HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2024
Secretary-General/South Africa
The Secretary-General arrived in South Africa today and began his meetings right away. He started with meetings and discussions with government officials.
The visit as you know comes at a critical time as South Africa assumes the presidency of the G20 for the upcoming year. In a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, they exchanged views on issues of common interest, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the reform of the international financial architecture, Financing for Development, Climate Action and, of course, the G20 agenda for 2025.
Prior to that, the Secretary-General delivered some remarks at a meeting of the G20 Sherpas that is going on in Johannesburg. His message was that our financial institutions need an update, and developing countries must be represented fairly in their governance.
The Secretary-General also held discussions with the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Ronald Lamola. And in a joint press encounter afterward, the Secretary-General said that he is currently on a mission of solidarity and a mission for justice. Africa has enormous potential, he said, but the continent continues to be held back by injustices that are deeply rooted in the history of colonialism.
The situation in the Middle East is always on the Secretary-General’s mind and in response to questions he said that in Syria, we see some signs of hope coming from the end of the dictatorship. He added that the UN is totally committed to supporting a smooth transition of power, and with an inclusive political process in which the rights of all minorities will be fully respected. He also spoke about the immense tragedy of the Palestinian people whose right for self-determination and to have their own State must be constantly reaffirmed.
On Sudan, he underscored that we need all parties silencing the guns and committing to a path towards sustainable peace and accountability for the Sudanese people. All those remarks were shared with you.
Senior personnel appointment
The Secretary-General is appointing Major General Anita Asmah of Ghana as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Disengagement Observer Force, otherwise known as UNDOF.
Major General Asmah succeeds Lieutenant General Nirmal Kumar Thapa of Nepal, who will complete his assignment in mid-December, so very shortly.
The Secretary-General is grateful for General Thapa’s leadership and dedication to UN peacekeeping efforts.
For her part, Major General Asmah brings to the position 31 years of leadership and command experience in the Ghana Armed Forces as well as UN peacekeeping.
Most recently, she served as Director General in the Department of Defence Civilian Establishment of the Ghanaian Armed Forces. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Force Commander of UNDOF from 2021-2023.
Syria humanitarian
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that the security situation in Syria remains volatile, as airstrikes and localized hostilities have continued to affect many parts of the country. We are concerned about the risks of explosive ordnance as people continue to be on the move.
UN partners have identified more than 50 minefields over the past 10 days, which is curtailing the movement of civilians and impeding the delivery of goods and services.
The UN and its partners continue to support the response across the country and are resuming humanitarian activities as security conditions allow.
UN local and national partners in Homs are gradually resuming humanitarian activities. The water stations in Al-Husayn city have now been reactivated, which benefits the residents of both Homs and Hama.
Meanwhile, in the north-east Syria, humanitarian activities have been constrained by insecurity. Despite the challenges, our partners have managed to distribute dozens of tents, thousands of mattresses, blankets, sleeping bags and solar lamps to centres hosting displaced people in Tabqa and Raqqa.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said in a social media post yesterday that much is in flux in the country, but vital aid must continue to flow, and critical health and other services must be sustained. He also reiterated that humanitarians would continue to engage whenever and wherever needed to support the Syrian people.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Today, the UN and its partners launched a flash appeal for nearly $4.1 billion to address the humanitarian needs of about 3.3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem for next year, 2025. Nearly 90 per cent of those funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank.
In Gaza, the speed and scale of the killing and destruction are unlike anything seen in the Strip in recent history. Our appeal targets the entire population of Gaza – some 2.1 million people – because after 14 months of brutal hostilities, the entire population needs humanitarian assistance.
I want to be clear on one point: The $4.1 billion we are calling for is much less than what is actually needed to mount the type of full-scale humanitarian response that the people deserve. For that, we would need $6.6 billion.
But the flash appeal we launched today reflects the fact that we expect the same unacceptable constraints on aid operations that we are seeing today to continue into 2025. This will severely limit the amount of assistance that humanitarians are able to provide, which in turn will only increase the suffering that the Palestinian people are facing.
To be able to implement the full scale of what is urgently needed, Israel must take immediate and effective measures to ensure that the essential needs of civilians are met. This includes lifting all impediments to aid and fully facilitating humanitarian operations, including the distribution of essential goods to Palestinians in need.
Further on Gaza, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reports that the Israeli authorities issued another evacuation order for several parts of Deir al Balah governorate, which is in the center of the Strip.
This is the third time this year that people have been ordered to move.
Once again, OCHA warns that repeated, large-scale evacuation orders – which are now in effect for about 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip – leave civilians exposed to hostilities and deprived of access to essential services.
Also today, Muhannad Hadi, the Humanitarian Coordinator for theOccupied Palestinian Territory, concluded a two-day visit to the Gaza Strip, where he met with displaced people and youth groups. He also saw first-hand the decimation of Gaza’s health sector. Mr. Hadi visited Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis yesterday, as well as a medical point run by a local network of organizations in Nuseirat. And today, he visited Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, where he heard from hospital staff and management – as well as patients – about the struggles of the health system in Gaza.
Mr. Hadi paid tribute to the medical teams who continue their work amid catastrophic conditions.
Sigrid Kaag, the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, briefed the Security Council yesterday afternoon. She said the conditions in Gaza are utterly devastating. She detailed the work of her office with regional governments and the limited progress made on opening border crossings into Gaza, but she warned this is a far cry from meeting the needs of Gaza’s people. Ms. Kaag said that no system can substitute or compensate for an absence or lack of political will.
Yemen
Speaking of the Security Council, Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, briefed the Council this morning. He noted that Yemen has taken several positive steps in recent years, including the UN truce agreement in 2022, and the large-scale exchange of conflict-related detainees in 2020 and last year.
