HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 5 MAY 2022
UKRAINE
This afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., the Security Council will hold a briefing on Ukraine. The Secretary-General will brief Council members, as well as the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.
Yesterday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Osnat Lubrani, said that a new safe passage operation to evacuate civilians stranded in Mariupol and other communities had been completed. Once again, she said, the UN team and colleagues from the International Committee of the Red Cross worked together to bring people who wanted to leave areas experiencing hostilities, and to bring them to safety, with the agreement of the parties to the conflict.
Ms. Lubrani said that more than 300 civilians from
Mariupol, Manhush, Berdiansk, Tokmak and Vasylivka are now receiving humanitarian assistance in Zaporizhzhia. She added that while this second evacuation of civilians from areas in Mariupol and beyond is significant, much more needs to be done to make sure that all civilians caught up in fighting can leave, in the direction they wish.
The UN work with the parties to guarantee safe passage for civilians will continue.
ETHIOPIA
From Ethiopia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that a convoy of 27 trucks carrying nearly 1,000 metric tons of food and other essential items reached Mekelle in the Tigray region last weekend – that’s the 29th and 30th of April.
This was the fourth humanitarian convoy that reached Tigray since the transport of aid resumed at the beginning of April, following more than three months of interruption.
In total, 169 trucks have reached Tigray since convoys resumed, transporting some 4,300 metric tons of desperately needed aid supplies.
Food and other aid from these convoys have been dispatched from Mekelle to priority areas across Tigray where they are being distributed.
Fuel that has recently arrived is also allowing critical operations to be expanded.
The rate at which aid is arriving into Tigray, however, remains a small fraction of what is needed. Essential services including electricity, communications networks and banking services remain largely cut off.
The UN and its partners continue to work with the authorities to urgently scale up deliveries of relief supplies into Tigray, including seed and fertilizer ahead of the critical summer planting season.
The UN is also working with authorities to expand much-needed assistance in areas of Afar and Amhara regions that have been affected by the conflict.
In Amhara, food partners reached some 56,000 people with food in the past week. Since late December, more than 10 million people have received food assistance from Government, the UN, or NGO partners.
SOUTH SUDAN
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) today said that that its engineers from six troop-contributing countries are building and improving roads across the country. So far, the engineers – from Bangladesh, China, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, India and Pakistan – and their partners have repaired 3,200 kilometers worth of roads.
This week, peacekeepers restored part of the route from Adwong to Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state. This will facilitate humanitarian access and trade, as well as increase the overall freedom of movement.
The UN Mission’s engineers have also finished repairing some of the main roads in Malakal, including the road linking the city with the airport.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) today said that they set up a position and the mission has stepped up its patrols in Nzaco, where is near Bangassou in Mbomou Prefecture, to increase security in the area.
This follows an attack on a base of Central African armed forces by combatants allegedly from the Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique and Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de Centrafrique groups. That attack took place on April 28th.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC/ HUMANITARIAN
Also on the Central African Republic, where more than 60 per cent of the people there already need humanitarian assistance, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today warned that the crisis there is likely to worsen in the coming months because the crisis in Ukraine is disrupting supply chains, and prices on fuel, medicine and food are rising.
For example, the price of wheat flour has increased by 36 per cent in the last two weeks and is expected to increase a further 30 per cent by August.
It is projected that 2.2 million people, or 45 per cent of the population, will suffer from high levels of acute food insecurity during the lean season between April and August
Health organizations only have 30 per cent of the medication and other essential supplies they need to respond.
There is an urgent need for a scaled-up humanitarian response, and funding needs will increase drastically, including for health, food and logistics.
The Humanitarian Response Plan, which calls for $461 million to help 2 million people in 2022, is only 20 per cent funded to date.
IRAQ/COVID-19
In Iraq, the UN team continues supporting authorities to respond to and recover from the pandemic. Nearly 8.6 million vaccines have landed in the country through COVAX alone, with the UN team, especially the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), supporting authorities’ vaccine distribution efforts. Over seven million people are fully vaccinated.
To boost recovery, our team has so far supported more than 620 infrastructure projects, which are benefitting more than 4.2 million people, increasing access to basic services, while also rehabilitating thousands of houses, 84 health care centres and nearly 200 schools.
More than half of returnees are now living in locations with better services and infrastructure
Also, over 150,000 refugees, displaced people, returnees and other vulnerable groups are receiving multipurpose cash assistance.
The UN team also trained over 40,000 young Iraqis to prepare them for the workforce and thousands of additional workers benefited from decent job opportunities.
FORESTS
Activist Cécile Ndjebet, of Cameroon, today won this year’s Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to preserving forests and improving the lives of people who depend on them.
The Award was presented by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, which is chaired by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Roughly 70 per cent of women in Cameroon live in rural areas and are dependent - at least in part - on harvesting wild forest products for their livelihoods, yet many are denied the right to own forest land. Ms. Ndjebet has tirelessly promoted the concept that women should be involved in forest management and have equal rights to forest land and resources - and that when they do, forests are better preserved and entire communities benefit.
SOMALIA
In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the deadly Al-Shabaab attack earlier this week on an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) base staffed by Burundian peacekeepers in Middle Shabelle, Somalia.
The Secretary-General expresses his heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed, as well as to the Government and to the people of Burundi. He wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.
The Secretary-General pays tribute to all ATMIS troops and expresses his deep appreciation for their service and commitment to peace and security in Somalia.
The Secretary-General reiterates his appeal to the international community to provide all necessary support to ATMIS and to the Somali security forces in their fight against Al-Shabaab.
WORLD PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE DAY
Today is World Portuguese language day. The Portuguese language is not only one of the most widespread languages in the world, with more than 265 million speakers spread through all continents, but it is also the most widely spoken language in the southern hemisphere.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Tunisia has now paid its regular budget dues. This takes us to 97 fully paid-up Member States.
