HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2018
IRAQ/KUWAIT
Good afternoon, everyone. I have the following statement, attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the Iraqi repatriation of Kuwaiti property.
The Secretary-General welcomes the repatriation by the Government of Iraq of a consignment of Kuwaiti property to Kuwait on 13 November. This marks an important step towards the full normalization of relations between the two countries.
The Secretary-General commends the efforts of the Governments of Iraq and Kuwait towards resolving outstanding issues between them and calls for their continued constructive engagement to closing the file of missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property, including the national archives, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2107 (2013).
The Secretary-General reiterates that the United Nations will remain fully committed to the resolution of all outstanding issues between Iraq and Kuwait.
SYRIA
Our humanitarian colleagues are deeply concerned by reports of hostilities throughout northwest Syria, including in areas believed to be in or near the demilitarized zone.
Clashes between Government of Syria forces and non-State armed groups have reportedly resulted in several civilian casualties, as well as temporary displacement. This includes reports of fighting in southern rural Aleppo Governorate, as well as reports of mortar shelling in northern Aleppo, eastern Idlib and northern Hama Governorate.
Three million women, children and men in Idlib and surrounding areas are at risk, should fighting escalate further.
The United Nations continues to reiterate that a full-scale escalation of hostilities must be averted at all costs, and that failure to do so will bring about humanitarian suffering at a scale not yet seen in the conflict.
The United Nations continues to urge all parties to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to exercise restraint.
SECRETARY-GENERAL IN WASHINGTON
In Washington, D.C. last night, the Secretary-General spoke at the ceremony in which the 2018 Templeton Prize was awarded to King Abdullah of Jordan.
The Secretary-General said that King Abdullah’s promotion of peace within Islam, and between Muslims and people of other beliefs, has contributed to global peace and progress in many ways in our world.
He added that King Abdullah calls on us to do far more than tolerate each other; his message is one of respect, solidarity and love. The Secretary-General expressed his hope that the Templeton award will help to spread that message of respect, solidarity, and love even more widely.
The Secretary-General also met separately with King Abdullah, with whom he discussed the situation in the Middle East, including the importance of maintaining support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The Secretary-General will be back in New York this afternoon.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council adopted a resolution on Eritrea and Somalia.
It lifted the arms embargoes, travel bans, asset freezes and targeted sanctions imposed on Eritrea in resolutions 1907, 2023, 2060 and 2111.
The Council also held an open meeting on Kosovo, in which it was briefed by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Zahir Tanin.
He told the Council that, during the political talks that took place last week in Brussels, the Presidents of Serbia and Kosovo confirmed their mutual intention to continue the dialogue and to work towards a settlement within the European Union-facilitated process.
But Mr. Tanin also noted that these talks took place against a backdrop of frequent adversarial actions on the ground, many of which carry real consequences for the populations.
He stressed that any process of political negotiation, if it is to succeed, requires the full engagement and buy-in from societies, as well as from leaders and political representatives.
AFGHANISTAN
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that more than 1,000 families have been displaced in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan and Ghazni provinces following an escalation in conflict there since 10 November.
Due to access constraints, there is a lack of precise information on the impact on the affected districts and civilian casualties cannot be verified.
Reports indicate that homes have been burned and civilian vehicles stolen or confiscated. Roads connecting Jaghuri and Malistan to Ghazni city have also reportedly been blocked, preventing the safe passage of civilians attempting to leave the area, and leaving people in siege-like conditions with no access to health facilities and limited availability of food, fuel and medicine.
All parties to the conflict should respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to protect the civilian population and facilitate the provision of assistance by neutral and impartial humanitarian agencies. This includes ensuring safe passage for civilians attempting to leave conflict affected areas. Civilian objects, including schools and health facilities, must be not be used for military purposes.
NIGERIA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that UN and business leaders in Nigeria will tomorrow launch a joint initiative that will see a number of private companies join the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund, a country-based pooled fund. The Nigeria Humanitarian Fund-Private Sector Initiative will seek to harness the financial resources and expertise of Nigeria’s private sector to contribute to a more effective and timely humanitarian response in Nigeria.
The initiative aims to allow humanitarian actors to step up their response in north-east Nigeria, where a major crisis has affected millions of families and has spilled into neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
ECOSOC
Amb. Inga King, the President of ECOSOC, has issued a statement today on the meeting held yesterday on “Pathways to resilience in climate-affected SIDS, A Forward-Looking Resilience Building Agenda: Promises, results and next steps”
Among other things, the statement says that climate change is an existential threat to Small Island Developing States, jeopardizing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The recent special report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius approved by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has sounded the alarm for urgently needed climate action. There are copies of that statement available near the door.
BIODIVERSITY
In Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the High-Level Segment of the UN Convention Biological Diversity (COP-14) began today. Some 80 ministers of environment, infrastructure, energy, industry and other sectors are there to discuss how to incorporate biodiversity protection into their respective fields of work. They will also renew and scale up their effort to make progress on 20 biodiversity goals -- known as the Aichi Targets -- by the year 2020.
And new initiatives are also expected to be announced later in the week including a new coral reef coalition, and we will keep you posted on these.
DIABETES DAY
Today is World Diabetes Day. This year’s theme is ‘Diabetes concerns every family’ and highlights the impact that diabetes has on families and the role of family members in supporting prevention, early diagnosis and good management of this disease.
More than 400 million people live with diabetes worldwide, and the prevalence is predicted to continue rising if current trends prevail. Diabetes is also a major cause of premature dying, blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower limb amputation.
WORLD ANTIBIOTIC AWARENESS WEEK
Marking World Antibiotic Awareness Week, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have this week highlighted the dangers antimicrobial resistance poses to human, animal and plant health.
In a tweet, WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said antibiotic resistance posed a big threat to global health, adding that the proper use of antibiotics is key to stopping drug resistance.
In a statement, FAO said farmers can contribute to stemming the spread of antimicrobial resistance simply by adopting good hygiene practices during their day-to-day operations.
Each November, World Antibiotic Awareness Week aims to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance.
