HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 18 MARCH 2021
TANZANIA
The Secretary-General expressed his sadness following the death of H.E. Mr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, President of Tanzania. He extends his deepest condolences to the President’s family and to the Government and the people of Tanzania.
MYANMAR
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, is seeking to visit Myanmar, as the Security Council has encouraged and as the Secretary-General has urged, as part of her efforts to calm the situation and set the stage for dialogue and return to democracy in Myanmar.
A visit to the country under the current circumstances is not yet possible, as highlighted during the Special Envoy’s consultations with various key stakeholders, but she is continuing to evaluate openings.
Meanwhile, the Special Envoy will aim to engage Myanmar’s neighbouring countries through a regional visit.
In its Presidential Statement of March 10th, the Security Council reiterated its deep concern about the arbitrary detention of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, as well as many others.
The UN stresses once again that their immediate release is paramount.
Tomorrow at 11 a.m., the acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the UN in Myanmar, Andrew Kirkwood will brief the press virtually.
SOUTH SUDAN
The UN Mission in South Sudan has concluded a forum this week to help community reconciliation and promote sustainable peace in Wau, in the state of Western Bahr el Ghazal. The Forum brought together civil society, faith groups, community leaders, and the private sector. This was an opportunity for robust discussions on the needs of the community as well as on sustainable and viable solutions to some of the challenges they are facing.
The peacekeeping mission also reports that, as of yesterday, the Bentiu Protection of Civilians site, established in 2013, was re-designated as an IDP camp under government administration. The UN activities that take place there will continue. This includes humanitarian assistance, policing, and capacity building.
The Bentiu site is the country’s largest, and hosts close to 100,000 displaced people.
As a reminder, the Protection of Civilians sites located in Wau, Bor, and Juba have already made the transition to camps for internally displaced people. Right now, only the Malakal site remains under the management of the United Nations.
BOLIVIA
The Secretary-General spoke with President Luis Arce this morning. In his conversation, the Secretary-General
underscored the need to respect human rights and due process, which constitute a fundamental basis to the consolidation of democracy.
He also welcomed the ongoing discussions to establish a permanent UN Human Rights office in Bolivia. They also discussed the UN’s continued commitment to support the national efforts to consolidate peace in Bolivia.
COVID-19 VACCINES
Vaccines from COVAX arrived last night in Tunisia and Ecuador.
More than 93,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in Tunis. The UN team helped support the national vaccination campaign, which kicked off last week. Frontline workers are the priority group. The vaccination campaign is part of the UN-backed public health initiative that guarantees access for all eligible people without any discrimination and at no cost to the population.
Ecuador meanwhile received 84,000 doses last night, with more on the way. At least 20 per cent of the population – that’s about 3.5 million people – will receive vaccines from COVAX this year.
The Resident Coordinator, Lena Savelli, hailed the arrival of the first doses as a major step to beat the pandemic and recover better.
In Mauritius, the UN team is supporting authorities in dealing with multiple impacts of the pandemic. WHO is working to ensure that more than 60 per cent of the population receives the vaccine this year, supporting the national vaccination campaign that kicked off in January.
The Resident Coordinator, Christine Umutoni, commended authorities for a comprehensive vaccination scheme that reaches the entire population, including migrant workers and vulnerable groups.
GLOBAL ECONOMY
A report released today by the UN Conference on Trade and Development said the global economy is set to grow by 4.7% this year, faster than predicted in September, when the prediction was 4.3% for 2021. This is thanks in part to a stronger recovery in the United States, where progress in distributing vaccines and a fresh fiscal stimulus are expected to boost consumer spending.
But the report says that this will still leave the global economy over $10 trillion short of where it could have been by the end of 2021 if it had stayed on the pre-pandemic trend.
The report sees a misguided return to austerity, after a deep and destructive recession, as the main risk to the global outlook. This is especially in the context of fractured labour markets and deregulated financial markets in advanced economies.
It warns that COVID-19 will likely have lasting economic, as well as health consequences, which will require continued government support.
FSO SAFER
On the SAFER tanker, the UN is still discussing several logistical issues that have been delaying the mission with the Houthi -Ansar Allah - de facto authorities.
When they approved the mission plan in 2020, Ansar Allah also committed to facilitate mission preparations and logistics. The UN remains eager to help and implement the agreed mission plan and will continue to provide updates on progress in discussions.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
The Secretary-General has appointed Jean Arnault of France as his Personal Envoy on Afghanistan and Regional Issues. The Secretary-General has asked Mr. Arnault to assist in the achievement of a political solution to the conflict, working closely with the UN Assistance Mission and its leadership, as well as its regional partners.
No stranger to the UN, Mr. Arnault has over 30 years of experience in international diplomacy focusing on peace settlements and mediation. He has an extensive background in UN missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, including Afghanistan.
AGEISM
Today, the United Nations released a report on ageism, showing that every second person in the world is believed to hold ageist attitudes. This leads to poorer physical and mental health and reduced quality of life for older persons, costing societies billions of dollars each year.
The report, a joint effort by the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the UN Population Fund calls for urgent action to combat ageism. It also calls for better measurement and reporting to expose ageism for what it is – an insidious scourge on society.
NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY
The Spokesman added a clarification to an answer he provided yesterday in response to a question about the UK strategic review, particularly regarding article 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
While the United Kingdom continues to support the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and many efforts to achieve it, the UN feels this announcement is not consistent with the disarmament commitments all nuclear-weapon States have undertaken.
Nor is it consistent with commitments under the consensus outcome from the 2010 NPT Review Conference, which states, quote, to “undertake further efforts to reduce and ultimately eliminate all types of nuclear weapons” and “Rapidly mov[e] towards an overall reduction in the global stockpile of all types of nuclear weapons”.
GUESTS
The virtual guests at the noon briefing today were experts from the Food and Agricultural Organization. Maximo Torero, the FAO’s Chief Economist, and Dominique Burgeon, the FAO’s Director of the Geneva Office and the Director, ad interim, of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, briefed reporters on the latest report from FAO on the impact of natural disasters and crises on agriculture and food insecurity.
Tomorrow at 11 a.m., the acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the UN in Myanmar, Andrew Kirkwood will brief the press virtually.
The guests at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Jane Connors, Victims' Rights Advocate and Christine Besong, the Field Victims' Rights Advocate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ms. Besong will join the briefing virtually, while Ms. Connors will be in the press briefing room. They will brief reporters on the Secretary-General’s latest report on “Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Abuse.” Ms. Besong will also discuss her experiences helping victims in the DRC over the past year.
