HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, 01 NOVEMBER 2018

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Secretary-General will be travel to Portugal this weekend.
On Monday, he will receive the José Aparecido de Oliveira Prize from the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
The Secretary-General will also take part in the 2018 Web Summit on Monday, where he will speak at the opening ceremony on the theme, “Nurturing a digital future that is safe and beneficial for all.”
He will be back in New York on Tuesday.
 
WESTERN SAHARA
The Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 30 April 2019, calling upon the parties to engage constructively in resumed talks planned for the end of 2018.
By a vote of 12 in favour, none against and three abstentions, the resolution was adopted. The resolution welcomes the decisions by Morocco, the POLISARO Front, Algeria and Mauritania to accept an invitation from Horst Köhler, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, to participate in an initial round table meeting in Geneva on the 5th and 6th of December.
 
MINUSCA
The peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, reports that it is closely monitoring the situation in Batangafo in Ouham Prefecture, where anti-Balaka fighters clashed with ex-Séléka following several incidents yesterday in which peacekeepers were fired upon, resulting in one Portuguese peacekeeper being slightly injured.
The Mission condemns the attacks against its peacekeepers and reiterates its commitment to continue supporting the restoration of State authority in Bambari, including through joint patrols with the armed forces of the Central African Republic.
 
DRC-ANGOLA
Our humanitarian colleagues report that since the beginning of October, over 347,000 Congolese people have been forced to return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Angola. Nearly 90,000 children were among those who have returned, of which 630 are unaccompanied.
Most of the people returning are being hosted by families or staying at some of the 28 temporary sites in Kamako, in the Kasai. The UN and its humanitarian partners are present there and are providing health services, protection, water and sanitation, shelter and food. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more resources are urgently required to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in an area already weakened by interethnic conflicts.
 
WFP
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) today appointed Golden Globe-winning actress Kate Hudson as a Goodwill Ambassador; she will lend her voice to speak up on behalf of the 821 million people who go to sleep hungry every night.
Ms. Hudson, who has championed WFP’s mission since 2015, will also use her platforms to engage her millions of supporters in advocating for a Zero Hunger world.
 
FOOD PRICES
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports in the latest monthly Food Price Index that international food commodity prices dipped in October as falling dairy, meat and vegetable oils prices more than offset a surge in sugar prices.
FAO’s Price Index averaged 163.5 points in October, down almost one percent from September and 7.4 percent below its level a year earlier; the agency reports that the October Food Price Index is at its lowest level since May.