HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,​
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2021

SECRETARY-GENERAL/ PRESSER 
In exactly a week, on Friday 10 September, at 12:30 pm, the Secretary-General will give his traditional pre-GA press conference. He will talk about the General Assembly and his Common Agenda report, which will be published that day.

AFGHANISTAN
The Secretary-General is grateful for the generosity of Member States – including, Denmark, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United States -- who have made available facilities and arrangements in support of continuing UN operations in Afghanistan.  
With their offers and commitments, they have made a great contribution to the safety and security, operational delivery, and overall continuity of UN activities.

AFGHANISTAN/HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today warned that Afghanistan is facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis. A third of the population, more than 12 million people, are acutely food insecure and their situation is expected to be greatly worsened by the drought – which has impacted a third of the country.  
OCHA noted that as an economic crisis looms, job opportunities also remain limited across the country. OCHA added that the 2021 harvest is expected to be below average, and the next lean season is expected to be more intense and arrive earlier.   
There is also a need to address water scarcity to prevent displacement and reduce hunger. At the beginning of 2021, nine million people were already in need of water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance in Afghanistan.   
Along with our humanitarian partners, the UN has been working to respond to the impacts of low rainfall on water availability, crop yields, agricultural labour opportunities, as well as affordability of food since the beginning of the year.  
In the first six months of the year, the UN has provided food and livelihood assistance to more than 5.5 million people, many of whom are in drought impacted areas. But much more is needed.  
In certain parts of the country, the full impact of the drought is yet to be felt. In the last few months, many farmers have been unable to access their fields due to conflict at critical times for planting and harvesting. 
Afghanistan’s 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan, which requires $1.3 billion to help more than 18 million people, is 40 per cent funded, leaving a deficit of $766 million. 
For its part, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said that it was seeing no large influx of refugees trying to access the borders to Pakistan and Iran. However, UNHCR said that a displacement crisis is, in fact, taking place inside Afghanistan.  
UNHCR warned that without the entry of trade and support, this could lead to a major crisis and that the international community should not turn a blind eye to Afghanistan, and the Afghans people.

LIBYA 
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) today expressed grave concern about ongoing armed clashes, including the alleged use of indirect fire, in Salaheddine, a densely populated area in the capital Tripoli.
UNSMIL calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities and calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and reminds all parties to this conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law to support the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT 
The head of the UN Peace Operations department, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, will be travelling to Ethiopia and Sudan. He will be there starting on Monday until September 9th, and he will be accompanied by the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga.  
In Addis Ababa, they will meet senior Ethiopian Government officials as well as African Union officials to discuss peacekeeping issues and, in particular, the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA).  
On Tuesday, the two UN officials will travel to Khartoum, in Sudan, to discuss issues related to the UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei. While in Khartoum, they will meet with senior Sudanese officials, as well as the co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC). They will then visit Abyei, where they will engage with local leaders, as well as the Mission staff there to thank them for their contributions to peacekeeping. 
Following that trip, Jean-Pierre Lacroix will go to South Sudan, where he will be from the 9th until the 12th. We will provide details on that trip next week.

SUDAN 
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that more than 88,000 people in 13 of the 18 states in Sudan have been directly impacted by floods since the rainy season started in July. 
Humanitarian partners are conducting needs assessments and verification of people affected and have started delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance. They are also using prepositioned supplies in Gedaref, West Darfur, South Darfur and North Kordofan state. 
As of Wednesday, two days ago, a total of 4,800 homes were destroyed, another 12,780 homes were damaged, and public infrastructure facilities and farmlands have been impacted. Heavy rains are expected to intensify across most of the country this week, driving more flooding, particularly in the eastern, central and western regions.

HAITI 
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that about 540,000 children in the area impacted by last month’s earthquake in Haiti are now facing the possibility of re-emergence of waterborne diseases. 
The lack of access to shelter, drinking water and hygiene facilities are rapidly increasing the threat of acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria and cholera.  
As we have mentioned in the past, there hasn’t been a single case of cholera reported in Haiti since February 2019.   
UNICEF is working with Haitian authorities and civil society partners, to improve access to water, sanitation, with the aim of reaching 500,000 people. 
UNICEF said that several distributions centers had to be put on temporarily hold because of tensions on the ground. They are calling on local authorities to ensure safe conditions for humanitarian organizations to operate and scale up relief assistance to earthquake-affected communities.

AIR QUALITY 
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) today published its first Air Quality and Climate Bulletin which highlights the factors that influenced air quality patterns last year, in comparison to other years. 
The Bulletin shows how COVID-19 lockdown and travel restrictions led to a dramatic short-lived fall in emissions of key air pollutants, especially in urban areas. 
However, meteorological extremes fueled by climate and environmental change triggered unprecedented sand and dust storms, as well as wildfires that affected air quality and this trend is continuing this year.

NOON BRIEFING GUEST/TUESDAY  
On Tuesday, the noon briefing guest will be Alison Davidian, Deputy Country Representative for UN Women.