HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2024
** Sudan/Adre Crossing
The UN is continuing its efforts to deliver food assistance to communities most at risk of famine in Sudan, particularly in West Darfur.
Our colleagues at the World Food Programme in Sudan tell us that, today, trucks carrying 100 metric tonnes crossed into Sudan through the Adre crossing. As you will recall, this is the crossing our Deputy Secretary-General visited last week.
In total, the World Food Programme transported over 1,500 metric tonnes of vital food and nutrition supplies, enough for nearly 130,000 people since the crossing reopened on 20 August.
Some of this assistance has already been delivered to Mornei in West Darfur – which is an area at famine risk– where over 22,000 people received emergency food rations and nearly 4,800 children and pregnant, as well as nursing women received nutritional supplements.
The rest of the assistance is on its way to other communities in West Darfur that are also at risk of famine, and those are in the Kereneik and Sirba areas.
The convoys’ progress, however, has been slowed by flooded and muddy roads as the peak of the rainy season approaches.
**CERF/South Sudan and Madagascar
There are two allocations from the Central Emergency Response Fund to announce today.
The first one is for South Sudan, which as you have seen, is facing massive floods impacting more than 700,000 people. Our Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, released $10 million to support our response there.
Since May, floods have damaged homes, crops and critical infrastructure. Education and health services have also been severely disrupted.
Our partners report rising malaria cases, respiratory tract infections, acute watery diarrhea, and snakebites since the onset of the rainy season.
The new funds will support life-saving assistance in the most affected counties that are home to some 900,000 people in need of emergency aid and this figure is likely to increase with the floods.
The flooding compounds the already difficult humanitarian situation in the country. In June, we and the Government of South Sudan launched a flood preparedness and response plan and for that we are seeking $264 million to support 2.4 million human beings. That plan has yet to receive any funding.
Moving on to Madagascar, also on CERF, Ms. Msuya has allocated $1 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to mitigate the worst impacts of a locust infestation in the country.
More than 1.2 million people are already facing high food insecurity in Madagascar.
Even without the locust infection, we fear that hunger will increase during the lean-season which gets underway in October.
FAO is working with the Ministry of Agriculture in Madagascar to respond to the infestation. The new allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund will allow for an additional 80,000 hectares of land to be treated, benefitting some 300,000 people.
**Flooding
And staying on the topic of flooding, the UN Refugee agency say that severe flooding across Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria has significantly worsened the situation of refugees and internally displaced people in those regions.
They remind authorities that it is vital to ensure the needs of refugees and internally displaced people are not overlooked when national response plans are drafted.
Displaced families, including refugees and IDPs, are facing a catastrophic situation due to the compounding effects of conflict, climate change, and now devastating floods. They need emergency shelter, food, sanitation, water and medical care immediately.
**DSG Travel
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, arrived in Kigali yesterday to participate in the High-Level part of the Africa Food Systems Forum Summit 2024.
The High-Level Summit will serve as a catalyst to advance Africa’s food systems transformation in this climate and digital era, while deepening partnerships between countries.
While in Kigali, she also participated in a retreat of eminent global personalities, business leaders and senior government officials to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the continent and identify solutions to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Deputy Secretary-General met with the country team from the United Nations to take stock of the cooperation between the United Nations and Rwanda.
She will be returning to New York over the weekend.
**Libya
The Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, will be headed to Libya from 8-11 September. During her visit, she will meet with key stakeholders to discuss the situation in the country and ways to support Libyan and international efforts to re-invigorate the political process, with the view to restoring peace, stability and unity in Libya.
** Occupied Palestinian Territory
Moving to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Our colleagues from the Humanitarian Affairs department say that after the successful completion of the polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza, a new phase is now underway in south Gaza. The teams there aim to reach 340,000 children in four days. UNICEF says that about 161,000 children were reached yesterday on the first day of the campaign in southern Gaza.
Since 1 September, WHO [World Health Organization] says some 355,000 children have been vaccinated against polio in both the center and southern Gaza. OCHA says that more than 500 vaccination teams are now deployed in southern Gaza, including more than 380 mobile teams.
