HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2021

 

SECURITY COUNCIL 
Speaking at a Security Council meeting on Preventive diplomacy, the Secretary-General said that he has consistently used his good offices — sometimes publicly, sometimes behind the scenes — to seek to defuse conflicts and advance peace. 
He reiterated that his agenda of prevention calls for a surge in diplomacy for peace, as well as a better integration of prevention and risk-assessment across UN decision-making. This, the Secretary-General added, includes connecting the dots among all drivers of conflict — including poverty, inequalities, and climate change.  
For the women and men of the UN, Mr. Guterres said, preventive diplomacy and development go hand-in-hand.  But we also know that we must do far more to join-up our humanitarian, peace and development efforts.   
This, he said, means working to end inequalities that deny entire groups of people access to civil and economic life and the levers of decision-making. And it means transforming our commitment to human rights from words to practice in every context.  
For preventive diplomacy to succeed, the Secretary-General concluded, we need the full support of the Security Council, and of all Member States.

UN RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES
The Secretary-General spoke by video message to the Conference supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is taking place in Brussels. 
The Secretary-General described how UNRWA has been playing a pivotal role in promoting regional stability and yet it continues to face an existential crisis.    
We need to protect UNRWA from being used as a political pawn, he said, and focus on its ability to carry out its General Assembly mandate and its unrelenting commitment to humanitarian principles and shared UN values. Yet he added that overwhelming support for UNRWA is not adequately matched by sufficient funding for its operations.    
The Secretary-General said that we need urgent and decisive support to maintain UNRWA’s ability to operate this year. He said that UNRWA’s essential health, education and services must not be interrupted.  
And he urged Member States to step up longer-term commitments and solidarity and match the generosity of the countries that host Palestine refugees. 

YEMEN 
The UN Mission in support of the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) said yesterday that the withdrawal of the Joint Forces from Hudaydah City, Al Durayhimi, Bayt al Fqih and parts of At Tuhayta districts and their subsequent takeover by Ansar Allah forces represents a major shift in the frontlines in the Hudaydah Agreement. 
These events, the Mission said, warrant discussion between the parties of the Hudaydah Agreement, The Mission stands ready to facilitate those discussions within the framework of the Agreement. 
The Mission further urges all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations to protect civilians throughout the governorate, particularly in the south, where clashes have been reported.

WEST AFRICA 
The Heads of the UN Missions in West Africa, the Sahel, and the UN Office for Central Africa, met in Dakar yesterday to exchange views and strengthen coordination between them.  
Their discussions focused on the political, socio-economic and security trends in West Africa and the Sahel and on their impact on neighbouring regions, including the Central African region.  
As the security situation continues to deteriorate in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and in the Lake Chad Basin, our colleagues underlined the need for a multidimensional and regional approach to address the root causes of insecurity. They also called for enhanced cooperation to address these challenges.  
A press release with detailed recommendations for the region is available online.  
The next high-level meeting of our heads of missions in this region is scheduled to take place in May 2022, in Bamako, Mali.

AFGHANISTAN 
The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that 8.7 million people are at risk of facing famine-like conditions in the country. According to WFP, an additional 14.1 million face crisis levels of acute food insecurity.  
The World Food Programme notes that conflict has displaced more than 600,000 people and is highly affecting humanitarian access. Afghanistan is also facing a major drought after an extremely poor precipitation season. 
With a network of 75 partners across the country, WFP continues to deliver in all 34 provinces despite the challenging context, reaching 12.4 million people so far in 2021. This is almost 3 million more than in all of 2020 and includes 5.5 million people in October alone.  
WFP also says that cash-based transfers to tens of thousands of adolescent girl students were recently resumed after having been on hold for several months. 
In 2022, the World Food Programme is planning to ramp up its humanitarian assistance to meet the food and nutrition needs of almost 23 million people in Afghanistan. The total expected cost of operations for 2022 is $2.5 billion.

COVID-19/THAILAND 
In Thailand, the UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Gita Sabharwal, continues to support the national vaccine campaign, including by boosting confidence in and access to vaccines. 
More than 44 million people have received their first vaccine doses. 
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) led an initiative to vaccinate nearly 1,300 displaced people and refugees, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Women helped create an information hub on COVID-19 for migrant workers. IOM is also leading a project to coordinate with Thailand’s neighbouring countries on COVID prevention, detection and response. 
The UN team has delivered 550 oxygen concentrators to hospitals in severely affected areas, as well as 600 cold boxes and 1,000 vaccine carriers.  
In addition, we have provided 3,600 migrants with protective equipment and other essential items.  
The UN team is also providing mental health and psychosocial support services for children, as well as learning materials, hygiene supplies and relief items for nearly 450,000 children and families.

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT 
Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Lieutenant General Cornelis Johannes Matthijssen of the Netherlands as Force Commander of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). 
Lt. Gen. Matthijssen succeeds Lt. Gen. Dennis Gyllensporre of Sweden, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his exemplary service and leadership of MINUSMA. 
Lt. Gen. Matthijssen has a long and distinguished career since joining the Royal Netherlands Army in 1982.  He has most recently been serving at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Joint Force Command.  Much more on our website.

GLOBAL TOBACCO TRENDS REPORT  
The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its fourth WHO global tobacco trends report.  It shows that there are 1.3 billion tobacco users globally, compared to 1.32 billion in 2015. According to the report, this number is expected to drop to 1.27 billion by 2025.   
WHO notes that 60 countries are now on track to achieving the voluntary global target of a 30 percent reduction in tobacco use between 2010 and 2025. Two years ago, only 32 countries were on track. 
In addition, a new WHO Global Investment Case for Tobacco Cessation highlights that investing $1.68 per capita each year in cessation interventions could help 152 million tobacco users successfully quit by 2030. WHO stresses that this would save millions of lives and contribute to countries’ long-term economic growth. 
The two reports are available online.

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR TOLERANCE 
Today is International Day for Tolerance. The Secretary-General, in a Tweet, said that on this Day, and every day, let’s advance human dignity, fight racism and forge peace. He stressed that only by embracing diversity and respecting each other will we solve the biggest challenges ahead of us. 

***The guests at the Noon Briefing were the Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, Ambassador Jukka Salovaara, the Head of the Sustainable Development Unit at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations, Olivier Richard, and the Director of School-Based Programmes at the World Food Programme (WFP), Carmen Burbano. They briefed reporters about the School Meals Coalition.