Noon briefing of 16 August 2024

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 16 AUGUST 2024

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Secretary-General will begin a series of visits starting next week - in the Pacific Islands and East Asia.
First, he will go to Samoa from 21-23 August where he will meet with Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa. His visit will focus on the impacts of climate change in the country.
He will then briefly touch down in Auckland, New Zealand, on 23-24 August, where he will meet with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. From there, he will go to Tonga from 24-27 August where he will participate in the Pacific Islands Forum. He is expected to meet with the Prime Minister of Tonga,
Mr. Siaosi 'Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni, as well as other leaders attending the Forum. The Secretary-General will also undertake various site visits to see the impacts of the 2022 tsunami and raise awareness of the importance of climate action measures including early warning systems, adaptation and mitigation. His visit will also serve as an opportunity to emphasize the impact of sea level rise in the region and beyond. In both Pacific countries the Secretary-General will engage with local communities and civil society representatives, including young people.
The Secretary-General will then go to Timor-Leste from 28-31 August where he will take part in the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Popular Consultation in the country, which was organized by the United Nations.
He’s expected to meet with Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão and President José Ramos-Horta and other senior officials.
Mr. Guterres will then head to Singapore on 1-2 September, where he will meet with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Wong Lawrence.
And, from 2-5 September, he will be in China. Among other engagements, he will take part in the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing where he will highlight the importance of South-South cooperation to build solidarity and drive progress on shared development goals. While in the capital, he will also meet with senior government officials.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
This evening, the Deputy Secretary-General will travel to Cairo, Egypt, to attend the 43^rd World Scout Conference as keynote speaker at the invitation of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
While there, she will meet with senior government officials and other stakeholders and visit projects aiming to enhance climate change adaptation in the North Coast region and Nile Delta.
On Tuesday, 20 August 2024, the Deputy Secretary-General will travel to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, to participate in the World Women's Forum at the invitation of the Government of Mongolia. While in Mongolia, she will meet with senior government officials, nomadic communities and other stakeholders.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/PRESS ENCOUNTER ON POLIO IN GAZA
Gaza is in a humanitarian freefall.
Just when it seems the situation could not get worse for Palestinians in Gaza, the suffering grows – and the world watches.
In recent weeks, the poliovirus has been detected in wastewater samples in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
That means the virus is now circulating, with hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza at risk.
Polio does not care about dividing lines – and polio does not wait.
Preventing and containing the spread of polio will take a massive, coordinated and urgent effort.
The United Nations is poised to launch a vital polio vaccine campaign in Gaza for more than 640,000 children under the age of 10.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the release of 1.6 million doses of the polio vaccine.
UNICEF is coordinating delivery of the vaccines and the cold chain equipment to store them.
And UNRWA, the largest primary healthcare provider in Gaza, has medical teams ready to administer the vaccines and assist with logistics.
But the challenges are grave.
Health, water, and sanitation systems in Gaza have been decimated.
The majority of hospitals and primary care facilities are not functional.
People are constantly on the run for safety.
And routine immunizations have been severely disrupted by the conflict, increasing the spread of other preventable diseases like measles and hepatitis A.
We know how an effective polio vaccination campaign must be administered.
Given the wholesale devastation in Gaza, at least 95 per cent vaccination coverage will be needed during each round of the two-round campaign to prevent polio’s spread and reduce its emergence.
The vaccination effort will include 708 teams at hospitals and primary health care centres – many of which are barely functioning -- and by 316 community outreach teams throughout Gaza.
And we also know what a successful campaign will require:
The facilitation of transport for vaccines and cold chain equipment at every step.
The entry of polio experts into Gaza.
Fuel for health teams to conduct their work.
Reliable internet and phone services to inform communities about the campaign.
An increase in the amount of cash allowed into Gaza to pay health workers.
And, above all, a successful polio vaccination campaign needs safety.
Safety for health workers to do their jobs.
Safety for children and families to get to the health facilities.
And safety for those health facilities to be protected from bombardment.
I am appealing to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign.
Let’s be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
But in any case, a Polio Pause is a must.
It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over.
Polio goes beyond politics.
It transcends all divisions.
And so it is our shared obligation to come together.
To mobilize – not to fight people, but to fight polio.
And to defeat a vicious virus that, left unchecked, would have a disastrous effect not only for Palestinian children in Gaza, but also in neighbouring countries and the region.

