HAITI
We issued a statement a short while ago in which the Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of the Republic of Haiti. The perpetrators of this crime must be brought to justice. The Secretary-General extends his deepest condolences to the people and Government of Haiti and the family of the late President.
The Secretary-General calls on all Haitians to preserve the constitutional order, remain united in the face of this abhorrent act and reject all violence. The United Nations will continue to stand with the Government and people of Haiti.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/COVID-19
As we approach the grim milestone sometime today most likely of four million deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will have a message from the Secretary-General in which we expect him to say that while vaccines offer a ray of hope, the virus is outpacing vaccine distribution.
The Secretary-General will once again call for a Global Vaccine Plan to double the production of vaccines and ensure equitable distribution through COVAX.
EXTREME WEATHER
Many parts of the world are experiencing unprecedented weather patterns. We’ve seen record heatwaves in Canada and the Pacific Northwest; wildfires in Europe and mudslides in Asia.
In a tweet, the Secretary-General said that all over the world natural disasters have become more frequent and more severe and that this means every country, city and industry needs to step up its climate action now.
The World Meteorological Organization said that the heatwave in Canada and the US had major impacts on people, animals and vegetation. It noted that so many records were broken in June regarding high temperatures that it was hard to keep track.
WMO said these heatwaves are becoming more intense as greenhouse gas concentrations lead to a rise in global temperatures. They are also starting earlier and ending later in the year and are taking an increasing toll on human health.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The Security Council met to hear a virtual briefing from Bintou Keita, the head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She briefed Council members on the situation in the country and noted that the security situation in the provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu continues to be of grave concern.
Ms. Keita said that with the transition of the UN Mission depends largely on the return of peace and stability in the area. She believes that there is still much work to be done before the UN Mission in the country can responsibly withdraw. Among the immediate tasks at hand, she emphasized the need to intensify good offices to establish suitable conditions for the 2023 elections to be held on time and in a consensual manner.
ETHIOPIA
I was asked to updated you about the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia and I can tell you that we are aware and of course welcome the Government of Ethiopia’s announcement that it has “granted flight permission for all interested parties to provide humanitarian services in Tigray region.”
Unfortunately, no flights have yet been able to travel directly from Addis Ababa to Mekelle or Shire this week. However, we are following up with all relevant actors to ensure that direct flights are able to operate as soon as possible, in light of the announcement.
The World Food Programme for its parts tells us that there is currently no secure air or road access into Tigray, which is preventing them and other emergency responders from scaling up to reach hungry and vulnerable communities, especially in rural areas.
WFP resumed its operations in Tigray on 2 July after fighting halted emergency response for 48 hours. However, the World Food Programme is getting to a fraction of the number it should be reaching due to the serious challenges that threaten the entire humanitarian response in the region.
We of course urge all the parties to agree to a ceasefire so that those routes can be used to reach those in need.
WFP is calling for $176 million to continue to scale up its response in Tigray from at least July through December.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the situation remains tense in Alindao, following cyclical armed violence in the past week.
Yesterday, in Bangui, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the UN, Denise Brown, strongly condemned the armed violence - compounded by serious violations of international humanitarian law - that has left at least two civilians dead. The violence has also displaced thousands of already displaced people, injuring a humanitarian worker, and leading to a significant reduction in humanitarian assistance in the city.
According to our colleagues on the ground, significant population movements have been recorded towards the District Hospital, existing sites for internally displaced people, the UN Mission bases in the country and surrounding villages. Burning of houses and looting of property of a population already battered by years of conflict were also recorded, as well as attempted break-ins to humanitarian premises.
Today, at a press conference, Mankeur Ndiaye, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the Peacekeeping Mission, reiterated the importance of prioritizing a political solution to the crisis, which remains the only viable path to a lasting peace.
MYANMAR
Our UN colleagues on the ground say they’re concerned about the rapid increase in the number of recorded COVID-19 cases.
They say that, on July 4th, the test positivity rate reached 22.3 per cent, compared to around 10 per cent just two weeks ago.
In addition, several COVID-19 variants have been detected, including the Delta variant.
The UN team warns that a major outbreak of COVID-19 would have devastating consequences on both people’s health and on the economy.
They stress the importance of resuming the delivery of essential health services, implementing measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and to scale up vaccinations.
For this to happen, the UN team says that health facilities must be kept safe, and patients, health workers and other service providers must be protected.
CHILD KIDNAPPINGS/WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
Yesterday, we flagged for you the Secretary-General’s concern about yet another report of kidnappings in Nigeria’s Kaduna State.
Today, the head of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, expressed her alarm at the increasing spate of attacks against children and abductions, including of students, in Nigeria but also in other parts of West and Central Africa.
She pointed to the latest report by the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict which says that 1 in 3 child victims of grave violations has been in West and Central Africa.
She said that it is not enough to condemn these crimes and stressed that non-state armed groups and all parties to conflict who are committing violations of children’s rights have a moral and legal obligation to immediately cease attacks against children.
ESWATINI
Yesterday afternoon you saw we issued a statement expressing the Secretary-General’s increasing concern at developments in the Kingdom of Eswatini, notably clashes between security forces and demonstrators that have led to deaths and injuries.
The Secretary-General underlines the importance of enabling all Emaswati to exercise their civil and political rights peacefully and urges the security forces to exercise utmost restraint.
ECOSOC HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM
The Economic and Social Council’s High-Level Political Forum today examined progress in Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 8 and 17, and linkages among those goals. In a session called, "How do we get on track to end poverty and hunger, and transform towards inclusive and sustainable economies?" speakers addressed issues of poverty and hunger, which are on the rise after years of decline, a trend made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. As many as 132 million additional people went hungry in 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis, and it is projected that as many as 163 million additional people could be pushed into extreme poverty through 2021.
The livelihoods of people living in poverty and informal workers are at risk without social protection to cope in many countries, with women particularly impacted.
The morning session also included a discussion on the 2020 targets, and how to keep reviewing them while keeping track of ongoing intergovernmental processes to keep the level of ambition of those targets.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
The Secretary-General is appointing Benjamin Swanson of the United Kingdom as Assistant Secretary-General for the Office of Internal Oversight Services.
Mr. Swanson succeeds David Kanja of Kenya, to whom the Secretary-General is deeply grateful for his dedicated service.
Mr. Swanson joined OIOS in 2013, where he served as Deputy Director, based in Nairobi, and later as Director of the Investigations Division of OIOS based in New York where he was responsible for development of the Division’s strategic and operational plans and also managed about staff. We congratulate our friend and colleague Mr. Swanson with this appointment.
