LIBYA
The Secretary-General has just received a message from Mr. Salame expressing his intention to leave his post as Special Representative for Libya.
The Secretary-General has always had full confidence in Mr. Salame’s work and the great efforts he has made to bring peace to Libya.
The Secretary-General will be discussing with Mr. Salame the way to ensure a smooth transition so as not lose any momentum on the gains that have been made.
Also on Libya, you saw that, over the weekend, we issued a statement in which the Secretary-General strongly condemned the indiscriminate bombing of several parts of Tripoli, including residential areas and the airport in Tripoli.
The Secretary-General calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and recalls the recently adopted Security Council resolution 2510 (2020) and urges its implementation.
COVID-19
Turning to the COVID-19, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, spoke to reporters today in Geneva.
He said the number of cases China continues to decline, with 206 cases reported to the WHO yesterday – that’s the lowest number since 22 January. Outside of China, a total of 8,739 cases have been reported in 61 countries with 127 deaths.
Dr. Tedros noted that, in the last 24 hours, there were almost 9 times more cases reported outside of China than inside China, with the epidemics in the Republic of Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan being WHO’s greatest concern.
Also on COVID-19, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, yesterday released $15 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) to help fund global efforts to contain the virus.
This funding has been released to the WHO and to UNICEF for monitoring the spread of the virus, investigating cases and the operation of national labs, among other essential activities.
Mr. Lowcock said that swift and robust action must be taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients, and trace contacts, stressing that we must act now to stop this virus from putting more lives at risk.
SYRIA
Turning to Syria, Kevin Kennedy, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, today said that a one-day inter-agency UN mission had been conducted across the border from Turkey into northwest Syria, where the needs for humanitarian aid and protection are growing more desperate by the day. He said that the mission was a successful step to better understand the humanitarian realities on the ground and to assess the feasibility of a sustained UN presence in Idlib.
The UN mission witnessed first-hand the dire humanitarian consequences of the ongoing violence in Idlib, and it saw that people are traumatized and frightened and urgently need better access to food, shelter, sanitation, basic health services and protection. All parties to the conflict must adhere to their obligations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in accordance with international humanitarian law.
More than 2,150 trucks carrying aid crossed from Turkey into northwest Syria in January and February. This is more than double the number of trucks crossing during the same period in 2019. Mr. Kennedy added that we need to do even more and scale up our presence on the ground.
TURKEY/EUROPEAN UNION BORDER
On a related note, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is appealing for calm and an easing of tensions on Turkey’s borders with the European Union, following the increase in movements of people that we have seen in the past few days. Groups arriving at Turkey’s borders have included Syrians, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese and other nationalities, as well as women, children and families.
All States have a right to control their borders and manage irregular movements, UNHCR said, but they should refrain from the use of excessive or disproportionate force and maintain systems for handling asylum requests in an orderly manner.
Persons entering irregularly on the territory of a State should not be punished if they present themselves without delay to the authorities to seek asylum.
The Secretary-General is following the situation closely and is fully supportive of UNHCR’s approach.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
Today at 2 p.m. in the Visitors’ Centre, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, will speak at the opening of the Spotlight Initiative’s One in Three exhibit. The title of the exhibit comes from the shocking statistic that one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
The Deputy Secretary-General will highlight that this statistic prevents us from ending poverty or hunger, rolling back the effects of climate change, or achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, since violence prevents more than half of the world’s population from completing their education, participating in economic activities or providing much-needed solutions to our common global challenges.
You are all welcome to attend.
GABON/EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Also, speaking of invitations, I would like to flag that, tomorrow morning, at 11:45, there will be a ceremony to mark the Special Agreement on the border dispute between the Gabonese Republic and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
The ceremony will mark the successful conclusion of a UN mediation process, which aimed to facilitate a peaceful solution to the longstanding border dispute between the two countries. The Special Agreement will allow both countries to submit their dispute to the International Court of Justice.
There will be remarks by the Secretary-General, as well as the Permanent Representatives of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. And this will take place in the Secretary-General’s Conference Room.
COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS
I want to flag that in Vienna, the 63rd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs started today. Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), called for concrete progress in strengthening responses to the world drug problem.
Resolutions under consideration by the Commission address topics including partnerships with the private sector; improving the collection of data to strengthen responses to the world drug problem; involving youth in drug prevention efforts; and ensuring the access to controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes.
HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS
Also yesterday, the UN Humanitarian Chief, Mark Lowcock, who was speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General at the 2020 Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, thanked Saudi Arabia for its generous support of the UN’s humanitarian work around the world.
He highlighted the drivers of current humanitarian suffering: conflict, a warming planet and disease.
He also noted that conflicts are becoming more protracted and intense, with affected people suffering displacement, hunger, [and] psychosocial trauma, on top of the loss of their livelihoods, their schools and health services. Combatants are also showing a growing disregard for international humanitarian law, putting civilians and civilian infrastructure in the line of fire.
AFGHANISTAN
Over the weekend, we also issued a statement welcoming the efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan. In a statement, the Secretary-General said Saturday’s events in Doha and Kabul marked an important development in this regard.
He expressed his appreciation to the Emir of Qatar for hosting the talks between the US and the Taliban.
The Secretary-General also said he hopes the deeply-held aspirations of the Afghan people for peace will be realized, through an inclusive Afghan-led process with the meaningful participation of women and youth.
The head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, attended the signing ceremony in Doha. The Mission also issued a statement today.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
We want to say thank you to France, Greece and Serbia for paying their budget dues in full.
We are now up to 62 countries who have paid their budget dues in full.
***GUESTS AT NOON BRIEFING
The guests at the Noon Briefing were the panel members of the High-level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI).
