HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2018
 

GHANA
As a reminder, the Secretary-General is traveling to Ghana this evening, where he will attend the memorial service for the late former Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, which takes place on Thursday in the Ghanaian capital. As the Secretary-General said at the wreath-laying ceremony for the former Secretary-General, Kofi Annan was “a man who embodied United Nations values and made us all proud to call ourselves his colleagues.” He was a true voice for the voiceless, who did not shy away from the most challenging issues but worked creatively to bridge differences and protect the most vulnerable.
 
DSG TRAVELS
The Deputy Secretary-General will be heading off to Washington, D.C., to engage in discussions with senior management of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on financing for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She will also participate in an open dialogue at the IMF with the Managing Director, Christine Lagarde. She will be back in New York later this evening.
 
AFGHANISTAN
The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has condemned the series of bombings that took place today in Nangarhar province which killed at least 21 civilians and injured 60 other people.
The Mission also voiced its mounting concern at the pattern of attacks targeting civilians and schools.
The majority of civilian casualties occurred in the Mohmandara district of Nangarhar when a suicide attacker detonated his explosives among a crowd demonstrating against a local Afghan police commander.
That area and its capital Jalalabad have recently witnessed multiple deliberate attacks by anti-Government elements specifically targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, in particular schools. Within a 15-minute period this morning, no fewer than three schools were targeted in the Bihsud district of Nangarhar and in Jalalabad. 
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said he feels profound indignation at this latest wave of attacks deliberately targeting civilians, and stressed that the bombings of schools and the killing of children are among the most egregious and repulsive acts of terrorism which violate international humanitarian law.
 
SYRIA
Panos Moumtzis, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said today he is deeply worried about the recent escalation of hostilities in northwest Syria, resulting in the new displacement during the past few days of over 30,000 women, children and men and scores of civilian deaths. Currently there are some 6.2 million internally displaced people inside Syria.
He said that our fear as humanitarians is the worst may be ahead of us. The safety and protection of some 2.9 million civilians residing in Idlib and surrounding areas is at risk. This includes some 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), the majority of whom are women and children, who came to the region from other areas.
A further escalation of military operations in Idlib and surrounding areas will not only endanger civilian lives in this densely populated area but will severely impact humanitarian partners’ ability to deliver life-saving assistance, he warned.
The Security Council is meeting on Idlib right now, and it is scheduled to discuss Yemen this afternoon.
 
IRAQ
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ján Kubiš, visited Sulaymaniyah and Erbil. He met with leaders of political parties, and, in Erbil, he met with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masud Barzani and met separately with the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.
The Special Representative urged political leaders and forces both at the federal level and in the Kurdistan Region to unite and work together for a speedy establishment of a pro-reform, non-sectarian, patriotic national government with partnership participation of all components and segments of Iraq, in full respect for and implementation of the Iraqi Constitution.
He warned about the destabilizing impact of any procrastination that will only exacerbate the dangerous divisions and polarization across the country.
 
NORWAY
On Friday, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, will be in Oslo. This will be his first visit to Norway in his role.
He is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide. He will also sign a multi-year agreement between Norway and the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, and he will deliver remarks on the occasion of Norway’s new humanitarian strategy.
 
FOOD SECURITY & NUTRITION REPORT
For the third year in a row, there has been a rise in world hunger, according to a new UN report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.
The report is a joint project of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
These agencies report that 821 million people -- the vast majority in Africa and Asia -- faced chronic food deprivation in 2017, compared to 804 million in 2016. Nearly 151 million children aged under five were stunted due to malnutrition in 2017, compared to 165 million in 2012.
In addition to conflict in many parts of the world, the gains made in ending hunger and malnutrition are being eroded by climate variability and exposure to more complex, frequent and intense climate extremes.
The agencies warn that there is considerable work to be done to make sure we ‘leave no one behind’ on the road towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on food security and improved nutrition. The report urges increased interventions to guarantee access to nutritious foods and break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.
 
PRESS BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., there will be a briefing here on the commemoration of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation which is 12 September, and that will be done with the Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, Jorge Chediek, and other guests.
 
HONOUR ROLL
Today we say thank you to Sudan, for paying its dues in full bringing us up to 131.