HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2025
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in Cape Town, in the Republic of South Africa, representing the Secretary-General at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. She also attended the Finance in Common Summit of National Development Banks.
In her remarks, Ms. Mohammed conveyed the UN’s support for South Africa’s G20 presidency and stressed the importance of G20 action to shepherd the global economy and improve prospects for sustainable development. She called for proactive steps to support developing countries overwhelmed by debt service, to expand development finance, and to create a stronger global financial safety net that protects all countries. She also stressed the need for strengthening tax systems, and making them fairer and more efficient.
Ms. Mohammed also met with ministers and principals of international financial institutions and development banks ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, that will take place in Sevilla, in Spain in July. She will be back in New York tomorrow.
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, will be travelling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from tomorrow [27 February] until 1 March. He will first go to Kinshasa, where he will engage with Congolese authorities as well as international partners, to discuss the ongoing situation in the eastern part of the country and the next steps in implementing Resolution 2773 – which was adopted last week.
He will then head to the East and travel to Beni, in North Kivu, where he will engage with provincial authorities, as well as with the newly- appointed Force Commander for the peacekeeping force, Lt. Gen. Ulisses De Mesquita Gomes, and as well, of course, with peacekeepers deployed in the Beni area. He will be there to assess first-hand recent developments and will also visit UN Peacekeeping positions.
On 1 March, he will go to Entebbe, in Uganda, where he will pay a visit to MONUSCO personnel who were evacuated to Uganda from Goma last month, following the advances of the M23.
And as we mentioned – Mr. Lacroix is currently wrapping up his visit to New Delhi, in India, where he attended an international conference on Women, Peace and Security, hosted by the Government of India to address barriers and discuss solutions to women’s participation in peacekeeping efforts.
While in India, Mr. Lacroix also discussed the future of peacekeeping with Indian senior government officials and visited the National War Memorial.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Staying in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs say they are alarmed by escalating violence and insecurity in recent days in the city of Uvira, about 100 kilometers south of South Kivu’s provincial capital Bukavu.
Clashes and rising violence in Uvira put local communities and humanitarian workers in extreme danger, with our humanitarian partners reporting multiple incidents of looting and sexual violence.
Elsewhere in South Kivu, humanitarian assessments over the last ten days indicate that more than 10,000 displaced people have returned from Idjwi island in Lake Kivu - due to dire conditions there – they returned to villages in the areas of Minova and Kalehe. More than 100,000 people had fled to the island since late January.
Our partners also report that people have been returning to parts of North Kivu, where a recent assessment found that 80,000 people have returned to villages in the territory of Masisi, about 80 kilometers northwest of Goma. Infrastructure in these villages was largely destroyed by recent fighting, and returnees urgently need humanitarian assistance. Ongoing clashes in Masisi also expose people to risks of violence and rights violations.
For its part, our colleagues at the UN Children’s Fund said today they are deeply worries by the significant increase in reports of grave violations committed against children in parts of the eastern DRC. They say the number of incidents has tripled since the end of January.
The data collected reveals that cases of sexual violence have risen by more than two and a half times, abductions have increased sixfold, killing and maiming is up sevenfold, and attacks on schools and hospitals have multiplied by 12.
Finally, in Ituri province, our humanitarian partners also report that violence is on the rise in the territory of Djugu, where attacks by armed men killed eight civilians, with two people abducted between February 21st and 23rd.
Insecurity in the area has forced at least 17,000 men, women and children to flee their homes and our partners have had to suspend the delivery of assistance to some 45,000 people.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that we and our humanitarian partners continue to provide more aid to people in need, including in previously inaccessible areas.
Our health partners are scaling up support to health facilities across Gaza to restore essential services and boost capacity. They have also distributed medical supplies for some 1.8 million people, including kits for trauma and emergency care, primary health care, non-communicable diseases, sexual and reproductive health, maternal care and childcare, as well as dignity kits and nutrition supplements.
Another national emergency medical team of 52 Palestinian doctors and surgeons have recently deployed to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah and at the European Gaza and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis to enhance surgical capacity.
We’ve been telling you about the polio campaign, which, as of yesterday, had reached 99 per cent of the children targeted, bringing the total number of children vaccinated to 586,000.
Meanwhile, our shelter partners continue to distribute emergency shelter materials and other items to displaced families. Since the ceasefire, our partners have provided more than 27,000 bedding kits, 619,000 blankets, 122,000 mattresses and 129,000 items of clothing.
On the water front and sanitation, our partners report that since the start of the ceasefire, the production of water has more than doubled.
This is due to increased fuel availability and basic emergency repairs. In addition, solid waste management is scaling up to further mitigate public health risks. However, the total volume of water produced and supplied still stands at about a third of the water that was being provided and produced before 7 October 2023.
OCHA stresses that sustaining the ceasefire is vital to continuing to scale up our response and to prevent further loss of life and human suffering. All Member States must leverage their influence to ensure that the ceasefire holds.
On the West Bank, I just wanted to flag a statement from Mr. [Philippe] Lazzarini, the Head of UNRWA [UN Relief and Works Agency]. He said that more than 50 people, including children, have been reported killed since the Israeli Forces’ operation started five weeks ago in the West Bank. Destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing of roads and access restrictions seem to be commonplace now.
He added that around 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, especially from refugee camps in the north.