However, he said, Yemen’s suffering continues. Ending the war is a choice, the Special Envoy said - one that remains within reach of the parties to the conflict. He urged the parties to actively engage with his efforts on the roadmap, which would deliver a ceasefire, economic measures such as the sustainable payment of salaries and preparing for an inclusive political process.
Mr. Grundberg added that while three detainees previously held by Ansar Allah have been released, dozens of others—including a member of his team—remain arbitrarily detained.
These detentions constitute a flagrant violation of basic human rights, causing profound anguish for families left to grapple with uncertainty and fear for their loved ones' safety. He once more called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, also briefed the Council, telling the members that for the coming year, our humanitarian partners need an estimated $2.5 billion to reach 10.5 million people across Yemen.
Sudan
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that they are appalled by reports of massive civilian casualties in Sudan due to air strikes on a market in Kabkabiya in North Darfur earlier this week. Local sources tell us that more than 100 people were killed, with many more wounded.
OCHA says that there were also reports yesterday that at least 20 people were killed by heavy artillery fire in Omdurman in Khartoum State, in an area controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces.
As we have said repeatedly, and I think that the Secretary-General has been very clear on this, the large-scale violence we have seen against civilians -- in North Darfur, Aj Jazirah, Khartoum and beyond -- underscores the need for immediate de-escalation.
OCHA stresses that after almost 20 months of conflict, the bloodshed in Sudan must stop now.
Once again, all parties must respect international law, international humanitarian law and the must protect civilians. The parties must do all they can to spare civilians and civilian objects.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has launched the second phase of an operation called "Horizon of Peace”.
The operation, which is taking place in Ituri’s Djugu territory, aims to contain an escalation of violence by armed groups in the area. According to our colleagues, armed groups, including Zaïre and the CODECO militias, have increased attacks against the population in Djugu territory in the past month. We have reports that they ambush and rob civilians. MONUSCO says that at least six people have been killed since last weekend. As a result, many people have stopped using roads in the area, which also prevents them from going to their fields or to markets.
To contain the violence, MONUSCO peacekeepers have stepped up patrols on several roads in the territory to support the free movement of people and goods.
Ukraine
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that an attack on Zaporizhzhia City yesterday, in the southeast of the country, caused numerous civilian casualties, including among children and health workers. This is what local authorities and partners are telling us. They also report damage to two health facilities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that six health workers were injured, some cri)tically. Humanitarian organizations distributed hot meals, blankets, repair material and provided mental health support.
OCHA notes that since February 2022, Ukraine’s health system has faced immense strain. War has escalated health needs, particularly mental health, trauma care and chronic diseases, impacting millions with limited access due to unsafe conditions.
According to WHO, more than 2,000 attacks on healthcare facilities have been confirmed to date this year in Ukraine, further increasing the burden on citizens and the healthcare system. Healthcare facilities and hospitals must never be a target.
With the country facing its third winter since the escalation of the war, attacks on health and civilian infrastructure aggravate challenges like heating, access to drinking water, and electricity shortages. Power outages caused by systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have disrupted medical procedures, and delayed surgeries.
OCHA notes that the power outages have also led to failures in life-support systems and affected water, heating and ventilation in hospitals.
Central Emergency Response Fund
We have an update on the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) appeal launched for the Central Emergency Response Fund, which is critical for the UN to address outbreaks of humanitarian emergencies.
Forty-five donors today announced pledges of some $351 million for CERF for 2025, with others expecting to make contributions in the coming months. Donor announcements at last year’s event topped $419 million. The roughly 16 per cent decrease is yet another indication of how grim the funding outlook in 2025 will be.
We encourage more Member States to come forward, and we encourage them to turn their pledges into hard cash as quickly as possible.
Birth Registration
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today released an important report showing that more than 500 million children under the age of five have had their births registered in the last five years. This reflects notable strides in securing legal identity for children worldwide.
The report is the latest update on the number of children registered since 2019, when global levels stood at 75 per cent. Despite the increase to 77 per cent today, 150 million – or around 2 in 10 children under five - remain unregistered and invisible to government systems.
The report also says that over 50 million children whose births are recorded lack birth certificates. It is essential that documents are given to children as they are critical for acquiring nationality, preventing statelessness, and ensuring children access to services like vaccines, healthcare, and education.
Human trafficking/report
A report released today by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that child trafficking, trafficking for forced labour and forced criminality are rising as poverty, conflict and climate leave more people vulnerable to exploitation.
The report records a 25 per cent increase in the number of trafficking victims detected globally in 2022 compared to 2019 pre-pandemic figures.
UNODC also noted that the global number of detected child victims increased by 31 per cent in 2022 compared to 2019, with a 38 percent rise recorded for girls.
Soils
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today released its first major global assessment of salt-affected soils in 50 years. The report shows that nearly 1.4 billion hectares of land – which is about 10 per cent of the total global land area – are already impacted by salinity, with an additional one billion hectares at risk due to the climate crisis and human mismanagement.
In case you need a refresher on the impacts of salt on soils, excessive levels of salt reduce the fertility of soils and severely impact environmental sustainability. In the countries most affected by this issue, salt levels stress can lead to crop losses – such as rice or beans – of up to 70 per cent.
The report was presented during the International Soil and Water Forum in Bangkok.
International Mountain Day
Today is the International Mountain Day, and this year’s theme is Mountain Solutions for a Sustainable Future – Innovation, Adaptation and Youth.
Mountains are home to 15 per cent of the world´s population and host about half of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Unfortunately, mountains are under threat from climate change, overexploitation and contamination, increasing the risks for the people and the planet.
***The guest at the Noon Briefing was Haoliang Xu, who is the Associate Administrator at UNDP, and he briefed journalists on his recent trip to Gaza and the West Bank.
