APPOINTMENTS
The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Christian Saunders of the United Kingdom as Special Coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse. He will succeed Jane Holl Lute of the United States, to whom the Secretary-General expresses his gratitude for her efforts and dedication in preventing and addressing sexual exploitation and abuse in the United Nations.
Mr. Saunders brings to the position over thirty years of experience in international affairs, much of it focusing on delivering results and overseeing major reforms leading to improved organizational effectiveness and efficiency. He served as a member of the high-level task force established by the Secretary-General to develop a strategy to improve the organization’s approach to preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse.
He is currently Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Operational Support. We have a full bio note for him.
Also, the Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Major General Nirmal Kumar Thapa of Nepal as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF.
Major General Thapa succeeds Lieutenant General Ishwar Hamal of Nepal, who recently completed his assignment and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his exemplary leadership over the last two years.
Major General Thapa brings over 35 years of experience in various leadership positions in the Nepali Army and the United Nations. At the national level, Major General Thapa served, until recently, as the Director-General of Military Operations.  

UKRAINE
On Ukraine, you will have seen that, yesterday, the Secretary-General said that he is appalled by the missile attack against the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine. He condemns any attacks against civilians or civilian infrastructure and reiterates his call for accountability for such violations.
And we also have an update on the situation in Vinnitsya, where our humanitarian colleagues on the ground are supporting people impacted by yesterday’s attack. The World Health Organization, with support from the NGO, Médecins Sans Frontières, has donated trauma kits and other medical supplies to the city’s hospital.
For their part, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency are helping local authorities provide emergency shelter, critical supplies and psychological support. 
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which has an office in Vinnytsia, says that the death toll is rising, with at least 23 people confirmed to have been killed so far, including three children. More than 10 people are still missing. Local authorities tell us that more than 400 rescue workers continue to clear the debris and search for survivors.

SRI LANKA
Following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, our Resident Coordinator, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, urged all stakeholders to ensure a peaceful transition of power in full respect for the Constitution of Sri Lanka. 
She noted that it is imperative that the transition of power is accompanied by broad and inclusive consultation within and outside Parliament. In her statement, she recalled that the Secretary-General has highlighted the importance of addressing the root causes of the current instability and the people’s grievances. 
Dialogue with all stakeholders is the best way to address the concerns and fulfil the aspirations of all Sri Lankans, she said.
The authorities must ensure that in maintaining law and order, the security forces exercise restraint and operate in strict compliance with human rights principles and standards. 
The United Nations stands ready to provide support to the Government and people of Sri Lanka to address both immediate and long-term needs.

SOUTH SUDAN
In South Sudan, our mission there is deeply concerned about deadly cattle raids over the past few days, by armed youth in the area around Kapoeta North in Eastern Equatoria State, reportedly resulting in scores of people killed, injured, abducted, and the theft of livestock.
The Mission deployed UN peacekeepers into the area to conduct a four-day long-distance patrol as a way of stemming the tide of violence and to build confidence among community members. UNMISS continues to maintain a visible presence and is engaging with local authorities and affected communities to further assess the situation and to prevent revenge attacks.  
The Mission said it is seriously concerned about reports of some youth planning and mobilizing to mount counter-campaigns to retrieve raided cattle and is appealing to the national, state, and local community leaders to take urgent steps to prevent the violence from spiraling.

AFGHANISTAN
Turning to Afghanistan. The World Food Programme today said that it has supported two out of every five Afghans across the country, with millions receiving cash to purchase food for their families. So far this year, WFP has assisted 19.2 million people through emergency food and nutrition support, distributing 540,000 metric tons of food and $149 million in cash and commodity vouchers, with 17.1 million people assisted in May alone. 
The World Food Programme said that it is already working against the clock to preposition 150,000 metric tons of food in rugged and remote areas of the country that can get cut off by snow and ice during the winter months. WFP noted that it needs $172 million to buy and move food to strategic locations across the country to feed 2.2 million people for five months when hunger bites the hardest.

