Noon briefing of 5 December 2024

You just heard the Secretary-General on Syria. He said that Syria is a crossroads of civilization, and it is painful to see its progressive fragmentation. He called on all parties to engage seriously with Geir Pedersen, his Special Envoy for Syria.
Meanwhile, on the ground in Hama, local authorities tell us that tens of thousands of families in the city have been displaced, some of whom have fled to Homs. And just to note that Hama had previously been a destination point for people fleeing hostilities in and around Idleb and Aleppo, so one can only imagine the scale of the crisis in that city.
We and our partners continue to provide support wherever and whenever we can to people displaced by the ongoing hostilities.
Yesterday, the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, David Carden, led a cross-border mission to Idleb from Türkiye to assess the situation. He was accompanied by a number of other UN agencies including OCHA, UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, and our colleagues from our security department.
The team also visited a reception center in Dana hosting dozens of households newly displaced by the hostilities and spoke with families who fled their homes in western Aleppo.
During the visit, our refugee agency and local partners provided mattresses, blankets, cooking materials and other items. People at the reception centre urgently need water and sanitation support, as well as heating material.
Mr. Carden and the UN team also visited the Sham Surgical Hospital, which is treating patients wounded by the recent attacks. From 27 November to 2 December, this hospital alone provided life-saving care to more than 200 people, while its ambulance system supported more than 130 people.
WHO is providing medical supplies to the hospital – including trauma kits – but health workers there are working they are not being paid due to underfunding.
Since the start of the escalation of hostilities, more than 30 health facilities in north-west Syria have ceased operations, putting immense strain on the remaining functional hospitals.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme is scaling up to assist people affected by the escalation of fighting in the north-west. The agency is providing ready-to-eat rations and hot meals and has so far served more than 10,000 people.
The provision of hot meals is being ramped up with the help of our partners on the ground. One WFP-supported kitchen began operations in Aleppo on Tuesday, and another is now operating in Homs.
The agency is providing food to displaced people wherever they are, on both sides of the front lines and in all areas of control. WFP is working to negotiate safe supply corridors to allow a rapid and substantial response to all those in need.
And also, just to flag that this morning, Izumi Nakamitsu, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, briefed the Security Council on the elimination of the chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic. Those remarks were shared with you.

LEBANON
On Lebanon, our OCHA colleagues tell us that a humanitarian convoy today reached the city of Nabatieh, in the south of the country, and delivered food for more than 4,000 people in that area.
Since 23 September, more than nine million packages of food have been distributed by the UN and our partners to people impacted by the crisis.
OCHA also reports that, in addition to the destruction of their homes and essential services in their communities, families in southern Lebanon continue to face insecurity and restricted access. These include the risk posed by unexploded ordnances and the daily warnings from the Israeli Army, urging civilians to avoid returning to many villages in the south. This is obviously complicating our humanitarian efforts.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, our colleagues with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report that hostilities across the Strip continue to kill and injure civilians, including health workers.
In central Gaza yesterday, an Israeli airstrike hit an UNRWA school in Deir al Balah, leaving 130 people without shelter.
In the south, another airstrike hit a group of tents last night in Khan Younis near Al-Rashid Street – which is the road along the coast - causing nearly 50 casualties, that’s what the head of the community is telling us. OCHA carried out an assessment today and says the airstrike burned about 40 tents. We and our partners are mobilizing response efforts to support those who lost their shelters.
In Khan Younis yesterday, a paramedic from the Palestine Red Crescent Society was fatally shot after transporting patients for treatment. Over the past 14 months, hundreds of health and humanitarian workers in Gaza have been killed. Once again, we stress that civilians – including patients and health care workers – and hospitals must be protected.
In North Gaza governorate, humanitarian access has been almost non-existent for the past two months, since the start of the siege, and civilians there are coping with catastrophic shortages of the essentials of survival.
Turning to the West Bank, our OCHA colleagues are reporting a sharp increase in attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the olive harvest season in October, which is threatening the safety and livelihoods of Palestinian farmers. From 27 October to 27 November, settlers vandalized more than 700 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings – mostly olive – in Palestinian villages in Hebron, Ramallah and Salfit.
Between October and November, OCHA also documented about 260 settler-related incidents directly linked to the harvest season across 90 communities in the West Bank.

SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, and in particular the situation in North Darfur, where our humanitarian colleagues are telling us they are alarmed by the impact of violence on civilians in Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons.
Amid reports of ongoing shelling and insecurity, people continue to flee the camp. The International Organization for Migration reports that on Wednesday, more than 2,100 people were displaced from Zamzam camp, mostly to other locations within the localities of Al Fasher and the nearby Dar as Salam.
OCHA stresses again that civilians sheltering in Zamzam must be protected, and all parties have obligations in this regard. International humanitarian law requires that constant care be taken to spare civilians throughout military operations.
That includes taking all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm when planning and carrying out attacks, as well as protecting civilians in areas under their control against the effects of attacks.
The World Food Programme warned today that any attacks on Zamzam could delay the arrival of aid convoys on their way to the camp, where famine is confirmed. WFP recently delivered vital food supplies to Zamzam via the Adre border crossing with Chad. The agency says that all of the much-needed food assistance that arrived in that convoy has been distributed to families.
The World Food Programme stresses that a regular flow of food and nutrition aid is the only way to stop famine and save lives.

SOUTH SUDAN
From South Sudan, our peacekeeping colleagues in the country tell us that the Tumaini Initiative has resumed in Nairobi. Speaking at the opening, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN in South Sudan, Guang Cong, stressed the importance of a successful outcome from these discussions for the country.
Mr. Cong also noted that tangible progress and collective action by all participants is necessary to retain the confidence of the international community and the region.
The UN Mission notes that the Kenya-hosted talks, which began in May, are a high-level mediation effort to create a more inclusive political environment in South Sudan.
Ahead of the country’s first elections, which are now scheduled for December 2026, the Tumaini Initiative brings together groups that have not signed the Revitalized Peace Agreement of 2018 with the Government.

GHANA
And I just wanted to flag that the Head of our Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simão, is in Accra, in Ghana, for a five-day mission. This is part of his office’s continued engagement to support peaceful elections in Ghana, which are scheduled this Saturday. While there, Mr. Simão will be with key stakeholders involved in the political process.

GLOBAL TRADE UPDATE
The UN Trade [and Development], UNCTAD, today released its latest Global Trade Update, showing that global trade is set to reach a record $33 trillion in 2024. UNCTAD noted that this $1 trillion increase, reflecting 3.3 per cent annual growth, highlighting resilience in global trade despite persistent challenges.
According to the report, robust growth in services trade, up 7 per cent for the year, and accounted for half of the expansion, while goods trade rose 2 per cent but remained below its 2022 peak.

UN POPULATION FUND
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched a $1.4 billion humanitarian appeal to address the unique needs of women and girls trapped in, or uprooted by, the wave of emergencies occurring around the world.
UNFPA warned that without urgent and global action, the world’s most vulnerable women and girls will be caught in the crossfire of violent conflicts, extreme weather events, and record levels of forced displacement. Despite the challenging funding environment, UNFPA is deploying thousands of midwives and medical teams to humanitarian zones. This year, UNFPA equipped over 3,500 health facilities to deliver care, and established more than 1,600 safe spaces for women and girls to seek refuge and empowerment programmes. And in the year ahead, UNFPA will strengthen local and national responses to improve emergency preparedness.
Please give to this appeal.

INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today, we mark the day for, if anybody can guess, it’s the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development. In a message, the Secretary-General says that volunteers embody the best of humanity. And just a reminder that our own United Nations Volunteers work to advance peace, justice and equality in 169 countries around our little planet.
Today is also World Soil Day. That will keep you grounded. Did you know that it can take up to 1000 years to produce just 2-3 cm of soil? Our planet’s survival depends on the precious link with soil, and this year’s theme is “Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage.”