Yesterday, there was a 14-hour raid by Israeli forces in Nablus city, resulting in yet another fatality and multiple injuries. During the operation, Israeli forces closed checkpoints around Nablus, leaving people stranded for several hours. We reiterate that in law enforcement, the use of potentially lethal force may only be used when strictly unavoidable to protect life and prevent serious injury.
The Spokesman also urged reporters to take a look the statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk delivered today at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the issue of accountability on war crimes and potential war crimes in Gaza.
SUDAN
Edem Wosornu, the Director of Operations and Advocacy at OCHA, briefed Security Council members in an open meeting on Sudan. She said that, in several parts of the country, the already catastrophic situation of civilians has worsened since her last briefing to the Council, and that was just less than one month ago.
Focusing on the latest alarming developments and violence in North Darfur, including the Zamzam displacement camp, as well as the situation in Khartoum and in the south of Sudan. Ms. Wosornu warned that the scale of needs in Sudan is unprecedented and requires an equally unprecedented mobilization of international support. The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, also briefed the Security Council but in closed consultations.
SUDAN/ZAMZAM CAMP
Due to the escalating violence in the Zamzam camp, the World Food Programme tell us they had no choice but to suspend the voucher-based food assistance system in place in the camp.
The recent violence left Zamzam’s Central Market destroyed by shelling, pushing residents of the camp – which is about half a million human beings – further away from accessing essential food and supplies. In a statement, the World Food Programme said that over the past two weeks the violence has compelled its partners to evacuate their staff for safety.
As you know, famine conditions were confirmed in Zamzam last August. Since then, the World Food Programme has managed to transport just one convoy of humanitarian supplies into the camp despite repeated and repeated attempts to deliver more.
And now, the World Food Programme is warning that without immediate assistance, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam could starve in the coming weeks.
These food vouchers allow families to purchase essential food supplies, such as cereals, pulses, oil and salt, directly from local markets, which WFP helps to keep stocked through its local private sector retail network.
We continue to reiterate that civilians in Zamzam and elsewhere must be protected, whether they choose to stay or voluntarily move for safety reasons.
SOMALIA
Turning to Somalia, we are warning about a deteriorating food security situation in the country. The latest report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification – the IPC system – analysis shows that one million more people will face crisis levels of food insecurity in the coming months. This is due to the worsening drought conditions, to conflict and to high food prices.
Some 3.4 million men, women and children are already experiencing crisis-levels of hunger, but this figure is expected to rise to 4.4 million men, women and children – or nearly a quarter of the population – between April and June when below-average rains are forecast.
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that some 1.7 million children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year and will need urgent treatment. Of these children, more than 460,000 of them are expected to suffer from severe malnutrition. The Federal Government of Somalia and UN agencies jointly warned that without swift funding for humanitarian action, millions could once again face deepening hunger in the country. In 2022, Somalia was pushed to the brink of famine by severe drought. This year, about one third of Somalia’s population – nearly 6 million people – need humanitarian assistance, but the $1.42 billion humanitarian appeal is just 12 per cent funded, which means we only have $176 million in the bank.
SYRIA
On Syria, the movement of trucks carrying humanitarian assistance from Türkiye to Idlib through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing is continuing.
Yesterday, 43 trucks carrying more than 1,000 metric tonnes of food from the WFP, as well as blankets, solar lamps and other items provided by the International Organization for Migration crossed the border. Our colleagues say that since the start of the year, nearly 400 trucks have crossed from Türkiye into Syria – five times the number of trucks as the same time last year.
Furthermore, across the country, our partners are supporting the rehabilitation of homes, infrastructure, schools and roads.
In north-west Syria, 350 homes have been rehabilitated since last month. In Damascus and its rural surroundings, more than 700 people have received support in repairing their homes. Over the past two weeks, three water stations have been restored in Latakia.
We and our partners continue to provide this assistance as security, logistical and funding conditions permit. However, the toll of destruction remains overwhelming. In Aleppo, 34 facilities in former front-line areas have sustained damage or destruction and require immediate rehabilitation to restore essential services.
Meanwhile, hostilities in different parts of the country are impacting civilians and humanitarian access to people in need.
In eastern Aleppo – including in the vicinity of the Tishreen Dam and the Al-Khafsa water pumping station - and in the south of the country, hostilities have resulted in casualties, as well as restrictions in humanitarian access and movements of people.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
In the Central African Republic, the UN peacekeeping Mission there, MINUSCA, today announced the establishment of a temporary operating base in Mingala, in the Basse-Kotto prefecture, where civilian populations have been facing the threat of armed groups.
As part of its mandate to protect civilians, the Mission said peacekeepers are engaging with local authorities, community leaders, and residents to assess the security situation and to provide a response.
POLICE WEEK
The 19th United Nations Police Week begins today.
Leaders of UN police components from seven Peacekeeping missions, Special Political Missions and regional offices are gathering here for their annual meeting and to engage with senior UN officials to discuss current challenges and to set priorities for the year ahead. They are also scheduled to brief the Security Council tomorrow afternoon.
In the coming days, our police colleagues will also have interactive discussions on the contributions of United Nations Police to the implementation of the Pact for the Future, as well as on the future of UN policing.
Key topics include data-driven and tech-enabled policing, along with gender-responsive policing and enhanced integrated planning and interoperability with military and civilian elements in the field.
