HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 5 JULY 2018
 
SECRETARY-GENERAL VOICES GRAVE CONCERN OVER RENEWED MILITARY OFFENSIVE IN SOUTHWEST SYRIA

• In a statement, the Secretary-General said he is gravely concerned by the resumption of the military offensive in southwest Syria and its continued devastating impact on civilians. An estimated 750,000 lives are in danger and up to 325,000 people have been displaced. The Secretary-General fully supports today’s statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. As the custodian of the 1951 Refugee Convention, he is the authoritative voice of the United Nations on refugees.
• The Secretary-General once again appeals for an immediate suspension of the hostilities and the resumption of negotiations. He calls on all parties to take all necessary measures to safeguard civilian lives, allow freedom of movement, and protect civilian infrastructure, including medical and educational facilities, at all times, in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
• The Secretary-General further reiterates his call for the United Nations to be allowed to conduct cross-border and cross line humanitarian deliveries to resume without further delay for the benefit of people in need within Syria.

• The Secretary-General arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, 9 July, where he will take part in the second African Union-United Nations Annual Conference. That event will cover a wide range of topics, including peace and security and development, as well as on peacekeeping missions in Africa. This meeting is part of efforts to strengthening the AU-UN partnership.
• While in Addis Ababa, the Secretary-General will also meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

• The Security Council held closed consultations this morning on Yemen. Martin Griffiths, the Special Envoy for Yemen, briefed Council members by videoconference from Amman, Jordan.  John Ging also briefed on humanitarian matters.
• Speaking to reporters yesterday upon his departure from Sana’a, Mr. Griffiths said that he was reassured by the messages he had received, which had been positive and constructive. All parties have not only underscored their strong desire for peace, he said, but have also engaged with him on concrete ideas for achieving peace. And he noted his fruitful discussion on Tuesday with Abdel Malek al-Houthi.
• Mr. Griffiths said that he hopes to see very soon President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and that he looks forward to work with all the parties urgently to find a solution first that will restore security and stability in Hodeidah and also create positive conditions for a rapid and urgent restart of political negotiations in the coming days. 

• The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, arrived in Chad last night in a joint visit with the African Union and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Margot Wallström.
• Their visit will highlight women’s meaningful participation in peace, security and development with an additional focus on climate security and the Sahel.
• Today, she travelled to Bol, north of the capital, N’Djamena, where she met with communities adapting to climate change. She also met with religious, youth and women’s groups.  In those meetings, she emphasized the important role women play in Chad to counter the challenges of Boko Haram and violent extremism.
• Ms. Mohammed met with one young woman who had been forced by Boko Haram to become a suicide bomber. The bomb exploded prematurely and she lost both legs. The Deputy Secretary-General said the woman, who now works to sensitize other young women and girls against radicalism and extreme violence, had moved from “victim to survivor.”
• The Deputy Secretary-General also discussed climate change and poor land management, with local people saying they contribute to desertification in the Lake Chad Basin, which is home to 50 million people. The lake provides livelihoods to 2 million people, and the surrounding basin supplies food to nearly 13 million people.
• Yesterday the Deputy Secretary-General was in South Sudan. While there, she visited a clinic at the Juba Teaching Hospital, which had already received more than 1,300 women and children seeking treatment for injuries and trauma caused by sexual violence in its eight months of operation.
• Leading a “solidarity” mission by the UN and the African Union, Ms. Mohammed shared her deep concern about the suffering of sexual violence victims in the country with President Salva Kiir and government ministers. She also stressed the need for a comprehensive peace accord to be signed and concrete steps taken to build confidence to enable investments in development.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that one UNICEF staff member was killed yesterday in South Sudan. The aid worker, an assistant driver, was killed when two trucks carrying education supplies were attacked by armed men, as they were traveling along the Juba-Bor road in trucks that were clearly marked with the UNICEF insignia.
• The incident brings the number of aid workers killed in South Sudan to nine this year and 107 since the conflict began in 2013.

• Speaking to the Human Rights Council yesterday, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said that thousands of Rohingya people continue to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
• People also continue to die leaving Rakhine, he said.
• All the newly arrived refugees who have been interviewed by the UN Human Rights Office have described continuing violence, persecution and human rights violations, including killings and the burning of Rohingya homes.
• The High Commissioner said that Myanmar must grasp that the international community will not forget the outrages committed against the Rohingya, nor will it absolve the politicians who seek to cover them up.
• To ensure a credible investigation, he stressed that the Government must grant immediate access to independent international human rights investigators and the current Special Rapporteur, Yanghee Lee.

• The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, is completing today a three-day mission to Haiti and Panama. This was Mr. Lowcock’s first visit to these countries, which he undertook to see the government-led and regional efforts to prepare for upcoming natural disasters at the start of the hurricane season.
• Tomorrow in New York, Mr. Lowcock will brief Member States on hurricane preparedness efforts in the region.

• The Food and Agricultural Organization today said that the Food Price Index declined last month for the first time this year due to rising tensions in international trade relations.
• The Index averaged 173.7 points in June, down 1.3 per cent from its level in May. The decline was driven mainly by lower price quotations for wheat, maize and vegetable oils including those made from soybeans.
• FAO also said global output of cereals this year was seen at 2.5 billion tonnes, down 2.4 per cent from 2017’s record production level.

• A report released today by the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), says that low quality healthcare is increasing health costs globally.
• Inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate treatments and inadequate clinical facilities are some of the factors that are increasing the burden of illness in many countries and are costly in the long-run.
• The report estimates that the economic and social costs of poor quality care, including long-term disability, impairment and lost productivity, are amount to trillions of dollars each year.

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said today that the Government of Nicaragua must take meaningful steps to prevent further loss of life in the country which has seen weeks of protest and violence.
• The High Commissioner said that the violence and repression seen in Nicaragua since demonstrations began in April are products of the systematic erosion of human rights over the years. He added that they highlight the overall fragility of institutions and the rule of law.
• There have been reports that some 250 people, many of them young, have been killed since mid-April. More than 700 people have been detained, while there have also reportedly have been cases of disappearances.
• A team from the UN Human Rights Office wrapped up a visit to Nicaragua yesterday.