HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 2 JUNE 2021
SECRETARY-GENERAL/CLEAN ENERGY
This morning, the Secretary-General delivered remarks by video at the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting, which is taking place today in Santiago, in Chile.
He stressed the crucial role of the energy sector in cutting global emissions by 25 percent by 2030 from 2010 levels and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Secretary-General said that phasing out coal is the single most important step to get in line for the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement.
Countries must shift fossil fuel subsidies to renewable energy, he said, adding that net-zero emissions electricity systems must be the norm in advanced economies by 2035 and globally by 2040.
The Secretary-General said that every sector – including steel, cement, and shipping – must have an action plan to be net-zero by 2050.
He also pointed that out that if the shipping sector were a country, it would be the world’s sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter.
CLIMATE CHANGE/PLANT PESTS
The Food and Agriculture Organization today published a scientific review showing that due to the impact of climate change, plant pests that ravage economically important crops are becoming more and more destructive. They are also posing an increasing threat to food security and the environment.
LEBANON
The Secretary-General is aware of and deeply concerned by the financial difficulties faced by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
He has been actively engaged in efforts to secure additional funding for the Tribunal, making a direct appeal to Member States and the international community as well as seeking emergency financial assistance from the General Assembly, which was provided earlier this year.
The Secretary-General continues to make an urgent appeal to Member States and the international community for voluntary contributions in order to secure the funds required to support the independent judicial proceedings that remain before the Tribunal.
He also notes that the continued financial support by the international community is vitally critical to ensuring justice for the victims in Lebanon.
YEMEN
In response to questions about a statement made by Ansar Allah concerning the UN’s involvement in trying to secure the Safer tanker, the Spokesman said the statement is clearly disappointing. It would seem to confirm that Ansar Allah is not ready to provide the assurances the UN needs to deploy a UN mission to the Safer tanker. That mission has been seeking to conduct an assessment and to do some possible light maintenance on that tanker, which holds about 1.1 million barrels of oil.
The Houthis’ focus continues to be on the full maintenance of the vessel. But the Spokesman said the UN has explained many times that this cannot be undertaken without an impartial assessment in hand. The tanker is a dangerous site, and the UN needs to understand exactly what we’re dealing with before undertaking any major works.
There have been very intensive discussions on this with Ansar Allah over the last ten days trying to bridge the gaps in objectives and understandings. The UN has also seen direct engagement by Member States to try to unblock things, which has been helpful. But we’re not there yet, which is very unfortunate.
The Security Council is expected to discuss the Safer tanker tomorrow, and we should have more information after that.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Head of the Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, has now arrived in Bangui. As we mentioned yesterday, he is part of a high-level delegation that includes the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States as well as the European Union. They will be in the country for the next 4 days, as part of regular consultations between the four organizations and Central African authorities on the peace process.
Speaking to the press at the airport, the members of the mission reiterated their commitment to promoting inclusive dialogue and true reconciliation.
For his part, Mr. Lacroix emphasized the need of working together to achieve a lasting peace that will allow Central Africans to finally experience stability and security.
The delegation will have discussions with the President, Faustin Archange Touadéra, the President of the National Assembly, Mathieu Sarandji, as well as representatives of political parties. They will also meet with members of civil society, including women’s groups, and they
are scheduled to end their visit with a press conference on the 5th of June.
LIBYA
The Secretary-General will address the Berlin Conference on Libya on the 23rd of June via video conference and his Special Envoy for Libya and also Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ján Kubiš, will participate in person.
The Conference will be an important opportunity to bring the international community together to take stock of the current situation in Libya and offer support to Libyans with regard to preparations for the conduct of national elections, which are scheduled for December 24th of this year. The withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from the country as well as steps towards the reunification of key Libyan institutions will be a focus of the conference.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In a statement issued yesterday on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the attacks by suspected members of the ADF, the Allied Democratic Forces in the eastern part of the Congo. The attacks targeted camps of internally displaced people near the towns of Boga in the province of Ituri, and in North Kivu. Fifty-five civilians were killed in the attacks and many others were injured.
A Quick Reaction Force from the UN peacekeeping Mission has been deployed to the impacted areas. Peacekeepers also assisted the wounded, including with medical evacuations.
The Secretary-General reiterates his support, through the Special Representative in the DRC, to the Congolese Government and people in their efforts to bring about peace and stability in the east of the country.
ETHIOPIA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the overall security situation in Tigray region remains highly complex. While hostilities have largely ceased in boundary areas with Eritrea, from North-Western to Eastern Zones, since March, access to these areas is often denied.
Violence and attacks against civilians, including humanitarian workers, continue. Last Friday, a humanitarian worker working with an NGO was killed in crossfire, in an attack outside the Government building in Adigrat Town in the Eastern Zone of Tigray. Since the start of the conflict, nine aid workers have been killed in Tigray, all Ethiopian nationals.
The levels of food insecurity and malnutrition remain alarming. Health facilities continue to receive and treat survivors of gender-based violence throughout the region, with 1,288 official cases reported between February and April.
