MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE
The Secretary-General is in Munich, Germany, to attend the annual Munich Security Conference. He opened the Conference this morning, warning about the consequences of growing geopolitical divides, including the divisions in the Security Council.
The Secretary-General noted the concentration of Russian forces around Ukraine and said that he was deeply concerned about heightened tensions and increased speculation about a military conflict in Europe. Mr. Guterres said he stills thinks it will not happen and that, if it would, it would be catastrophic. He added that there is no alternative to diplomacy – it is high time to seriously de-escalate.
He added that the United Nations system remains fully operational in Ukraine, including our humanitarian work in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The Secretary-General also drew attention to the proliferation of crises, the threat of global terrorism, non-traditional security threats like COVID-19, and the challenges posed by digital technology. He said that we need a surge in diplomacy for peace, a surge in political will for peace, and a surge in investment for peace.
SECURITY COUNCIL/HAITI
Speaking at the Security Council this morning, Helen La Lime, the head of the UN Mission in Haiti, said that, for the country to emerge from the acute political and institutional crisis in which it is plunged, it is imperative that all Haitian leaders resolve to engage constructively with one another to steer the country towards a process that will allow for elections to occur.
Speaking about the security situation, she said the gang phenomenon cannot be addressed through policing alone. The strategy needs to be complemented by socio-economic projects and reintegration activities aimed at generating employment and revenue in the neighbourhoods most impacted by the scourge of gang violence.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/HAITI
The Deputy Secretary-General arrived back from Haiti late last night. She concluded her two-day visit yesterday afternoon by visiting a recently reopened school, the Lycée National de la Saline, where she learned more about the problems that Haitian children and their families face as they fight for the right to education.
She heard from students, teachers and parents how recurring acts of violence and pressure from gangs in some urban neighbourhoods have led to the closure of more than 200 schools.
Before leaving the country, she also spoke to journalists on the success of the International Event for the Financing of the Reconstruction of the Southern Peninsula of Haiti.
She stressed that, learning the lessons from the past, we now have to ensure that those resources lead to improvements in the everyday lives of people in the southern peninsula. She emphasized that the UN continues to be at the disposal of the government and of the people of Haiti in their quest for a bright future.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/EDUCATION
The Deputy Secretary-General also spoke this morning to Member States on preparations for the Transforming Education Summit. She said that the Summit, to be convened by the Secretary-General in September on the sidelines of the General Assembly, will turbo-charge the efforts to set Agenda 2030 back on track.
The Deputy Secretary-General warned that many education systems today are under significant pressure. In some countries, she added, the pandemic has meant a worsening of a crisis in foundational learning.
We have just seven months until September, she told the delegates. But together, she said, we can make the Transforming Education Summit, not just a gathering about education, but a turning point for education – and a hefty boost for Sustainable Development Goal 4.
ETHIOPIA
On Ethiopia, I have some good news to report: the last UN staff member who had been detained by the authorities in the country has been released. And, as you will recall, this is an issue that the Deputy Secretary-General brought to the attention of the Ethiopian leadership during her travels there recently.
But the humanitarian challenges do remain and our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency said today they are working with the Ethiopian authorities and partners to provide emergency aid to thousands of Eritrean refugees who fled a refugee camp in the Afar region due to fighting.
Refugees who trekked the long distance to the regional capital in Semera told UNHCR that armed men stole their belongings and occupied their homes. According to their testimonies, at least five refugees were killed and several women were kidnapped.
With yet another refugee camp severely impacted, UNHCR remains extremely worried about the safety and wellbeing of thousands of Eritrean refugees caught up in the conflict.
AFGHANISTAN
Our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that the distribution of humanitarian assistance continued across Afghanistan. This week, close to 459,000 men, women and children received food and cash assistance in various provinces.
Winterization support is also ongoing with the distribution of relief items, including winter packages and warm clothes.
The World Health Organization and other health partners are providing urgent medical support and supplies in response to a measles outbreak in two districts in the province of Badakhshan. Early next week, several emergency directors from UN agencies and their humanitarian partner organization counterparts will visit Afghanistan to take stock of the situation and the ongoing response. Our colleague, Reena Ghelani from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, will be piped in from Kabul to talk about that mission on Wednesday, 23 February.
MADAGASCAR
The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has today allocated $2.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to ramp up the humanitarian response to Tropical Cyclone Batsirai.
The funding will enable us to provide drinking water and food, shelter items and basic household goods, healthcare services, assistance to survivors of gender-based violence, and other services, as well as to schools and logistics support.
More than 270,000 people urgently need shelter, water and sanitation, education, health services and immediate food assistance – that’s the result of a joint rapid needs assessment carried out by the Government and humanitarian partners.
Around 21,000 people are displaced and over 20,000 homes have been destroyed, flooded, or damaged. Many schools and health facilities remain closed or are partially functional.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dumako, made landfall on the northeast coast of Madagascar earlier this week, on Tuesday, that directly affecting over 5,000 people. The Government and humanitarian partners are closely following the trajectory of yet another tropical storm, Emnati, which has formed in the Indian Ocean and could hit the east coast of Madagascar early next week.
MALAWI/POLIO
The UN team in Malawi is working with authorities after a polio outbreak was declared following a case detected in a young child in the capital, Lilongwe.
This is the first polio case in Malawi in 30 years, and it’s the first case in Africa in more than five years. This again underscores the need for the global community to support countries in their vaccination efforts.
On the ground, we are supporting health authorities to intensify disease surveillance through contact tracing and active case searching. The World Health Organization and UNICEF are helping to step up polio vaccinations.
WHO’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative Rapid Response Team is deploying to Malawi to support coordination, surveillance, data management, communications, and other operational needs.
For many years, we have supported Malawi in preventing diseases such as polio through a robust national immunization scheme. Our UN team there commends Malawi for sustaining this disease prevention programme, which has saved many lives and is ready to scale up to tackle the current outbreak.
COLOMBIA
From Colombia, the UN Verification Mission and the Country Team issued a joint statement – together with the European Union and nearly two dozen embassies – calling on armed groups to declare ceasefires and cessation of hostilities and to respect international humanitarian law regarding the protection of civilians. The statement noted the importance of this call in the context of upcoming elections.
The statement also said that Colombia should be able to hold “free and inclusive elections in an atmosphere without violence.”
COVAX
A shipment of more than 1.5 million vaccine doses has arrived in Ecuador. They were donated by Spain and we thank them. Ecuador has now received some 6 million doses from COVAX.
Bolivia received more than 1.3 million doses donated by the United States through COVAX and we thank them. These doses are intended for people under the age of 18, bringing the total number of doses Bolivia has received through COVAX to 8 million.
MIGRANTS/GREECE-TURKEY BORDER
The International Organization for Migration said today it is alarmed by mounting migrant deaths and continuous reports of pushbacks at the European Union border between Greece and Turkey.
According to IOM, at least 21 migrants have died on the land border between Turkey and Greece in 2022, compared to 10 deaths reported in the same period of last year.
IOM is worried by the continuing maltreatment of migrants in this area, despite repeated calls for action. The IOM appeals to States to cooperate over border areas where there are irregular movements of people and work together to uphold the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration, and to save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
I want to thank our friends in Apia, because that country has paid its dues in full for 2022. Apia is the capital of which country? It is Samoa!
