McGoldrick represented the humanitarian community in a meeting with the Southern Command of the Israeli Defense Forces, as well as COGAT -- the Israeli body responsible for the flow of aid in Gaza. Mr. McGoldrick presented a list of requests of what is needed for the UN and its humanitarian partners to be able to deliver assistance safely, effectively and at the necessary scale throughout Gaza.
Meanwhile, UNICEF reported yesterday that one of their vehicles was hit by live ammunition on Tuesday, while it was waiting to enter northern Gaza. The agency said the incident has been raised with the relevant Israeli authorities.
LEBANON
An investigation by UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, into the 30 March explosion that impacted an Observer Group Lebanon (OGL) patrol is underway. Preliminary findings indicate the explosion was caused by a land mine.
Three military observers of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and one national UNIFIL language assistant were wounded in that incident. We reiterate that peacekeepers' safety and security must be ensured.
The United Nations remains deeply concerned by the repeated exchanges of fire since 8 October, in repeated breach of the cessation of hostilities and in violation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), and reiterates the call for these exchanges to cease.
HAITI
The World Food Programme today said that it is ramping up food assistance in Haiti but warns that its food stocks may run out by the end of this month.
WFP only has enough food in the country to feed 175,000 people for one month and the closure of Haiti’s main port and airport in Port-au-Prince about a month ago has disrupted the flow of supplies into the country.
Since the start of the current crisis, WFP has reached more than half a million people with emergency assistance, including hot meals for people living in temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince. They have also provided cash assistance and school meals in the provinces.
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that gang violence is disrupting access to health for Haitians in Port-au-Prince.
The Haiti State University Hospital has remained closed since 30 March, while La Paix University Hospital, the largest functioning public hospital, is overwhelmed. Personnel and ambulances also have difficulties accessing gang-controlled areas.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization and the UN Population Fund continue to support hospitals with equipment and medicines. Since 1 March, UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration and their partners have delivered more than 4.5 million liters of drinking water in 29 sites across the capital.
And as you know, our $674 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is severely underfunded at just under 7 per cent.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) said that peacekeepers responded to an alert this morning about shots fired by CODECO combatants near Tata Hill, in Ituri province.
The peacekeepers established a presence in the area, including between a hospital, the local church and market to deter further threats.
Together with the Congolese Armed Forces, the Mission fired warning shots and eventually exchanged fire, which led to CODECO withdrawing from Tata Hill. The Mission continues to monitor the situation.
SUDAN
This coming Monday marks one year since the start of the devastating conflict in Sudan that impacted the lives of millions of men, women and children in Sudan and in neighbouring countries as well.
On Monday, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, will be in Paris alongside other UN officials attending the Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours.
France, Germany and the European Union are co-hosting.
Ms. Msuya will address the conference and advocate for scaled-up resources to expand aid operations in Sudan and the region. She will also advocate for improved humanitarian access so that agencies can ensure the timely delivery of life-saving supplies to communities in need. The Secretary-General will have a video message as well.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, as well as Michael Dunford, the Regional Director for Eastern Africa for the World Food Programme, will be noon briefing guests tomorrow to discuss the situation in Sudan.
And as the deadly hostilities enter the second year, the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan released some heartbreaking figures. It said that fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has killed thousands of civilians since it began on 15 April last year. Over six million people have been displaced internally, while almost two million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries. Nearly 24 million people need aid.
UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports yet another set of deadly attacks, yesterday and today, in Kharkiv, Odesa, and Donetsk regions in Ukraine. According to local authorities, civilians were killed, including several children.
Humanitarian partners on the ground say that energy infrastructure was also damaged after attacks in Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv and Kyiv regions. In Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, families were left with no access to electricity due to these attacks.
Humanitarians are mobilized and continue to provide emergency assistance, complementing the efforts of national rescues and municipal services.
SECURITY COUNCIL/UKRAINE
This morning, the Security Council held a meeting on Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine. Briefing Council members, Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General for Central Asia, Europe, and Americas at the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said that we are appalled by the increase in civilian casualties as a result of relentless attacks in Ukraine. It is particularly disturbing that at least 57 children were killed or injured in March alone, doubling the number from February.
Also briefing Council members, Edem Wosornu, the Director of Operations and Advocacy in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that we remain deeply concerned by the lack of humanitarian access to the parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions occupied by the Russian Federation, and that at least 1.5 million people need humanitarian assistance in these areas.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, will brief the Security Council on Monday afternoon, and will speak to journalists at the stakeout after the meeting.
SHIPWRECKS/UN REFUGEE AGENCY
Our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency are deeply saddened by the news of a shipwreck that happened yesterday in the Aegean Sea, where three young girls aged 5 to 10 years old, were reported dead off Chios Island. UNHCR noted that today, there was another terrible shipwreck near Lampedusa where 9 people are confirmed dead.
UNHCR has continuously been calling for urgent action to address the desperate situation in the Mediterranean, to ensure solidarity among states and a commitment to uphold longstanding legal and moral obligations for rescue at sea, and safe and predictable disembarkation in places of safety in all coastal states. UNHCR stresses that the establishment of safe pathways is needed, which would offer an alternative to the perilous journeys that desperate and vulnerable people are increasingly forced to take.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Zimbabwe and Moldova paid their dues to the regular budget in full. There are now 100 Member States who have paid up in full.
GUEST
The noon briefing guest today is Kanni Wignaraja, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Director for Asia, to discuss UNDP’s report on the socioeconomic situation in Myanmar.