GAZA
In Jerusalem today, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, urged all parties to prioritize the protection of civilians, conclude a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza and implement its provisions without delay or condition in line with UN Security Council resolution 2735.
He said that he was encouraged by the perseverance of the leaders of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar as mediators and their call on both sides to conclude the ceasefire and hostages release deal. An end to this nightmare is long overdue, he said.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that a new evacuation order this morning issued by the Israeli military has further shrunk the Israeli-designated humanitarian area to 11 per cent of Gaza.
Six blocks are affected by the new evacuation order in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, including two within the Israeli-designated humanitarian area in Al Malwasi in western Khan Younis.
More than 120 displacement sites are affected, hosting an estimated 170,000 people. The new order also affects humanitarian facilities, including a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse, while there is already a major shortage of storage capacity in Gaza which affects our ability to receive and dispatch assistance.
Many of the displaced concerned by today’s evacuation orders had just recently arrived in the area, after having followed precedent evacuation orders. OCHA dispatched a small team on the ground and they saw already thousands of people on the move, many children and women. They were moving towards Deir al Balah without clear destination. Once again, they had to leave in a hurry with nowhere to go being surrounded by death and destruction.
Just for the month of August, the Israeli military have issued eight evacuation orders affecting tens of thousands of people in Khan Younis and, to a lesser extent, in northern Gaza. Combined, the ongoing shortage of shelter supplies, including tents and hygiene supplies, such as jerrycans and shampoo, and limited access to basic services at arrival sites, are exacerbating conditions facing displaced families, rendering them increasingly vulnerable as they struggle to meet their most basic needs.

LEBANON
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that ongoing hostilities and daily exchanges of fire across the southern border continue to affect civilians on both sides of the border.
OCHA notes that in Lebanon, 110,000 people have been displaced since October, 35 percent of them children. And it is estimated that almost 150,000 people remain within the 10-kilometers Blue Line.
Since October last year, 16 attacks on healthcare have been reported. 21 paramedics have been killed during hostilities, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Severe damage to water, electricity, telecoms infrastructure and roads in southern Lebanon have been recorded. 23 per cent of the population is now food insecure, up from 19 per cent in March 2024.
The UN and its partners, continue to scale up relief efforts, in support of the Government-led response. But additional funding is urgently needed. Humanitarian partners need $110 million for ongoing response for conflict-affected people until the end of the year. Before the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, an estimated 3.7 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance. The 2024 Lebanon Response Plan is only 25 per cent funded, with $670 million of the total $2.72 billion required.
The UN urges all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, and stress that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times.

UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that attacks in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy region in Ukraine continued to impact civilians. The strikes damaged homes, schools, and energy infrastructures and impacted a government-led aid distribution point.
People continue to leave front-line areas as hostilities continue. Complementing the efforts of local authorities and first responders, aid organizations provided emergency humanitarian assistance in front-line communities and to those displaced in the Donetsk and Sumy regions and elsewhere.
The UN and partners registered 1,800 evacuees for multi-purpose cash assistance in Sumy alone since 6 August. In July, more than $3 million in multi-purpose cash assistance was disbursed to over 10,000 people in Donetsk and Sumy Regions.

SUDAN
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, today welcomed the decision by Sudanese authorities to re-open the Adre crossing from Chad to Darfur.
The Adre crossing is a critical humanitarian route for the delivery of emergency assistance to millions of people - including food, nutrition supplies, medicine and shelter.
The crossing point has been closed since February and humanitarian partners have been using the Tine border crossing into North Darfur - still from Chad - but the ongoing rainy season has made this route largely impassable.
Ms. Nkweta-Salami said that we have been relentlessly advocating for the reopening of the Adre crossing, as it is the most effective and shortest route to deliver humanitarian assistance to Sudan at the scale and speed required, especially to Darfur.
Food insecurity in Sudan has reached record levels, with nearly 26 million people in acute hunger. As you will recall, on August 1st, famine conditions were confirmed in Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher in North Darfur. Food security experts warn that civilians in a further 13 localities in other parts of Sudan are at risk of famine.
More than seven months into the year, the $2.7 billion Sudan humanitarian appeal for 2024 is just 37 per cent funded, with $1 billion received.

SOUTH SUDAN
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has facilitated the country’s first ever full virtual court hearing at the Mission’s base in Malakal, Upper Nile.
UNMISS has been supporting the deployment of mobile courts to remote areas, to help overcome obstacles facing South Sudan’s judicial system. These include a lack of infrastructure, judicial officers, and mobility, which can create long delays in delivering justice and accountability.
The hearing, involving an allegation of murder, took place in the presence of witnesses, UNMISS representatives and others, while the High Court Judge presided over the trial through a live connection from Juba. UNMISS says it is a landmark judgement because it saved time and resources and was conducted in accordance with the laws of the land.

NIGERIA
In Nigeria, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is drawing attention to the plight of 3.7 million forcibly displaced people and the need to accelerate sustainable solutions for them.
During a visit to the country, Raouf Mazou, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, and Ruven Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, pledged to increase the self-reliance of forcibly displaced people by supporting the government, helping displaced communities get back to work, ensuring they have access to government services including social safety net programmes, setting up financial instruments to encourage investments in communities at risk, and more.
UNHCR is already working with the government to help displaced communities farm thousands of hectares of land, develop irrigation systems, tackle food security and increase rural employment.

BANGLADESH
And lastly, you asked me about a UN mission going to Bangladesh yesterday and I can say the following: The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk and the country's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, discussed a comprehensive range of support that the UN Human Rights Office could provide to the Interim Government and the transition, including on accountability issues. A team will visit Dhaka from next week to discuss areas of support and the modalities for an investigation of human rights violations in the context of the recent violence and unrest. The High Commissioner is very committed to supporting the Interim Government and people of Bangladesh in a successful transition that strengthens the protection of human rights.