Noon briefing of 2 May 2024

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, 2 MAY 2024

The Secretary-General is in Chile to attend the meeting of the Chief Executives Board for Coordination of the United Nations.
This afternoon, he will have a bilateral meeting with the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and that will be followed by a joint press encounter.
That will be around 6:45 p.m. here in New York and it will be on our UN Web TV.

EAST AFRICA
Last night, we issued a statement in which the Secretary-General’s expressed his deep distress at the news of the hundreds of lives lost and many others affected by the heavy flooding in Burundi, in Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania, as well as other parts of East Africa.
The United Nations and its partners are working closely with national authorities to address the humanitarian requirements. The Secretary-General stresses that the United Nations stands ready to offer any additional assistance that may be needed during this difficult period.
The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the impacts of El Niño-triggered extreme weather, which risk further devastating communities and undermining livelihoods.

CERF/SOUTHERN AFRICA
Martin Griffiths, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, has released $13.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund [CERF] to shore up support to address the El Niño-induced disasters in Southern Africa.
The funds will go towards providing food, cash, support for irrigation systems and drought-resistant seed for farmers for planting, among other assistance.
This latest allocation brings the total amount earmarked to confront the El Niño crisis globally to more than $60 million.

MADAGASCAR
The spokesman provided a humanitarian update on the response following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Gamane in Madagascar, in late March. The storm impacted more than 530,000 men, women and children. Hundreds of houses, schools and health centres were flooded and damaged.
We continue to support the Government of Madagascar-led response, focusing on the health response due to the risk of epidemics following the storm. Humanitarian organizations have provided medicine, mosquito nets and water purification products. They are also providing training on water treatment.
The education sector is also a priority as it is the last semester of school. Humanitarian aid organizations have distributed tents for temporary classrooms for students.
Our colleagues from OCHA say that access to some areas remains challenging as the national road connecting the north-east, one of the most affected regions, is still cut-off. Both humanitarian supplies and staff need to be transported by sea or air which, as you can imagine, increases the cost of the response.
Humanitarian partners are calling for additional funds to support relief efforts.
The flash appeal for Madagascar – which will require some $90 million this year – is under 13 per cent funded, with only $11.5 million in the bank.

SUDAN
Humanitarians are deeply concerned about the crisis that is ongoing in Sudan. A group of 10 Emergency Directors from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations wrapped up a joint mission to Sudan today to sound the alarm over the absolutely devastating situation across the country, including catastrophic food insecurity levels and a growing risk of famine.
Humanitarians urgently need to expand access – across conflict lines and borders – to reach people in need wherever they are. They also need more resources; despite generous pledges made in Paris about two weeks ago, in the conference there, the Sudan humanitarian appeal remains only 10 per cent funded.
Our colleagues are deeply disturbed by the situation for civilians in and around El Fasher, where clashes and tensions have escalated.
We are particularly alarmed about restrictions on civilian movements and reports that civilians are being attacked and robbed while attempting to flee south from the capital of North Darfur State. Fighting in and around the city has already cut off humanitarian access to civilians who desperately need assistance.
If the violence in El Fasher escalates, more than 360,000 people will be deprived of food assistance and livelihood support, and more than 100,000 will lose out on shelter assistance. It could also have a negative impact on our humanitarian access to other states in Darfur.

GUEST - TOMORROW
Tomorrow, Friday, Leni Kinzli, will brief reporters virtually from Nairobi. She is the World Food Programme’s Spokesperson for Sudan and she will brief on the situation in Darfur and El Fasher.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, our humanitarian colleagues continue to warn about the catastrophic impact that a potential ground invasion in Rafah could have, especially on the civilians and on the aid operations that support those civilians.
Rafah is at the heart of our Gaza humanitarian operations. It is the transshipment point for the life-saving assistance that arrives in Gaza from the Rafah and the Kerem Shalom crossings. It is where dozens of aid organizations store the lifesaving supplies they deliver to civilians across the Gaza Strip.
Among other things, our colleagues from the UN Population Fund operate clinics for sexual and reproductive health at field hospitals in Rafah. UNICEF and partners are providing outpatient treatment for acutely malnourished children at more than 50 sites in Rafah.
The World Food Programme and its partners are distributing nutrition supplements to children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Rafah.
Three of UNRWA’s eight health centres in Gaza are in Rafah. They provide primary care, medication, vaccination, pre- and post-natal services and wound dressings for injured patients.
And most importantly – there are hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled to Rafah to escape bombardment, famine and disease. For them, a ground operation would mean more suffering. Civilians must be protected and international humanitarian law must be respected by all.

SYRIA
Moving to Syria, the extreme weather there has left thousands of people in the north-west of the country in urgent need of tents and other shelter support.
In Idlib and northern Aleppo, nearly 2,500 people were heavily impacted by the rainfall. Some 250 tents and more than 180 shelters were damaged.
Our colleagues at OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] say that they are among those working to assess the damage, and our partners on the ground are distributing tents, mattresses, blankets, insulators and other assistance.
We, along with our partners have been working to move some 800,000 men, women and children in northwest Syria to safer and more durable shelters, amid recurrent flooding since the start of the year. However, the funding shortfalls are challenging efforts to provide support in the area.
Just 8 per cent of the $1.4 billion needed for the cross-border humanitarian response in north-west Syria is in the bank.

UKRAINE
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations in Ukraine, Denise Brown, was in the Kharkiv region in the east of the country today, where she condemned the recent wave of attacks on the region.
Attacks have also continued for a third day in a row in Odesa, causing dozens of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. That’s according to what local authorities are telling us.
Our humanitarian partners have warned about the impact of the increase in attacks on education institutions and health facilities in recent months.
In the first four months of this year alone, nearly 90 schools were damaged in attacks across the country. That is what our partners are telling us.
Humanitarian organizations are mobilized and are providing emergency repair materials, psychological and legal assistance to those who need it.

CYPRUS
The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín, will undertake her third visit to Cyprus, and that will take place from 7-14 May of this year.
During the visit, she is expected to meet with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as a broad range of additional interlocutors.
Before the visit to Cyprus, she traveled to Brussels for meetings with European Union officials, as well as to other relevant capitals.

WORLD TUNA DAY
And today is World Tuna Day.The fish has amazing qualities – it is rich in Omega-3, contains minerals, proteins, and vitamin B12, among other advantages. However, it is threatened by the overwhelming demand. This Day highlights the importance of the conservation management of tuna.

GUEST TODAY
Abdallah Al Dardari, the Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the UN Development Programme (UNDP), briefed reporters from Amman, in Jordan, on the launch of UNDP’s report entitled “War in Gaza: Expected Socioeconomic Impacts on the State of Palestine”.