HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 31 MAY 2024
BRIEFINGS MONDAY
On Monday, at 11 a.m., there will be a briefing by Andrea De Domenico, Head of OCHA's Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
At 1 p.m., there will be a briefing in this room by Ambassador Joonkook Hwang, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea and President of the Security Council for the month of June. He will brief on the Council’s programme for the month.
CLIMATE
On World Environment Day, on Wednesday, 5 June, the Secretary-General will deliver a special address at the American Museum of Natural History where he will set out some hard-hitting truths about the state of the climate, the grotesque risk leaders are running, and what companies and countries – particularly the G7 and the G20 – need to do over the next eighteen months to salvage humanity’s chances of a livable future.
The Secretary-General will also share new data from the World Meteorological Organization and the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The Secretary-General will be joined by his Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, Michael Bloomberg, and Sean M. Decatur, President of the American Museum of Natural History.
On Tuesday at 10 a.m. –Selwin Hart, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Climate Action and Just Transition as well as representatives from WMO and Copernicus will brief journalists on background on the Secretary-General’s speech.
HAITI
The Secretary-General welcomes the designation by the Transitional Presidential Council of Garry Conille as interim Prime Minister of Haiti and looks forward to further progress in the establishment of the transitional governance arrangements.
He encourages all Haitian stakeholders to work together to ensure steady progress in the transition to restore democratic institutions through the holding of elections.
The Secretary-General also stresses the importance of ensuring an inclusive political transition in Haiti, including by appointing women to decision-making positions.
It remains critical that progress in the political transition be accompanied by urgently needed security gains.
The Secretary-General therefore reiterates his call for the swift deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti to support the Haitian National Police in addressing the dire security situation, and urgently appeals to all Member States to ensure that the MSS mission promptly receives the financial and logistical support it needs to succeed.
HAITI - HUMANITARIAN
A humanitarian cargo flight operated by the UN Humanitarian Air Service flew from Panama to Port-au-Prince airport yesterday. This is the first time a UN cargo flight has landed in the capital in three months.
The flight transported about 15 tons of medicine and medical supplies to support the operations of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
This will support critical, lifesaving operations as insecurity continues to restrict people's access to healthcare, mainly in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and in the Artibonite department.
Haitian authorities, WHO and local NGOs continue to provide a wide range of services to displaced people, including screening for malnutrition, cholera prevention and care, as well as psychosocial support.
The UN hopes that with the gradual opening of the international airport more supplies could be brought in, for which donor support is much needed.
The humanitarian response plan for Haiti is only [21] percent funded, with [$142] million received of the $674 million needed.
And a note to add that this morning, UNICEF sounded the alarm about child recruitment and use by armed groups in Haiti.
In a statement this morning, they say the UN has estimated that 30 to 50 per cent of armed group members are children. They are subject to coercion, abuse and exploitation stemming from persistent social, economic and political fragility caused by ongoing violence that has spiraled parts of the country into chaos.
UNICEF, the Ministries of Justice, Education and Labor and Social Affairs of Haiti recently agreed on joint ways of working to support the reintegration of children who previously were members of armed groups. They say this agreement represents a milestone in safeguarding their wellbeing.
You can find more on this online.
DEPUTY SECRETAY-GENERAL
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in Antigua and Barbuda today, where she met with different Cabinet ministers and also with the UN Resident Coordinators in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In the afternoon, she is expected to depart for Barbuda, where she will meet with local communities and other stakeholders involved in the reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Irma.
Yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General attended the closing ceremony of the Fourth United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States, where she stressed that over the course of the last four days many countries have made commitments to make the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS a reality.
Going forward, she said, no effort should be spared to ensure that the voices of vulnerable and marginalized groups in Small Island Developing States continue to be heard, including persons with disabilities, older persons, and indigenous peoples.
PEACEKEEPING
Experts from around the globe and across a wide range of disciplines are at UN Headquarters today for a symposium on “Preparing and Building for the Future: Pathways Towards more Nimble, Adaptive and Effective Peacekeeping”. It is organized in partnership with Ghana, India, Norway, and Switzerland.
They are sharing actionable ideas on how best to prepare UN peacekeeping operations to face current and future challenges, including those related to new technologies, digital threats and climate change.
Setting the scene for this forward-looking policy dialogue, Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix said UN Peacekeeping needs to be ready in a changing world to have a diversity of tools to respond to these challenges.
He stressed the importance of Member State support as a precondition for success, given that ultimately, peacekeeping is a political tool.
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
This morning, Khaled Khiari, the Assistant Secretary-General, for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, briefed Security Council members on non-proliferation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He said the DPRK’s unannounced satellite launches represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic. He reiterated that Security Council resolutions expressly prohibit the DPRK from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology and underscored the need for practical measures to reduce tensions, reverse the dangerous dynamic, and create space to explore diplomatic avenues. Exercising maximum restraint is critical to avoid unintended escalation, he said.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is alarmed that ongoing hostilities and evacuation orders in Rafah continue to force the closure of key humanitarian facilities there.
According to partners working on nutrition, the Malnutrition Stabilization Centre in the Tal as Sultan area has completely ceased operations. Efforts are ongoing to relocate to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
Regarding reports from Tal as Sultan on the killing of two paramedics with the Palestine Red Crescent Society who were trying to respond to a call in that part of Rafah on Wednesday, the World Health Organization said it mourns their deaths and stressed that health workers are protected under international humanitarian law and must always be able to safely perform their duties.
As the hostilities in Rafah intensify, only three field hospitals there are still operating, one of them only partially. These facilities are both overwhelmed and undersupplied.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, says that on Wednesday and Thursday alone, some 32,000 people were displaced from Rafah. This follows the displacement of about a million people from that governorate since the start of the Israeli ground operation there. Families are looking for safety, but no place in Gaza is safe from bombardment.
