HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 10 JUNE 2024
SECRETARY-GENERAL/JORDAN
The Secretary-General arrived in Jordan today. He is scheduled to attend the High-Level Conference on Gaza that is being organized at the invitation of Jordan, Egypt and the United Nations. That conference will take place, starting tomorrow, in Jordan near the Dead Sea.
In remarks the Secretary-General is expected to deliver at the conference tomorrow, he will shed light on the deplorable situation in Gaza, the deplorable conditions in Gaza. As you may know by now, the conference is called “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Aid for Gaza”.
The Secretary-General is also expected to renew his calls for a ceasefire, along with the unconditional release of all the hostages still being held.
On the margins of the conference, he will hold discussions with other leaders on the issue on both humanitarian and political levels.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY/ HUMANITARIAN
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the Israeli military operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp overwhelmed the already limited capacity of hospitals, especially Al Aqsa and Al Awda hopitals in Deir al Baleh and the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. A UN inter-agency mission to Al Aqsa hospital on Saturday found that the facility was hosting about 700 patients, which is nearly five times the capacity for in-patient services. Just one generator at the hospital is still running.
Fuel is also critically short in Gaza. Colleagues working on water, sanitation and hygiene report that just 20 per cent of the fuel needed for vital water and wastewater facilities was received during the week of 26 May. These shortages, compounded by power cuts and damage to infrastructure, are severely disrupting operations and limiting people's access to water. As of 2 June, daily water production stood at just 26 per cent of pre-conflict levels.
For its part, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that many displaced families in Gaza are forced to rely on dirty sea water for their daily needs. The increasing heat and lack of hygiene are making an already dire situation even worse.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) colleagues tell us that we are temporarily pausing operations at the floating dock until a thorough assessment of the security situation is conducted to ensure the safety of our staff and our partners.
The WFP 's position, as the logistics arm of the UN operation in Gaza, has always been that it will support any UN and international effort to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies into Gaza and the World Food Programme has welcomed the relief that has been received through the pier since it started operating. A total of 85 WFP trucks carrying some 748 metric tonnes of humanitarian supplies have been delivered so far.
The UN Women has put out its latest Gender Alert on Gaza, and it says that 80 per cent of women in Gaza depend on food assistance to survive.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, Abdou Abarry, the head of the UN office for central Africa, briefed the members of the Security Council. He told council members that the region he covers has witnessed some positive and encouraging trends, noting that the conclusion of the transition period in Chad, but he added that the difficult environment in which the country finds itself reminds us of the need to continue supporting the Chadian authorities in their quest for stability, particularly at this new turning point in the country's history.
Turning to the situation in Gabon, Mr. Abarry said the transition reached an important turning point in April with the holding of an inclusive national dialogue.
He highlighted that the threat of unconstitutional changes of government remains an ongoing concern, as evidenced by the recent attempt to do so in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr. Abarry said we are working to call on the States of the sub-region to keep the political space open by guaranteeing freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the free exercise of the activities by political parties.
SUDAN
On the situation in Sudan, I want to express our shock and our horror regarding the attack on the South Hospital in Al Fasher on Saturday. Our friends from the Médecins Sans Frontières reported that members of the Rapid Support Forces stormed the facility, opened fire and looted the hospital. This included stealing an MSF ambulance. The United Nations has been unable at this point to verify the number of casualties following this assault.
At the time of the attack, there were 10 patients and a reduced medical team at the hospital, as Médecins Sans Frontières and Ministry of Health teams had started transferring patients and medical services to other facilities earlier in the week due to the increase in fighting. MSF said that between 25 May and 3 June, mortar shells and bullets directly hit South Hospital three times, killing two people and wounding 14 patients and caretakers.
South Hospital remains closed following the attack. Our humanitarian colleagues note that it was one of only two facilities in Al Fasher that had the ability to perform any kind of surgery.
It also served as the main referral hospital for treating war-wounded in the city, as the only facility equipped to manage mass casualties. Between 10 May and 6 June, more than 1,300 people had sought some treatment at South Hospital for casualties.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Sudan are also shocked by the news of another attack on a health facility, this one in Wad Al-Nura in Aj Jazirah State. That attack led to the death of a nurse while on duty and attending to patients.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) underscores that under international humanitarian law, medical facilities, personnel and equipment must be protected against attacks, looting and other forms of violence. The wounded and sick must also be protected and receive the care they need.
