AUSTRIA
This morning, the Secretary-General met with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen at the President’s office in Vienna.
In press remarks after the meeting, the Secretary-General recognized President Van der Bellen’s leadership in the global fight against climate change. “As dramatic as it is, the war in Ukraine cannot make us forget that climate change is an existential threat to us all - to the whole world,” the Secretary-General said. He added that the impacts of climate change can be seen everywhere, including in the Austrian Alps, where glaciers are retreating, and ice and snow bridges are disappearing.
The Secretary-General and the President later visited the Vienna Technical University, where the Secretary-General encouraged the students to keep raising their voices to push governments to make real changes.
Afterwards, the Secretary-General was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, for a working lunch.
In comments to the press afterward, the Secretary-General said that the world faces multiple and interlinked global crises and a proliferation of conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is a violation of its territorial integrity and of the Charter of the United Nations. He expressed particular concern for the continuing air strikes on urban centres in Ukraine.
Following his meeting with the Chancellor, the Secretary-General met with the President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, with whom he exchanged views on the war in Ukraine.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General travelled to the Vienna International Centre, which houses the main UN agencies in Vienna. He met with the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, and also held a town hall meeting with UN staff.
Tomorrow, he will open the meeting of the UN Chief Executives Board, hosted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GROUP
Also, in Vienna today, the UN Sustainable Development Group met to assess the impacts and challenges of the global effects of the war in Ukraine. The Group also discussed how to ensure an effective and integrated multilateral response to countries to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Group comprises the heads of UN entities working on sustainable development.
It also discussed financing for development, including the important role of Official Development Assistance in helping countries mobilize financing for the SDGs.
As the multiple crises test the international development system, the Chair of the Group, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, echoed the Secretary-General’s calls for a structural change in the international financial and economic system of the world so it can truly work in the interest of sustainable development—for all countries and for all people.
YEMEN
The Secretary-General delivered a video message to the pledging event taking place today in The Hague to fund the plan to deal with the FSO Safer, which threatens to spill more than one million barrels of oil into the Red Sea if it is not addressed.
The Secretary-General said that the UN plan for the Safer can stop this disaster before it starts. Now we need the funds to implement the plan, he said, and today’s event is a critical step to preventing a catastrophe that would affect Yemen, the region and the world.
He urged all Yemen’s partners to provide full funding so that work can start immediately. There isn’t a moment to lose, he said.
At that meeting, some $33 million has been raised in new money.
MIDDLE EAST
Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, strongly condemned the killing of Al-Jazeera’s reporter, Shireen Abu Aqla, who was shot with live fire this morning while covering an Israeli operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. He sent his deepest condolences to her family and wished a speedy recovery to her fellow journalist who was injured in the incident.
Mr. Wennesland called for an immediate and thorough investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. Media workers should never be targeted, he said.
AFGHANISTAN
I was asked yesterday about our contacts with the Taliban following their latest proposals concerning women’s rights, and I can confirm that our Special Representative in Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, has held meetings with senior Taliban officials this week in order to raise the issue of women’s and girl’s rights.
Specifically, she met with Deputy Premier Abdul Salam Hanafi and the acting de facto Minister of Information and Culture, Khairullah Khairkhwa.
In her meetings, Special Representative Lyons called for women’s rights to be expanded, not curtailed; for secondary schools to reopen to girls; and for women to be able to fully participate in work and public life. Afghanistan needs an inclusive effort for challenges ahead, she emphasized.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The UN Mission in the Central African Republic is telling us that, following two separate attacks on Monday in Bokolobo, in the Ouaka prefecture, they deployed peacekeepers to the area.
They established a Temporary Operating Base near Bokolobo to help protect civilians.
No further incidents have been reported and an integrated investigation team has been dispatched to the area.
MALI
Our colleagues at the peacekeeping mission in Mali report that they have provided counselling and free health care this week to people in the village of Kabara, in the Timbuktu region. Approximately 100 women, men and children, received medical treatment without having to travel outside the village, which does not have a medical facility. The peacekeepers also donated solar kits to the village.
This civil-military engagement took place during a patrol in which the Commander of the peacekeeping force, Lieutenant-General Cornelis Johannes Matthijssen, also met with the local community.
The Force Commander was traveling in the region of Timbuktu, following recent attacks there. The Mission has stepped up military operations, in close coordination with Malian armed forces, to help improve the security and protection of the civilian population in this area.
KENYA
The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, will be in Kenya on May 12th and 13th.
In Kenya, some 3.5 million people are severely food insecure, and acute malnutrition rates in some areas are more than double the emergency threshold.
This is due to one of the most severe droughts in recent history, and it is also impacting Somalia and Ethiopia, leaving more than 15 million people across the three countries facing high levels of acute food insecurity and severe water shortages.
During his visit to Kenya, Mr. Griffiths is expected to meet with representatives of the Government, people on the front lines of the crisis, local authorities, and national and international humanitarian partners.
The threat of large-scale loss of life in Africa’s Horn is rising each day, and there is an urgent need to scale up the humanitarian response to save lives and livelihoods and avert the worst outcomes. More funding is required to enable humanitarian partners to respond to this severe climate-induced emergency.
UKRAINE/JOBS
Today, the International Labour Organization (ILO) released a new brief showing that an estimated 4.8 million jobs have been lost in Ukraine since the start of the Russian aggression. The study estimates that, if hostilities were to escalate, employment losses would increase to seven million.
However, if the fighting was to cease immediately a rapid recovery would be possible, with the return of 3.4 million jobs. According to the brief, this would reduce employment losses to 8.9 per cent.
ILO said that the crisis in Ukraine may also create labour disruption in neighbouring countries - Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
SENIOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL
The Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Atul Khare, will make an official visit to Japan beginning May 16th.
He is expected to meet with senior Japanese government officials to exchange views on current challenges and opportunities of operational support, including training and capacity building related to peacekeeping.
Mr. Khare’s visit is taking place as Japan marks the 30th anniversary of its participation in UN peacekeeping.
FINANCING AFRICA’S RECOVERY
The 54th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development begins today in Dakar, Senegal. The hybrid event, held under the theme “Financing Africa’s Recovery”, is jointly organized by our colleagues at the Economic Commission for Africa and the Government of Senegal.
This is the Economic Commission for Africa’s largest annual event. Participants will discuss ways to bridge development financing gaps that have widened since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The conference begins with experts' meetings, followed by the ministerial segment, scheduled to take place on 16 and 17 May.
YOUTH ENVOY
The Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, in partnership with The Body Shop, today launched a campaign which seeks to have more young voices in the halls of power. The campaign, “Be Seen, Be Heard,” seeks to create long-term structural changes to decision-making to be more inclusive of young people and their political participation. Its first project is a report to understand the barriers preventing young people from participating in public life, along with recommendations to address these challenges for the benefit of societies around the world. The report includes findings from the largest-ever survey carried out by The Body Shop in December 2021, covering 26 countries with more than 27,000 respondents in total, over half of whom were under the age of 30.
You can find out more about the report’s findings and future campaign activities on the Youth Envoy’s website.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
And some happy news to end our briefing: We thank our friends in Castries for paying Saint Lucia’s UN regular budget dues for 2022. We are now at 99 fully paid-up nations.
