SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION
The Secretary-General’s report on “Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse” is out today as a document. As you know, this is the annual update, looking back at 2021, on our efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, in line with the Secretary-General’s strategy on this.
Just to give you a quick update: The report this year looks at the progress made over the past five years, since the Secretary-General took office, and explores the areas for improvement.
Despite clear gains, allegations implicating United Nations personnel continue to emerge. As you know, in 2021, allegations relating to UN peacekeeping personnel in the Central African Republic led to the repatriation of a military contingent and, in addition, an independent commission, established by the World Health Organization, reported on cases concerning personnel responding to the tenth Ebola virus epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
No one, including the Secretary-General, is pleased with the fact that we still have these cases.
The report notes that while we have not succeeded in ending sexual exploitation and abuse, we have not let our guard down and we continue working to end impunity and ensure justice for victims.
Some of the progress includes the fact that we’ve strengthened policies and protocols, implemented mandatory trainings, risk assessments and institutionalized action plans, as well as accountability measures. We continue to report on allegations publicly on a regular basis.
Our approach – centered on victims’ rights – also continues through the work of Victims’ Rights Officers in various countries where they are increasingly effective in keeping track of victims and investigations and offering them support.
GENDER PARITY
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke to the Group of Friends of Gender Parity. He told the group that, while the UN has achieved gender parity among senior leadership two years ahead of the stated goal, there’s still much to do.
The Secretary-General said that he is committed to increasing the percentage of women in our leadership in the field, improving parity at all levels across the Organization, and taking steps to identify qualified women candidates to replace many of the almost 4,000 international staff who are retiring in the next nine years, the majority of whom are men.
He asked the group for their support by supporting female candidates and working to identify and attract women from all backgrounds to work at the United Nations.
His full remarks are online.
UKRAINE
Moving to Ukraine: Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that civilians continue to bear the brunt of the war in Ukraine where intense fighting is reported in the north, east, and south of the country. Airstrikes and shelling have continued with significant damage reported in cities including Donetsk, Luhansk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Zhytomyr oblast.
Our humanitarian colleagues warn that conditions, especially in Mariupol, continue to worsen, and people urgently need humanitarian assistance, including food, water, and medicine.
Today, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that three million people have now crossed international borders out of Ukraine. Every day for the past 20 days, 70,000 children in Ukraine have become refugees. That is equivalent to 55 children fleeing the country every minute, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – nearly one every second.
The Education Cluster in Ukraine, which is led by UNICEF and Save the Children, says that access to education has affected about 5.7 million children and adolescents between 3 and 17 years of age.
In terms of response, the UNHCR has delivered 16,000 tarpaulins and blankets, mattresses, and jerry cans to 5,400 people impacted by ongoing hostilities in Luhanska oblast in the east. UNICEF and non-governmental organization People in Need have delivered safe water to thousands of people in Donetska and Luhanska oblasts, also in the east.
On funding, the Ukraine Flash Appeal for 2022 has received $224 million so far, which represents 20 per cent.
YEMEN
Hans Grundberg, the Special Envoy for Yemen, briefed the Security Council this morning on the consultations he has had on his framework for peace, saying that he has held bilateral meetings with leaders from the General People’s Congress party and with delegations from the Islah party, the Yemeni Socialist Party, the Nasserist Unionist People’s Organization and the Southern Transitional Council. In the coming weeks, he said he will hold more consultations in Amman and Aden.
The Special Envoy said that, on the military front, sometimes territory exchanges hands and sometimes it changes back. Always, he said, we see civilians paying an unacceptable price for choices they have no influence over.
Mr. Grundberg noted that, in Aden and the surrounding governorates, the Yemeni riyal has decreased by 20 per cent against the dollar since January, raising concerns of another precipitous decline in the currency, increasing prices and deepening divisions in the nationwide economy.
Martin Griffiths, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Council that after more than seven years of war, Yemen is becoming a chronic humanitarian emergency. He said that, tomorrow, the Secretary-General, along with the President of Switzerland and the Foreign Minister of Sweden, will co-convene a high-level pledging event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The response in Yemen is estimated to require $4.27 billion for this year.
Food prices in Yemen nearly doubled last year, he said, and prices could rise further this year – with about a third of the country’s wheat coming from Russia and Ukraine.
The Council began its work today by renewing the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan by one year.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Deputy Secretary-General is in Lebanon today and spoke at the opening of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development.
She said that across the Arab region, COVID-19 reversed the first signs of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and pushed the overall debt burden to an equivalent of 60 percent of GDP.
