DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
Our Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. Earlier today, she spoke at the opening of the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development. That conference aims to take stock of the progress made since the adoption of the Addis Ababa Agenda. 
Ms. Mohammed highlighted six areas of action: the need to tackle debt, enhance access to financing, close gaps in the global financial safety net, establish a fair and effective international tax system, rethink blended finance, and address global economic governance reform. She added that next year’s conference in Spain would be a unique opportunity to accelerate action and she highlighted the need to lay the groundwork in Addis Ababa.
The Secretary-General also addressed the conference via video message. He noted that nine years ago, world leaders met in Addis Ababa and agreed on a transformative agenda committing public and private actors to align investment and policies with sustainable development. Yet despite the progress, he said, we must face facts - many commitments remain unfulfilled. His video message is available online.
Throughout her visit to Ethiopia, Amina Mohammed held bilateral meetings with senior government officials, including Ethiopia’s President, Sahle-Work Zewde, the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Taye Atske-Selassie. The meetings focused on UN-Ethiopia cooperation, SDGs acceleration, as well as financing for development.
The Deputy Secretary-General met today with Spain’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Diego Martinez Belio, to discuss the SDG Stimulus Leaders Group and the preparations for the upcoming conference in Spain. She also convened two side events with African Finance Ministers and another on Delivering an urgent investment push on the SDGs and structural reform of international finance in FfD4: Toward a joint advocacy strategy.
Tomorrow she will deliver remarks at a High-Level Women Leadership Dialogue convened by the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs of Ethiopia before heading off to Burkina Faso.

RESIDENT COORDINATOR
And on a related note, the Secretary-General – with the host Government’s approval - has appointed Carol Flore-Smereczniak of Mauritius as our new Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Burkina Faso.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in development, security, humanitarian, and conflict and post-conflict settings. She worked until recently as UNDP Resident Representative in Côte d’Ivoire. She’s had a number of other postings and we congratulate her on this new work.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it has received initial reports that families in Gaza are starting to flee toward Deir al Balah and western Khan Younis, following today’s evacuation order issued by the Israeli military. Both areas are already heavily overcrowded, with limited services and shelter spaces available.
Today’s evacuation directive includes areas located in the eastern part of what had been designated by the Israeli military as a so-called "humanitarian zone." 
Our OCHA colleagues say that frequent evacuation orders and relentless hostilities are further devastating Gaza’s health system – making it increasingly difficult for people who have been repeatedly displaced to access essential services. The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis has issued a new call for people to donate blood, with reports that the facility has received dozens of casualties today alone.
Meanwhile, OCHA warns that humanitarian workers in Gaza continue to face enormous risks, including to their personal safety. As you may have seen yesterday a convoy of our UNRWA colleagues was shot at by Israeli forces as they were heading north to Gaza City. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA said there were no casualties, but UNRWA’s teams had to duck and take cover. He noted that they had been traveling in clearly marked UN armored vehicles and were wearing UN vests. Mr. Lazzarini said that one vehicle was severely damaged while waiting just ahead of the Israeli forces’ checkpoint south of Wadi Gaza. 
He said the convoy’s movement was coordinated with the Israeli authorities – and that those responsible for yesterday’s incident must be held to account. Meanwhile, our humanitarian partners report that people in Gaza continue to face severe water shortages. Between July 8th and 21st of this month, the daily average water supply was about 90,000 cubic metres – about a quarter of the amount produced prior to October of last year. 
Damage to infrastructure, the lack of electricity, and shortages of fuel, spare parts and chlorine continue to hamper water production and purification, as well as sewage pumping.
And turning to the West Bank, UNICEF reported today that on average, one Palestinian child has been killed every two days in the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – since October of last year. 
UNICEF says that 143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October, a spike of nearly 250 per cent compared to the preceding nine months.

ISRAEL-YEMEN
You will have seen over the weekend we issued a note expressing the Secretary-General’s concern about the reports of airstrikes in and around the port of Hudaydah in Yemen. Israel claimed responsibility for the strikes, noting that this is in response for previous Houthi attacks on Israel.
The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to avoid attacks that could harm civilians and damage civilian infrastructure.
He remains deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and continues to urge all to exercise utmost restraint.

PRESS ENCOUNTER TOMORROW
As you will see this afternoon, the Security Council will be meeting on the situation in Hudaydah, the situation in the last two days. Briefing will be Rosemary DiCarlo the head of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and also briefing will be General Beary the head of the head of our mission in Hudaydah. And tomorrow, just to stay on Yemen, the Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, will be at the Security Council, will be here in person and he will speak to you at the stakeout afterwards.
And speaking of Security Council, Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy for Syria, told Security Council Members today that a Syrian-led and owned effort cannot succeed without cooperative international diplomacy among key stakeholders in support of the UN-facilitated political process. He emphasized that this is the path described in Security Council resolution 2254, which calls for a political settlement of the conflict in Syria.
For his part, Ramesh Rajasingham, the Director of Coordination at OCHA, briefed on the humanitarian situation. Across Syria, he said, over 16 million people need humanitarian assistance, adding that the border crossings have been instrumental in enabling critical assistance and protection services to more than one million vulnerable people every month. And given the scale of needs, it also remains critical to continue efforts to scale up assistance.

UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that today and over the weekend, hostilities in front-line regions of eastern and southern Ukraine killed at least seven people, that’ what local authorities are telling us. They have reported nearly 80 civilian casualties in total. Over 200 homes and civilian infrastructure were damaged, including power lines, gas pipelines, education facilities, and ambulances. 
Our humanitarian colleagues note that attacks on energy infrastructure continue to disrupt power and water supplies in several parts of Ukraine, including the Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy regions. The UN Human Rights Office also has documented more than 70 such attacks in April and May alone. 
Our humanitarian colleagues also tell us that aid workers continue to provide emergency support after an attack on the residential area of Mykolaiv City on Friday. Complementing the efforts of first responders, aid workers provided psychological support and distributed shelter materials to help repair damaged homes. They also provided hot meals to people impacted by the attack. 

FORESTS
Finally, the Food and Agriculture Organization today released its World Forests report which says that forests face increasing climate-related stress amid growing demand for their products. 
The report also warns that climate change is making our forests more vulnerable to stressors such as wildfires and pests. Global wood production, meanwhile, remains at record levels, with projections that demand for roundwood could increase as much as 49 per cent between 2020 and 2050. The report emphasizes the role of innovation in achieving a sustainable future for the forestry sector.