SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVELS
The Secretary-General will be going to Berlin to take part in the Libya Conference on Sunday. That conference is being hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He will be accompanied by his Special Representative for Libya, Ghassan Salame, as well as the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo.
The Secretary-General will be back in New York on Monday night.

G-77
This afternoon, the Secretary-General will be at the handover of the chairmanship of the Group of 77, and that takes place at 3 pm this afternoon. Guyana will take over the rotating chairmanship of the Group this year, replacing Palestine.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General is to say that the G-77 has played a pivotal role in shaping priorities and driving change. He will say that he is deeply grateful, in particular, for the Group’s support for the first annual budget and the ongoing reform efforts.
The Secretary-General also will discuss the reform process, the Decade of Action to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and our wider agenda, and the UN budget. We will share those remarks with you as soon as we can.
 
SECURITY COUNCIL
Back in the Security Council this morning, the head of the UN’s Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, reiterated our concern about the deteriorating security situation in Mali and the Sahel.
He said terrorism continues to feed intercommunal violence in the centre of Mali and repeated that the rapid and thorough implementation of the peace agreement remains the only viable path for the stabilization of the country.
Mr. Lacroix called for additional resources to ensure the Mission is able to effectively fulfill its mandate in the country’s centre and north. He said the Mission has developed a plan that calls, among other things, for the establishment of a Mobile Task Force to improve its ability and mobility to protect civilians and implement the mandate.
Mr. Lacroix reminded Council members that the UN’s Mission in Mali is only one element of a broader collective response to fight violence and instability in Mali and the wider Sahel.
 
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Turning to the Central African Republic, following clashes last week in the city of Alindao, the  UN peacekeepers are now patrolling the city to protect civilians, including some 400 people displaced by the violence who have sought shelter at the UN base.
The clashes took place on January 9th and involved the country’s armed forces and members of an armed group associated with the ex-Seleka coalition. Two personnel from the Central African Republic’s armed forces died in the violence. 
Today, the UN Mission says that the situation is calm, despite continuing tensions. They are preparing to send a team to Alindao consisting of police, human rights and justice, and prison officers to investigate the clashes.
Meanwhile, we also have an update on efforts to secure Bangui’s PK5 neighborhood. The Mission says that all 13 bases of the ex-self-defense groups have now been dismantled. UN peacekeepers continue to conduct joint patrols with the Central African Republic’s Internal Security Forces to protect civilians. The Mission has also launched an awareness campaign in the PK5 neighborhood to explain to the community its outreach and work to protect civilians.
 
KENYA
Our colleagues at the UN Country Team in Kenya today voiced their deep distress at the rising cases of terrorist attacks on schools, teachers and students, especially in the north-east of the country.
Noting that the bombings of schools and the killing of civilians violate international humanitarian law, the team said it is especially troubling that the regions most affected by these attacks are already lagging behind in school attendance rates.
The UN in Kenya is determined to work with the Government to implement the UN’s Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
 
SYRIA
Turning to Syria, I want to say that we remain deeply concerned for the safety and protection of over three million civilians in Idlib and surrounding areas in north-west Syria, over half of whom are internally displaced, following new reports of airstrikes and shelling.
Despite the announcement of a ceasefire that began on 12 January, there were reports today of airstrikes and shelling impacting civilians in various parts of Idlib, including airstrikes on Idlib city, reportedly killing 15 people and injuring scores. Civilian infrastructure was also reportedly damaged.
Tens of families have reportedly moved through so-called “corridors” announced by the Russian Federation on 13 January for civilians who want to move to areas under the control of the Government of Syria.
The UN urges all parties, and those with influence over those parties, to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
 
PHILIPPINES
And just a quick update from the Philippines and our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and they are telling us that the Philippines authorities are reviewing contingency plans having to deal with the ongoing situation with the Taal volcano. They have asked several UN agencies – including OCHA, the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – for their support. We will obviously do what we can to help.
 
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
We are delighted to welcome two new members to this year’s Honour Roll, and those are Djibouti and Luxembourg, and we thank them heartily for their paying their budget dues on time and in full, which brings us up to six members on the Honour Roll.