And now, she added, the war in Ukraine is destabilizing a global economy still reeling from the pandemic, triggering dramatic spikes in prices of food, fuel, and other essential goods.
Getting back on track to achieve the SDGs will require policy choices aligned with the 2030 Agenda, and a clear emphasis on leaving no one behind.
The Deputy Secretary-General said that North Africa and the Middle East are home to remarkable dynamism and enormous potential. The Arab Forum for Sustainable Development is an opportunity to chart an ambitious path forward, she concluded.
IRAQ
I had been asked about the Sunday missile attack in Erbil, in Iraq.
I can say that the Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the missile attack in Erbil. The attack comes at a critical moment for Iraq’s path to peace and stability. He renews his call on all concerned sides to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.
He urges Iraq’s partners to support Iraqi efforts to advance regional peace and security, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and good neighbourly relations.
CHAD
In Chad, we, along with our humanitarian partners, launched the country’s 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan and the Cameroon Refugee Response Plan with the Government and donors to support vulnerable populations, including refugees living in Chad.
The Humanitarian Response Plan seeks $511 million to help 3.9 million people, including internally displaced, returnees, refugees, and vulnerable people living in host communities. The plan prioritizes food security and nutrition, health emergencies, and addresses the impacts of climate change.
In addition to the Humanitarian Response Plan, the Cameroon Refugee Response Plan covers the humanitarian and protection needs of 60,000 new refugees who fled Cameroon to seek refuge in Chad in December of last year as well as the communities that host them. It requires $95 million to strengthen the coordination and management of the new crisis and respond to the urgent needs of the newly arrived refugees.
Nearly 1.7 million people are expected to be severely food insecure during the lean season, between June and September, and will depend on humanitarian relief. More than 1.4 million vulnerable people do not have adequate access to health care.
Despite growing funding shortfalls and a challenging operational context, humanitarian partners assisted 2 million people out of the 4 million targeted last year, with a Humanitarian Response Plan that was only 31 per cent funded.
AFGHANISTAN
In Afghanistan, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that people continue to face a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis with acute hunger increasing from 14 million people in July last year to 23 million in March this year.
Currently, there are over 2,500 nutrition treatment sites spread across all 34 provinces, both urban and rural, reaching 800,000 acutely malnourished children since mid-August, with a plan to reach 3.2 million affected children this year.
This year, humanitarian partners have supported 8.2 million people with food assistance, including emergency food rations, school meals for children, agricultural supplies for farmers and nutritious foods for nursing mothers and their infants.
On 31 March, we along with the Governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Qatar will host an international pledging conference in support of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. The 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan requests $4.4 billion to reach more than 21 million people, but funding stands at 13 per cent.
SOMALIA
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that, in Somalia, an estimated 4.5 million people – including 671,000 internally displaced people – are affected by the intensifying drought emergency.
Communities are forced to use unsafe water, which carries the risk of disease outbreaks and infections. Health authorities have reported a measles outbreak, with nearly 2,000 suspected cases in February and more than 1,500 suspected cases in January. At least nine related deaths have been reported in Jubaland State.
More than 1.4 million children, nearly half of all of Somalia’s children under the age of five, are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition, including 329,500 who are likely to be severely malnourished, due to the ongoing drought.
In January, aid organizations reached at least 1.4 million people with different forms of assistance.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia, which seeks nearly $1.5 billion to help 5.5 million of the most vulnerable Somalis, is only 3.8 per cent funded at $54.8 million.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
I have a senior personnel announcement. Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Mr. Raúl Rosende of Uruguay as his new Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.
Mr. Rosende succeeds Karla Samayoa Recari of Guatemala to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her leadership and dedicated service in Colombia.
Mr. Rosende brings 32 years of experience in conflict mediation, peacebuilding, elections and humanitarian affairs, having served with the United Nations in diverse conflict and post-conflict settings, most recently as Director of Verification and Chief of Staff in the Verification Mission in Colombia.
ZAMBIA
The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the passing of the fourth President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda, on 11 March. He expresses his deepest condolences to the bereaved family, as well as to the Government and the people of Zambia.
Former President Banda was a visionary statesman who made significant contributions to peace and unity in Zambia and across the African continent.
The United Nations stands with Zambians in this period of national mourning.
NOON BRIEFING GUEST TOMORROW
Tomorrow, we will be joined virtually by Máximo Torero, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Chief Economist. He will brief you on rising food prices.
