HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2020
CLIMATE REPORT
The Secretary-General will release today a report by an independent group of experts on the $100 billion per year by 2020 in climate finance promised by developed countries to support efforts in developing countries to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
The report shows that based on the pre-COVID data up to 2018, climate finance counting towards the $100 billion had been on an upward trajectory but was still falling short of the $100 billion per year by 2020 target.
The report also found that the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered the context for international climate finance with particularly severe impacts on emerging markets and developing countries, with a huge increase in debt distress.
In the report, expert voices support the call of the Secretary-General for a major push in 2021 to support achieving the $100 billion goal, with a clear roadmap and clear recommendations to do so.
CLIMATE
Tomorrow, some 70 world leaders will speak at the Climate Ambition Summit, which the Secretary-General is co-hosting with the Governments of the United Kingdom and France. They will be highlighting new announcements and steps they are taking to reach the goal of net-zero emissions, as well as from businesses, investors, local governments, youth and civil society groups. You can find the full list of participants on the Summit website (climateambitionsummit2020.org.)
The Secretary-General will speak at the opening and we will also organize a virtual press stakeout. The Summit will be entirely virtual and will be live on UN WebTV.
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FORUM
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke in a pre-recorded video message to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2020, which this year addresses how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the conditions for international cooperation and global governance.
The Secretary-General noted that the pandemic is a crisis like no other, in which the world faces a common enemy. He said that, unfortunately, governments have not mounted a joint response to this global threat.
The Secretary-General stressed that we cannot let the same thing happen for access to new COVID-19 vaccines, which must be a global public good. He emphasized that the multilateral cooperation should be firmly based on the universal values of community, solidarity, equality and humanity.
Mr. Guterres noted that the Nobel Committee showed the way by awarding its Peace Prize to the World Food Programme (WFP). He said that the prize recognizes the essential link between feeding the hungry, solidarity with those in need, and world peace.
RESIDENT COORDINATORS’ MEETING
Today, the UN Resident Coordinators covering 162 countries and territories wrapped up a week-long virtual meeting. They have been discussing how to speed up and increase support for countries to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier in the week, the Secretary-General told them that, nearly three years into the reform of the UN development structure, the new Resident Coordinator system has passed its first serious ‘stress test’ with COVID-19.
He also noted that geopolitical tensions are escalating, which is why, earlier this year, he had called for a global ceasefire to focus on the common enemy, which is obviously, the virus.
The Resident Coordinators also spoke with the Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who told them, that despite our efforts, COVID-19 continues to have a dramatic impact on lives and livelihoods and has knocked the Sustainable Development Goals even further off track.
She said that, in 2021, through recovery strategies and investments that are anchored in driving greater inclusion, resilience and sustainability, we have a truly unique opportunity to help bring the 2030 Agenda to life.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will deliver a pre-recorded video message to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Accords which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He will say that the anniversary is an occasion to redouble our commitment to world peace and reconciliation, sustainable development and human rights for all.
Building a future of peace, he is to say, requires dealing with the past.
It means acknowledging that horrific crimes were committed during the war. These crimes should never be forgotten, nor should the ideology of the perpetrators be celebrated.
He will call for the country’s people to come together to build a more just, green and resilient Bosnia and Herzegovina.
ETHIOPIA
In Ethiopia, the UN is continuing to be in the process of operationalizing the humanitarian agreements with the Government of the country, but to date we still have no access to the Tigray region.
We are extremely concerned for the safety and humanitarian needs of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia. Large numbers of refugees have left camps due to insecurity and the lack of basic services and are now in Mekelle and Addis Ababa.
The UN and our partners have also not had access to the four refugee camps, which host nearly 100,000 people, in more than a month.
We have conducted two assessment missions to the border of Tigray and Afar, with our humanitarian partners. In Afar, we found that newly displaced people and people affected by the fighting need water, hygiene services and medical supplies.
Two missions are still to be carried out to the Western and Southern parts of the Tigray region.