From March 27th to the 31st of May, UN agencies and partners reached more than 2.8 million people out of the targeted 5.2 million with food assistance. To date, about 430,000 people, which is only 15 per cent of the targeted 3 million people, have been reached with emergency shelter and non-food items.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are gradually scaling up the response but not yet keeping pace with the mounting needs. This is due to a combination of access constraints, insufficient communications capacity, bureaucratic impediments, and, as always lack of funding.
UNOWAS
Following his appointment as the new Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, has started his first official tour of the region.
Today, he is in Guinea-Bissau for a series of meetings. Earlier this week, he was in Ghana, where he met President Nana Akufo-Addo. They discussed several issues related to peace and security in the region, including the continuous threats of terrorism and maritime security, as well as ways to strengthen the partnership between the United Nations and Ghana.
In the coming days, he will also travel to the Gambia, Guinea, Cape Verde, Niger, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
AFGHANISTAN
Heavy fighting and air strikes continue from last week, impacting nearly all districts in Laghman Province. There are also reports, according to humanitarian colleagues, that fighting is spreading into new areas in neighbouring Nuristan and Nangarhar provinces.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, fighting and armed clashes have further forced more than 10,500 men, women, and children to flee their homes in different parts of Imam-Sahib district, in Kunduz Province. Houses and agricultural lands have reportedly been severely damaged due to the use of artillery and air strikes.
Assessment teams from the UN and humanitarian partners are working to confirm the impact of the situation across the impacted provinces. Responses have also begun in Laghman and Kunduz.
In 2021, almost 116,000 people have been displaced by conflict in Afghanistan, while close to 5 million people remain in protracted displacement since 2012. We urge the parties to the conflict to better protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including, of course, schools and hospitals, which are sadly being targeted all too often. This is in compliance with international humanitarian law.
Urgent funding is needed for Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Response Plan, which requires $1.3 billion to help 15.7 million people. Only $172 million has been received so far.
MYANMAR
In Myanmar, where schools are reportedly reopening, UN colleagues on the ground today warned that attacks on schools, and education facilities are continuing.
UNICEF in Myanmar says that at least 54 attacks against schools and school personnel have been reported since the military takeover on February 1st. And that is up to the end of May. Most of these attacks have been taking place in May. There have been about 141 incidents of the military using education facilities for their own purposes.
The UN stressed that violence in and around schools is never acceptable. Attacks on places of learning and education staff and the occupation of education facilities are violations of children’s rights.
Also on Myanmar, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says they are alarmed by the increasing reports of internal displacement following intensified fighting in some parts of the country.
Some 188,000 people have been displaced in the north-east of the country, south-east and west, so far this year, but most of that since February 1st and the coup.
The humanitarian needs resulting for this surge in displacement compounds the needs of the one million people who were already in need of aid prior to the military takeover.
SRI LANKA
In Sri Lanka, the UN team on the ground is supporting the Government as the country faces one of its worst environmental disasters after a cargo ship carrying chemicals caught fire off its coast on the 21st of last month.
Among the thousands of containers in the cargo ship were more than 80 containing dangerous materials, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid.
As part of the emergency preparedness and response efforts, the World Food Programme had worked with Sri Lanka’s environmental protection authority to set up an incident management team, with oil spill contingency planning and simulation exercises.
The UN team is ready to step up the efforts if requested by the authorities.
WORLD EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL OUTLOOK
A report issued by the ILO, the International Labour Organization, shows that the labour market crisis created by COVID is far from over. The “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021” shows that employment growth will be insufficient to make up for the losses suffered at least until 2023.
ILO projections indicate that global unemployment is expected to stand at 205 million people in 2022, greatly surpassing the 187 million in 2019. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent globally. Excluding the COVID-19 crisis period, such a rate was last seen in 2013.
The fall in employment and hours worked has translated into a sharp drop in labour income and a corresponding rise in poverty. Compared to 2019, an additional 108 million workers worldwide are now categorized as poor or extremely poor.
UNICEF/VACCINES
UNICEF today announced it has signed a long-term agreement with Moderna to supply doses for the COVAX facility.
Through the agreement, UNICEF and its partners will have access to up to 34 million doses of the vaccine for some 92 countries and territories in 2021.
This is the fifth supply agreement UNICEF has signed for vaccines. It previously announced agreements with the Serum Institute of India, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and the Human Vaccine, otherwise known as Sputnik V.
PRESS ENCOUNTER TODAY
At 4:30 p.m. today, the Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Women of the Sahel – the Permanent Representative of Niger, Ambassador Abdou Abarry; along with the Permanent Observer of the African Union, Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed; and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the UN, Ambassador Olof Skoog, will brief reporters at the Security Council Stakeout.
That is following the Security Council Arria Formula Meeting on ‘Strengthening an integrated approach to peace and security in the Sahel through a gender lens”, which also served to launch the Group of Friends of Women of the Sahel.