To ensure that no child goes without a vaccine, four large health facilities in central Gaza will continue to offer the vaccine for the next few days.
The third phase of the vaccination campaign is due to take place in northern Gaza between 9 and 11 September, and that will aim to reach about 150,000 children under the age of ten.
Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues say the medical evacuation of critically ill and injured patients outside the Gaza Strip remains generally suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing four months ago.
An estimated 12,000 patients are waiting to leave Gaza to receive urgently needed medical care.
OCHA warns that limited access to clean water and to sanitation facilities – coupled with the lack of affordable hygiene items – is heightening the health crisis in Gaza. Just to give you an example, in July, the price of soap in Gaza had reportedly increased by nearly 1,200 per cent. That is comparing to last year. The price of shampoo had almost reached a 500 per cent increase over a year ago.
Our partners have been working to ensure that hundreds of thousands of hygiene kits can reach people in need, but those efforts continue to be hampered by our usual hurdles and that includes active conflict, access restrictions, the lack of public order and safety, and evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities.
Turning to the West Bank, our humanitarian colleagues report that last night Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin and Tulkarm and their refugee camps following a large-scale operation that began on 28 August. The death toll from this operation has risen to 36, including eight children and two elderly men, that is according to OCHA. Additionally, significant damage to civilian infrastructure, residential and livelihood shelters has been reported, deepening the people’s humanitarian needs. According to initial information from our humanitarian partners, more than 1,000 families in Jenin were displaced and are currently sheltering in various locations across the Jenin governorate.
Those families need water, food, baby formula, they need medicine, and they need other essential services and supplies.
Once again, we stress that Israeli forces must adhere to international law enforcement standards, where lethal force and firearms should only be used as a last resort and only against imminent threats of death or injury.
**Democratic Republic of the Congo
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our peacekeeping mission there tells us they dispatched peacekeepers to protect civilians at the Nyamusasi site for displaced people, which is located outside of Bunia, in Ituri province.
This was in response to the presence of members of the Zaire armed group in that area.
Peacekeepers, who were supporting the Congolese armed forces during the operation, reported heavy gunfire during the clashes nearby.
In North Kivu, our peacekeeping colleagues launched a month-long awareness campaign in Beni, to engage community leaders on the work of the peacekeeping mission and to sensitize them on the impact of misinformation and the impact of disinformation.
** Ukraine
Moving on to Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairssay that hostilities and attacks continue to impact civilians and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.
The east and centre of Ukraine have been particularly affected. Local authorities report that attacks today in Pavlohrad in the Dnipro Region and yesterday in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region resulted in many civilian casualties, including several children. Homes and infrastructure were also impacted, including two hospitals in Kherson.
Aid organizations are mobilized and providing aid, including psychological support and emergency construction material.
**Venezuela
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency highlighted the urgent need for increased support for over four million Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the Americas.
The Refugee and Migrant Needs Analysis reveals that despite the efforts of host countries, many migrants and refugees continue to face significant challenges in accessing essential services as well as formal employment. They are struggling with food insecurity, limited healthcare access, and lack of documentation.
Both agencies are calling for increased investment to save lives and provide lasting stabilization and integration opportunities for millions of refugees, migrants, as well as their host communities.
Only 13 per cent of the $1.59 billion requested for the 2024 regional response plan has so far been been received.
** Food Price Index
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today that the benchmark for world food commodity prices declined slightly in August.
This is due to decreases in quotations for sugar, meat and cereals that outweighed increases in those for vegetable oils and dairy products.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 120.7 points in August, slightly down from its revised July figure.
**International Days
Tomorrow, we will observe the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. In a message, the Secretary-General says that pollution is a silent killer that can be stopped. Investing in clean air, he says, saves lives and combats climate change.
Tomorrow is the International Day of Police Cooperation. Police integrity, accountability and oversight are essential for maintaining public trust and preventing abuse of power.
Tomorrow is also World Duchenne Awareness Day. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a rare progressive disorder that affects muscles.
Sunday is International Literacy Day, celebrated under the theme of "Promoting multilingual education: Literacy for mutual understanding and peace".
