HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 2 MARCH 2018

SECRETARY-GENERAL STRONGLY CONDEMNS BURKINA FASO ATTACKS

• The Secretary-General is closely following the reported attacks on the French Embassy and the Army Headquarters in Burkina Faso this morning. He spoke briefly by phone with the President of Burkina Faso this morning.
• He strongly condemns the attacks and is concerned over the reported casualties and injuries.  We are in contact with the authorities, to whom we have expressed our solidarity.
• The Secretary-General has asked his Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohammed ibn Chambas, to travel to Burkina Faso as soon as possible to personally express the United Nations solidarity to the Government and people of Burkina Faso in these trying times.

 

• The Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, has condemned last night’s killing of three aid workers in Rann town in Borno State, north-east Nigeria, following an attack by a non-state armed group on the military facilities next to the town.
• Three aid workers were also injured, and a female nurse is missing and feared to have been abducted.
• The United Nations is also concerned about other civilians who may have been injured or killed in the attack.
• Two of the deceased aid workers were contractors with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), working as coordinators in a camp in Rann for 55,000 internally displaced persons. The other aid worker was a medical doctor employed as a third-party consultant with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  

 

• A note was issued today on the findings of the Special Investigation on recent attacks against MONUSCO peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The Special Investigation team, led by former Assistant-Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions, Dmitry Titov, included military and security experts, political and logistical officers and two senior officers of the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces.  
• It concluded that the three attacks against the UN peacekeepers were carried out using a similar modus operandi and that all available evidence points to the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) as the attacker.  
• The team found a number of gaps in the training and posture of MONUSCO and its Force Intervention Brigade (FIB).  It recommends that MONUSCO, Headquarters and troop-contributing countries should actively pursue a strategy aimed at rendering the Drigade more robust, agile and better suited for offensive operations especially in remote and difficult terrains. 
• Beyond the military operations, the investigation team also underscored the importance of a reinforced engagement with regional political actors and stakeholders to better understand and tackle the threat posed by the ADF.
• Based on the findings of the Special Investigation team, MONUSCO has updated its Action Plan on Improving Security of Peacekeepers. It has installed perimeter lighting, upgraded the communications infrastructure and enhanced the security perimeters at several of its bases. 

 

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, warned today in Geneva that his office continues to receive reports of airstrikes and shelling in Eastern Ghouta. He said that satellite imagery showing the shocking scale of the destruction of towns across Eastern Ghouta starkly reveals how dangerous any attempt to flee could be.
• He emphasised that what we are seeing, in Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere in Syria, are likely war crimes, and potentially crimes against humanity.
• The High Commissioner said that Syria must be referred to the International Criminal Court. He also urges all States to greatly increase their support for the International, Impartial and Independent mechanism set up last year.
• In a statement today, UNICEF said that, despite the passage of Security Council resolution 2401, violence has continued in several places across Syria, escalating in some and flaring up in others.
• Violence is ongoing in Idlib, Afrin, in Deir Ezzour, in Damascus, in parts of Aleppo and in East Ghouta with reports of children killed and injured. UNICEF reiterated that Syria remains one of the most dangerous places to be a child.

 

• The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) expressed concern today following tensions between communities in the northern town of Gao.
• The Mission urges all to avoid unilateral actions that could exacerbate these tensions.
• It reinforced its security support, as well as its good offices.

 

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that heavy clashes have continued between armed groups in Sebha in southern Libya.
• Sebha’s main hospital was again hit in crossfire yesterday, prompting the evacuation of its pediatrics wards and relocation of maternity patients to other medical facilities. A local mosque in the residential area of Al-Gurtha was also damaged.
• At least six civilians have been killed and nine more injured since the start of the hostilities in February.
• Current reports indicate that over 700 people (120 families) have now fled their homes, most of whom have moved to safer locations within Sebha district.
• Humanitarians continue to urge all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, in line with international humanitarian law.

 

• The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said today that the arrival of migrants in Italy – which was the most active route for migrants moving from North Africa into Europe – were at a five-year low.
• The figure for the first two months of 2018 is 5,247, compared to more than 13,000 in the first two months of last year.
• IOM says that one of the reasons for the fall might be the ongoing programme of voluntary humanitarian returns from migrant detention centres in Libya.
• Two more flights have taken place last week to Benin, Mali and Niger. So far in 2018, 3,730 migrants had been repatriated to 26 different countries.

 

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is supporting the Government of Uganda with its launch of a countrywide biometric data verification to fix any discrepancies in refugee data.
• The massive exercise started yesterday in the Oruchinga refugee settlement in Uganda’s South-West region, home to thousands of Congolese refugees, before being rolled out across the country. It is scheduled to be completed by September 2018 – including introduction of biometric checks at 180 food distribution sites.
• The verification exercise will ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers are accurately reflected in the registration system and assist the Government of Uganda to enhance the accuracy of data.
• This will make certain that resources and services provided by UNHCR and its partners reach the intended recipients.
• Uganda has seen the size of its refugee population rapidly increase in recent years as it continues to welcome new arrivals from three ongoing emergencies in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
• Already in the first two months of 2018, the country has become home to more than 50,000 new arrivals, predominantly fleeing violence in eastern DRC arriving on boats through Lake Albert.

 

• The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, spoke at today’s observance of World Wildlife Day, and she warned that biodiversity is disappearing at a thousand times the natural rate. The causes are varied, she said, including habitat loss and degradation, climate change, illicit trafficking, and human-wildlife conflict.
• For this year’s World Wildlife Day, the Deputy Secretary-General noted, the spotlight falls on the world’s big cats, including species such as cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, snow leopards and tigers.
• She said that big cats have undergone a massive decline in recent times.  Just over a century ago, there were as many as 100,000 wild tigers living in Asia.  Today, fewer than 4,000 remain. 
• The Deputy Secretary-General warned: “They say cats have nine lives.  Our big cats are on at least number eight.”

 

• The Secretary-General has announced the appointment of Jessica Faieta of Ecuador as his new Deputy Special Representative for Colombia and Deputy Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.
• Ms. Faieta will succeed Tania Patriota of Brazil, to whom the Secretary‑General is grateful for her dedicated service and commitment in support of the peace process in Colombia.
• Ms. Faieta has over 25 years of distinguished service with the United Nations. Since 2014, she has been the Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she was previously the Deputy Regional Director.