Internally displaced people who have sought shelter at sites in Khan Younis still don’t have enough safe drinking water. UN partners working to improve water, sanitation and hygiene access, including through the establishment of 10 new water points in Khan Younis. They report that overall, water production in Gaza is just one-fifth of what it was prior to the intensification of hostilities in Gaza in October.
Across Gaza, civilians face heightened health and environmental risks due to limited access to clean water, as well as sewage overflow, infrastructure damage, lack of hygiene items, and fuel shortages. In Khan Younis, there are no functional sewage pumping stations, and displaced families are building their own makeshift latrines.
SUDAN
In a joint statement issued today, heads of UN agencies and other aid agencies warned that millions of people in Sudan are at imminent risk of famine amid intense fighting and access denials.
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, led by Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, said that time is running out and without an immediate and major step change, we will face a nightmare scenario with a famine taking hold in large parts of the country.
Currently, 18 million people are acutely hungry, including 3.6 million children who are acutely malnourished.
Despite the tremendous needs, aid workers continue to face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials of access by parties to the conflict.
To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, the agencies are calling for immediate measures to protect civilian and facilitate humanitarian access.
SOUTH SUDAN
The peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports that peacekeepers are deeply concerned by an outbreak of violence in Malakal in Upper Nile state, which led to the deaths of several people yesterday. Following this incident, tensions heightened in the UN Protection of Civilians Site adjacent to the Mission’s base in the state as well as among communities residing in Malakal town. The mission has urged state and local authorities as well as government security forces to maintain calm and stability in the area. Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, has also cautioned that such violence causes lasting harm to communities and prevents the mission from carrying out its vital protection and peacebuilding work. UNMISS continues to engage with authorities and community leaders to deescalate the situation. Additionally, peacekeepers have intensified patrols within the Protection site.
ABYEI
The Secretary-General has placed the acting Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei -UNISFA-, Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr, on administrative leave with full pay, pending an investigation involving him.
The investigation is confidential. Administrative leave with full pay is not a disciplinary measure and is without prejudice to the Major General’s rights.
The Deputy Force Commander, Brigadier General Ameer Muhammad Umrani, will assume the role of Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander until further notice.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN humanitarians say they are deeply concerned by the alarming deterioration of the humanitarian situation in North Kivu, in the east of the country. According to OCHA, clashes have resumed in several parts of the towns of Masisi, Rutshuru and Sake.
The fighting is also moving closer to the city of Kanyabanyonga, displacing civilians, many of whom have sought safety in nearby towns. As a reference, Kanyabayonga currently hosts more than 100,000 people who have fled violence in Rutshuru and Masisi. Humanitarian operations in Kanyabanyonga have been suspended, and at least 48,000 people have been cut off from assistance in the past week. The escalating violence risks worsening the already precarious humanitarian situation in North Kivu, which was hosting more than 2.7 million internally displaced people as of last month.
OCHA calls on all parties to the conflict to abide by international humanitarian law and to take immediate steps to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Additional resources to address humanitarian needs in the Congo are also urgently needed. Five months into the year, the annual response plan is just 23 per cent funded, with $591 million received out of the nearly $2.6 billion required.
Despite this, humanitarian actors reached more than 3.1 million people in DRC with vital humanitarian assistance in the first 3 months of the year - nearly a quarter of the target.
BURKINA FASO
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk today expressed serious concern at the recent rise in killings of civilians across Burkina Faso, with allegations of responsibility pointing to both armed groups and State actors.
Between November last year and April [2024], the Human Rights Office received allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law affecting over 2,700 individuals, a 71 per cent increase from the previous six months. Close to 1,800 of them were victims of unlawful killing.
Armed groups have intensified their attacks against civilians, including against internally displaced people.
However, the High Commissioner said he is also deeply disturbed that security and defence forces and their auxiliaries have allegedly carried out wanton killings, including summary executions.
He is calling on the Government of Burkina Faso to support a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation into all allegations of violations and abuses of international law, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice, in trials that meet international standards, with a view to ensuring victim’s right to truth and reparations.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, will visit Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic next week from 2 to 7 June. Mr. Türk will meet with senior Government officials, representatives of civil society organizations, and members of the international community, among others. The High Commissioner will also have meetings with the UN system in Bangkok on regional issues.
UKRAINE
The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned in a statement today the latest attack last night on a residential area of Kharkiv which killed and injured civilians, including children. Repeated strikes in the same area affected rescue efforts.
Humanitarian workers on site provided essential aid, including emergency repair materials, food and drinks for affected people and rescue teams, as well as psychological support.
As of yesterday, local authorities reported the evacuation of over 11,000 residents in Kharkiv region, due to intensive fighting close to the border with the Russian Federation.
Ms. Brown stressed that the escalation of hostilities - in Kharkiv and in other parts of the country - continues to devastate the lives of families, making humanitarian response efforts even more critical and difficult.
More than 600 children have been killed and more than 1,420 injured across Ukraine since the escalation of the war in February 2022 - this is according to data verified by the UN Human Rights Office. But the actual toll is likely much higher.
And in front-line communities, children have spent an equivalent to four to seven months in bomb shelters over the past two years. With more than 200 schools damaged or destroyed in 2024 alone, and further displacement of children, education is under threat. Access to health and vaccination has also been severely impacted.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is World No-Tobacco Day. Its theme is “Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference”. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 37 million youth aged 13–15 years use tobacco globally.
Tomorrow is Global Day of Parents. This Day provides an opportunity to show appreciation to all parents for their "selfless commitment to children."
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Honduras has made a full payment to the Regular Budget, bringing the number of paid-up Member States to 112.
