HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2021

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT 
Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Staffan de Mistura of Italy as his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara.  
He succeeds Horst Köhler of Germany, who completed his assignment on 22 May 2019.   The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Köhler’s steadfast and intensive efforts which laid the foundation for a new momentum in the political process on Western Sahara. 
The new Personal Envoy will provide good offices on behalf of the Secretary-General.  He will work with all relevant interlocutors, including the parties, neighbouring countries and other stakeholders, guided by Security Council resolution 2548 (2020) and other relevant resolutions.  
Mr. de Mistura brings more than 40 years of experience in diplomacy and political affairs.

AFGHANISTAN 
In a statement released today, several representatives of UN agencies and humanitarian non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan have stressed that we are in a race against time to deliver life-saving aid to crisis-affected people as well as to preposition supplies ahead of the oncoming winter.   
In September, the UN and its partners, have provided food assistance to more than 3.8 million people in the country and treatment for acute malnutrition to 21,000 children and 10,000 women. We have also provided health-care services to 450,000 people, livelihood support to 160,000 farmers and herders and water to 186,000 drought-affected people. 
The humanitarian community in Afghanistan is committed to delivering unconditional aid to millions of people. To do that, pledges and commitments by donors must urgently be turned into reality.
UN Member States are requested to allow the swift and unfettered movement of humanitarian supplies and personnel into and out of Afghanistan, and to provide humanitarian financial exemptions to allow funds to reach aid organizations in the country. 
The Flash Appeal that was launched last month is only 35 per cent funded. 
For its part, the Education Cannot Wait, which is the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, announced a $4 million First Emergency Response grant in Afghanistan. The new investment will provide 38,000 internally displaced girls and boys with access to quality, flexible learning opportunities and psychosocial support.

WORD HEALTH ORGANIZATION/VACCINE STRATEGY PRESS CONFERENCE 
Tomorrow, at 9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will join Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), in a virtual press conference on the WHO’s new global COVID-19 vaccination strategy.

SECURITY COUNCIL/ETHIOPIA 
This afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will speak at the Security Council’s open meeting on Peace and Security in Africa. That is the agenda item, and he will focus on Ethiopia.

SECURITY COUNCIL 
This morning, the Security Council held a briefing on small arms, with a focus on the need to address the threats posed by their illicit flows in the context of peace operations.  
The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, reiterated the need for including this issue across the work of the Security Council. The illicit flows of small arms and light weapons, she said, can worsen or sustain conflict dynamics; render arms embargoes ineffective; endanger peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and local populations. It can also complicate the achievements of peace agreements. 
Ms. Nakamitsu also encouraged the Security Council members to integrate weapons and ammunition management considerations in its work on conflict prevention.

YEMEN 
The Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, concluded his first visit to Yemen today, after conducting extensive meetings in Aden. 
Mr. Grundberg met with the Yemeni Prime Minister, Maeen Abdulmalik and the Governor of Aden, Ahmed Lamlas. He also met with the Chairman of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidarous Zubaidi, and the Governor of Taiz, Nabil Shamsan, among others. He also consulted with representatives of civil society and women’s rights activists. 
In his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Grundberg welcomed his return to Aden and stressed the importance of the full implementation of the Riyadh Agreement to support stability and functional state institutions.  
He also discussed the deteriorating economic situation and the challenges of delivery of basic services. He said that there is an urgent need to work toward an inclusive political settlement that comprehensively ends the conflict and allows Yemen to recover and develop. 
In his meetings, Mr. Grundberg emphasized his commitment to inclusivity as a necessity for the sustainability of peace. A durable solution is one that reflects the interests of diverse and broad segments of Yemeni society, he said.

SOUTH SUDAN 
The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim in South Sudan, Matthew Hollingworth, strongly condemned the latest threat against aid organizations in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area. 
He called for authorities and communities to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian workers. 
On Monday, a letter, reportedly from a youth group in Pibor, was issued, demanding that at least 30 humanitarian workers leave the area within 72 hours. 
Yesterday, more than 80 humanitarian workers were relocated from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area. Aid activities have been suspended for 48 hours, except for critical activities that must continue to save lives, and will only resume when it is deemed safe to do so.      
This latest incident of youth interference will impact help given to more than 100,000 of the most vulnerable people in the area.  
The UN and its partners are working with authorities there, as well as in Juba to seek a joint resolution.  
Since the start of the year, aid workers have been threatened and attacked by youth in Renk in Upper Nile and Torit in Eastern Equatoria, among other places. These attacks have led to the suspension of humanitarian activities and the relocation of workers.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 
And the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) today said that it condemns in the strongest terms the attack yesterday in the town of Matchika, located about 15 km from Bambari.The attack resulted in the death of civilians. Others were wounded.
UN peacekeepers were dispatched to the site of the attack to collect more information about the incident and to ensure the protection of civilians. 
The UN Mission calls on the Government to initiate an investigation into the incident, so perpetrators can be identified and brought to justice.

MALARIA VACCINE
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that it is recommending widespread use of a malaria vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions. The recommendation is based on results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has reached more than 800,000 children since 2019.
In a statement, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), described this as a historic moment. He said that using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.

***The guest at the Noon Briefing was Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the World Food Programme (WFP) Representative and Country Director in Afghanistan. She spoke to reporters about the food insecurity situation in Afghanistan.