We also want to extend our condolences to the Danish Refugee Council who sadly confirmed the deaths of three colleagues in Tigray. The International Rescue Committee also confirmed the killing of a staff member in Hitsats Refugee Camp in Shire, and we also extend our condolences to them.
These are extremely distressing reports and underscore why we need unfettered humanitarian access to the region as soon as possible.
SUDAN
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today said that nearly half of the people who have fled Tigray to Sudan are children. According to UNICEF, the most urgent needs are clean water and sanitation for camps and border points, as well as child protection and gender-based violence services for the most vulnerable and at-risk refugees.
The agency also said that, as the crisis continues, education services are essential to ensure that children continue to learn and to provide them with a safe space and a semblance of normalcy.
UNICEF has also identified more than 200 unaccompanied and separated children and screened more than 8,000 children under the age of five for malnutrition at border points entry.
For its part, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that it has now registered nearly 50,000 Ethiopian refugees who have crossed into eastern Sudan. Since December 6th, the number of people escaping the Tigray region to Sudan has been decreasing to under 500 a day.
Some refugees have said they had to evade armed groups to reach safety and have given harrowing accounts of hiding in fields and bushes to avoid being spotted.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, will be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, starting on Monday and until 18 December.
He is expected to meet with national authorities, as well as key political and civil society actors in Kinshasa. He will also travel to the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu to take stock of the Mission’s efforts to address continuing security challenges there.
Mr. Lacroix will also interact with the mission staff to express his support and appreciation for their work, particularly in these challenging times, as well as for managing the impact of COVID-19 on UN personnel and operations.
This visit had been planned for some time, prescheduled to the current crisis.
BOLIVIA
In Bolivia, following the peaceful culmination of the recent electoral process in Bolivia, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General to that country, Jean Arnault, has concluded his mandate. A little over a year ago, the Secretary-General asked Mr. Arnault to engage with all Bolivian actors and offer United Nations support in efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis, including through transparent, inclusive and credible elections.
The Secretary-General expresses his gratitude for the work and steadfast dedication of Jean Arnault and all the work he carried out during a challenging year.
AFGHANISTAN
Today, the acting Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ramesh Rajasingham, completed a week-long field visit to Afghanistan. The aim was to draw attention to the massive increase in humanitarian needs due to COVID-19, conflict and climate change in the country.
During the visit, Mr. Rajasingham met with First Vice-President Amurallah Saleh, government ministers, and the provincial governor of Kandahar. He also met with humanitarian and development agencies, as well as newly displaced people.
The UN, along with humanitarian partners, is stepping up to keep pace with massively increasing needs in Afghanistan. The aim is to reach almost 16 million people with assistance next year, which is double the number of people compared to a year ago.
Throughout the country, almost 8 million people have been provided with humanitarian aid so far this year.
YEMEN
At an event yesterday on Yemen, Mark Lowcock said that next year, more than half of all Yemenis will go hungry and we expect that five million people will be living just one step away from famine, while about 50,000 people will be living in famine-like conditions.
Meanwhile, the UN response plan remains only 49 percent funded. This year, aid agencies received less than half as much as they did last year. We are now helping only about nine million people every month, down from a peak of more than 13 million people earlier in the year. To reverse that, we urgently need more funding for our operations in the country.
INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN DAY
Today is International Mountain Day. In a message, the Secretary-General said that at a time of accelerating climate change and land degradation, this year’s observance of the Day highlights these threats and the importance of mountain ecosystems.
The Secretary-General noted that the year ahead offers important policy-making opportunities to protect mountain biodiversity and ecosystems.
A study launched today by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that mountains host about half of the global biodiversity hotspots and are home to a growing number of the world's hungriest people.
According to the study, the number of mountain people vulnerable to food insecurity in developing countries increased from 243 to almost 350 million between 2000 and 2017.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
I would like to end the week with some positive news and say Spasibo to our friends in Moscow. The Russian Federation has paid its dues in full for 2020, just in time. This takes us to 137 fully paid-up Member States.