HAITI
From Haiti, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that clashes between armed gangs broke out on July 7th, and continued this morning in Cité Soleil, in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
Today, the population of nearly 300,000 people is trapped in Cité Soleil, as all roads in and out of this part of the city are under the control of the gangs.
At least 99 people have died, with 135 people injured and more than 2,500 people having fled their homes in recent days.
Prior to this, the people of Cité Soleil were already among the most vulnerable people in Haiti, critical rates of malnutrition among children under the age of five recorded in April 2022.
Shops and markets are closed, and no food or drinking water has entered the area in recent days.
Ambulances, medical workers, and aid workers are struggling to access the area to provide first aid or to evacuate the wounded.
The current situation is also disrupting activities at the port of Varreux, the main port for transporting goods and humanitarian aid into the country.

GUYANA
Roberto Valent, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the UN Development Coordination Office was in Guyana this week. He attended the opening ceremony of the National Toshao’s Council Conference, a critical governance mechanism for indigenous people in Guyana. He also met the President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, as well as other senior officials and civil society representatives. Discussions have focused on a range of issues including Guyana’s low-carbon development model, energy transition, digital transformation, disaster risk reduction, and gender-based violence.

BOTSWANA
In Botswana, our UN team led by Resident Coordinator Zia Choudhury is reporting that the country is set to become the first in Africa to achieve the AIDS targets set out by the UN General Assembly, the “95-95-95 targets,” eight years before the target of 2030.
According to a recent survey, 93 per cent of estimated people living with HIV are aware of their status. 97.9 per cent of those aware of their status were on antiretroviral therapy, and 98 per cent of those on the therapy achieved viral load suppression to reduce the amount of HIV to an undetectable level.
The UN team is scaling up its support to authorities with prevention programmes among key populations and adolescent girls and young women. 
Our team is also working to ensure the sustainability of the response to improve its efficiency and address structural barriers, including the stigma that hinders people from accessing services.

FOOD SECURITY CRISIS
In a joint statement this morning, the heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization are calling for urgent action to address the global food security crisis.
They reminded us that, according to WFP, the number of food insecure people has reached 345 million men, women and children, in 82 countries. 
To avoid additional setbacks to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, they say action is required in four key areas: providing immediate support to the vulnerable, facilitating trade and the international supply of food, boosting production and investing in climate-resilient agriculture.
In their statement, the leaders say specific needs of countries should be identified through a process that mobilizes investments from multilateral development banks to connect short-, medium- and long-term opportunities. 

VACCINATION/REPORT
The largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in approximately 30 years has been recorded in official data published today by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
A report released by the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund shows that the percentage of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis – a marker for immunization coverage within and across countries – fell 5 percentage points between 2019 and 2021 to 81 per cent. According to WHO and UNICEF, this is the largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in approximately 30 years.
As a result, 25 million children missed out on one or more doses of these vaccines through routine immunization services in 2021 alone. The report noted that the decline was due to many factors including an increased number of children living in conflict and fragile settings, increased misinformation and COVID-19 related issues.

ECOSOC
The High-level Segment of ECOSOC and ministerial segment of the High-level Political Forum will conclude this afternoon at 4:00 pm. The closing will include the Forum’s adoption of its Ministerial Declaration and closing remarks by the Deputy Secretary-General and the President of the Economic and Social Council. 
This morning, the High-Level Segment featured Voluntary National Reviews from Jamaica, Lesotho, Italy, Luxembourg, Malawi, Liberia, Montenegro, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, all of whom were second-time presenters.

WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY 
Today is World Youth Skills Day. In his message, the Secretary-General said young people are disproportionately impacted by interlinked global crises, from climate change to conflicts to persistent poverty and the pandemic only worsened these fragilities. He added that we must ensure the right of young people to effective and inclusive education, training, and lifelong learning and that is why he’s convening the Transforming Education Summit in September that will bring together world leaders, youth and other education actors.  
He added that young people are drivers of change and must be fully engaged in decisions affecting their future and urged everyone to act for youth skills development as a priority, at the Summit and beyond.