There is also a tweet to that effect on the attack on Al Fasher from our Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, who has also expressed his shock at the attack.
On the political side, the Personal Envoy, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra is continuing his engagement to advance peace efforts, including directly engaging with the Parties to urge them to de-escalate tensions, particularly around El Fasher.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) today said that they have increased patrols in Kanyabayonga in North Kivu's Lubero territory and its surrounding areas, amid continuing fighting between the M23 armed group and the Congolese Armed Forces. Since 27 May, the UN Mission has conducted more than 50 patrols to protect civilians, in addition to securing routes from Kilambo, Mirangui, Kanyabayonga, Kania, and Kirumba towards displaced camps. The Mission recently reinforced its presence in the area in reaction to the large-scale displacement of civilians.
Meanwhile, as part of its mandate to support Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration efforts, the Peackeeping Mission says that it has facilitated the repatriation of six former combatants, including one woman, to various localities in Masisi and Nyiragongo territories. That is in North Kivu. The ex-combatants, formerly associated with the FDLR, had surrendered voluntarily at various UN Mission bases. In Balingina, Ituri province, the UN Mission, together with UNICEF and the National DDR programme, also facilitated the separation of 75 children associated with an armed group, following their recruitment between January 2022 and January 2024.
SAHEL
In the central Sahel region, a delegation of UN Regional Directors, led by the Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, and the Regional Director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office, Yacoub El-Hillo, has commenced a high-level mission to the region. They arrived in Niger yesterday and will remain there until Thursday. They will then go to Mali and Burkina Faso.
While in the region, they will meet with national authorities, members of civil society and technical and financial partners.
They will also intensify advocacy for continued development and humanitarian investments, especially in light of the current funding challenges.
BANGLADESH
The humanitarian community in Bangladesh has launched a $53 million appeal to support the ongoing response by the Government to Cyclone Remal, which made landfall in the southern part of the country two weeks ago.
Through the appeal they are trying to reach 784,000 men, women and children who have been impacted by the storm and to provide food, water, nutrition, medicine, health care, protection, and agriculture and livelihood assistance.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that many people are still living in shelters or with relatives after the cyclone damaged or destroyed nearly 174,000 homes. More than half a million farmers saw their crops damaged, and children are unable to attend 1,000 Government primary schools that were damaged. The cyclone also damaged or destroyed more than 20,000 water points and 134,000 latrines.
Earlier this month, Martin Griffiths, our Emergency Relief Coordinator, allocated $7.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help with the assistance.
TRUST FUND IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE
And a quick note on the Trust Fund in Support of Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. The report, that is out today, is produced by the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, and covers activities conducted last year, in 2023.
The Trust Fund helps fund assistance and support services to victims and children born of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel. Last year, projects supported victims in the DRC, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Haiti, and Liberia.
Since 2016, the year of its creation, the Trust Fund has received $5.1 million in contributions from 25 Member States.
Our colleagues are appealing to Member States to donate an additional $3 million to the Trust Fund by the end of the year to support activities.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, following the nomination by the Secretary-General, the General Assembly, on 7 June 2024, elected Ana Cláudia Marinheiro Centeno Rossbach of Brazil as the new Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme, otherwise known as UN-Habitat.
She succeeds Maimunah Mohd Sharif of Malaysia, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her service and commitment to UN-Habitat and to the UN. The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to Michal Mlynár, the Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat, who will continue to serve as Acting Executive Director until Ms. Rossbach assumes her position.
Ms. Rossbach, as an economist, brings to the position over twenty years of experience working on precarious and informal urban settlements, social housing and urban policies, together with designing and implementing strategies for public, social and private organizations with local, national and international stakeholders.
She has been the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for the last 2 years and we congratulate her and welcome her.
CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT REPORT
Lastly, a programming note. You have been asking me about the publication regarding the Children and Armed Conflict report. Just to let you know that we expected that the report will go to the Security Council members tomorrow.
We also expect the report to become public and to be published on Thursday in all 6 languages.
And we will have a press conference by Ms. Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, on Thursday morning, at 10:00 a.m. in this very room to answer your questions on the issue.
