HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS
The Secretary-General is appointing Amandeep Singh Gill of India as his Envoy on Technology.
The Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation and gratitude to the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, for her dedication and commitment as the Acting Envoy on Technology.
Mr. Gill is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) project, based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Geneva. He had previously served as India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
The Secretary-General is also appointing Navid Hanif of Pakistan as his Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Mr. Hanif succeeds Elliot Harris of Trinidad and Tobago to whom the Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation and gratitude for his dedication and commitment.
Mr. Hanif is currently the Director of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, here in New York. He brings to the position more than 30 years of experience in national and international civil service. And we congratulate our friend Navid on this appointment.
SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS
The Secretary-General is on a plane back to New York. Yesterday afternoon, he spoke at the plenary of the Summit of the Americas.
The Secretary-General told the leaders gathered for the summit that it is essential to close the gap between the great potential of this region and the daily struggles faced by the people who call it home. Across the region, he said, we see countries that continue to be weighed down by a toxic brew of inequality, poverty, crime, insecurity and mistrust.
He added that the global consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are rippling across a world already struggling with rising commodity prices, food insecurity and high levels of poverty and inequality.
The Secretary-General proposed that we address the challenges we face by rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals and investing in all the systems that support people — from health and decent work to social protection systems and vaccines for all. He told the gathered leaders that every step of the way, they can count on the steadfast support of the United Nations.
UKRAINE
From Ukraine, humanitarians are continuing to step up their support to millions of people who have now endured 107 days of war.
The UN and its partners have reached more than 8.1 million people with aid since 24 February. In the past week alone, we have reached more than 350,000 people.
Over 6.7 million people have received food aid, while nearly 1.7 million have been reached with cash assistance, which is critical amid soaring prices of goods and shrinking job opportunities.
More than 3.3 million people have been able to get access to clean water and improved sanitation, a surge from over 400,000 people just a couple of weeks ago.
Additionally, 2.7 million people have been able to access health care services.
However, the number of people reached is just half of the nearly 16 million people who need urgent humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
This is due to the lack of access because of ongoing hostilities, as well as landmines and the destruction of roads, particularly in the eastern oblasts of Donetska and Luhanska.
Humanitarian operations are also extremely limited in some parts of southern Ukraine, including in Kherson.
As of today, we have received nearly $1.7 billion – that is 74 per cent of the funding required until the end of August. We continue to call on donors to give generously as soon as possible so we can support every person in need.
MYANMAR
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the attack on Wednesday in Mon state, in Myanmar, which led to the killing of a World Health Organization (WHO) staff member.
The Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the bereaved family and his ongoing concern for the safety and security of UN staff and all the people of Myanmar living and working in conflict-affected areas. He calls for a full and transparent investigation into the incident and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
The UN Refugee Agency today released new data showing that while reported numbers of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe are fewer than in 2015, journeys are becoming more fatal. According to UNHCR, last year, some 3,231 were recorded as dead or missing at sea in the Mediterranean and the northwest Atlantic, with 1,881 in 2020; 1,510 in 2019; and more than 2,277 for 2018. UNHCR has continuously been warning of the horrific experiences and dangers faced by refugees and migrants who resort to these journeys. In addition to the rising death toll at sea, UNHCR remains concerned that deaths and abuses are widespread along land routes, most commonly in and through the countries of origin and transit, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya.
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
The World Meteorological Organization says there is a high probability that the current La Niña event will continue at least until August and possibly longer. Some predictions even suggest that it might persist into 2023.
La Niña refers to the large-scale cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation.
WMO says the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa and southern America bears the hallmarks of La Niña. Predictions for an above average Atlantic hurricane season could also be linked to La Niña.
Climate change is amplifying the impacts of naturally occurring events like La Niña.
The agency is providing support to the humanitarian sector, notably through improved seasonal forecasts that help plan appropriate responses ahead of time.
The current La Niña event started in September 2020.
MONGOLIA
The UN team in Mongolia, led by the Resident Coordinator Tapan Mishra, says they continue to support vaccination efforts, with over 95 per cent of the country’s adult population fully vaccinated, including some 236,000 children over the age of 12. Over four in ten people vaccinated in the country received their doses through COVAX.
Also, with a grant from the Government of Japan, national authorities and the UN team built a new central vaccine storage facility, which led to a five-fold increase in the national health system’s storage capacities, with new refrigerators and freezers.
For its part, the WHO continues to support authorities with contact tracing, while UNICEF is helping national health communication.
Over 300,000 pregnant women benefited from UN-backed maternal health support, while nearly half a million children benefited from distance learning support while schools were closed. And, up to now, over 800,000 people have benefited from UN-backed water and sanitation supplies.
