HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2022

TRANSFORMING EDUCATION SUMMIT
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening of the Leaders’ Day of the Transforming Education Summit.
He said that education is in a deep crisis, and that, instead of being the great enabler, education is fast becoming the great divider, as some 70 per cent of 10-year-olds in poor countries are unable to read a basic text. Even in developed countries, education systems often entrench rather than reduce inequality, reproducing it across generations.
The Secretary-General also highlighted five areas for world leaders to act on: protecting the right to quality education for everyone; ensuring that teachers have decent working conditions and training; making sure that schools are safe spaces; improving connectivity in schools and increasing education financing. 
Given that this is also the first anniversary of the exclusion of girls from high schools in Afghanistan, the Secretary-General appealed directly to the authorities in Afghanistan to lift all restrictions on girls’ access to secondary education immediately.
“Girls’ education is among the most important steps to deliver peace, security and sustainable development, everywhere,” he said.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS MOMENT
Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General spoke at the Sustainable Development Goals Moment and said that we are living through a moment of great peril for our world, with crises such as climate change, rising costs of food and energy, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic. In the face of such perils, he said, it is tempting to put our long-term development priorities aside.
However, he underscored that development cannot wait. “The world has a long to-do list,” he noted, adding that the perils we face are no match for a world united.
Let’s go to work and let’s get our world back on track, the Secretary-General said.

HAITI
Turning to Haiti, our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that the overall situation continues to deteriorate but the weekend saw a relative lull in violence and most of the population was able to move and access markets.
While access to the international airport was temporarily restored, one of the gang coalitions continued to block access to the Varreux port terminal, preventing fuel distribution.
The country’s telecommunications and water pump stations rely mostly on fuel to function and national companies warn of alarming shortages.
The UN programmes are on hold due to roadblocks, demonstrations and limited access to fuel.

NIGERIA
From Nigeria, the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $10 million to urgently help people enduring a devastating food and nutrition crisis in the country’s north-east.
Some 1.74 million children under the age of five could suffer from acute malnutrition in the region this year, while more than 300,000 children are expected to be severely acutely malnourished.
Our humanitarian colleagues stress that if immediate action is not taken, more than 5,000 children are expected to die and those who survive could face lifelong disabilities. Malnutrition puts children at greater risk of dying from common infections.
The new (CERF) funds will boost the ability to treat and identify acute malnutrition.

SYRIA
Turning to Syria, our humanitarian colleagues report that, over the weekend, we conducted a cross-line convoy of 16 trucks moved from Aleppo to north-west Syria.
The inter-agency convoy delivered 453 metric tonnes of food, nutrition, water and sanitation items, as well as health kits, dignity kits and other supplies to the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouses in Sarmada and Dana of Idlib Governorate.
This is the seventh cross-line convoy, in line with the UN’s inter-agency operational plan developed after the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2585 in July 2021.

SRI LANKA
From Sri Lanka, our UN team there, led by Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer Hamdy, continues to support the Government and people of the country respond to the economic crisis there.
We have reached more than one million women, children and men with humanitarian aid across all 25 districts of the country.
We, along with our partners, provided medicine and other supplies, helping more than 660,000 people have better access to healthcare. We are also working to improve food security, agricultural production, nutrition and water, among others.
To date, the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities plan launched in June, together with other appeals, have raised more than $50 million to deal with the challenges in Sri Lanka.

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE
I just want to flag travel by a senior official: Christian Saunders, who recently took up the post as Special Coordinator on Improving the UN’s Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, is heading off for a week-long visit to the Central African Republic.
This is his first trip since he took his position on 1 September. While there, he plans to meet senior peacekeeping, humanitarian and development officials present in the country to discuss strengthening the approach to combatting sexual exploitation and abuse. He also plans to meet with representatives of NGOs and civil society.

GLOBAL AFRICAN BUSINESS INITIATIVE
Yesterday morning, the Secretary-General addressed the inaugural meeting of the Global African Business Initiative.
He said this event is important because the world must see Africa for what it is: a land of enormous potential and resources. 
Now is the time for innovation, Mr. Guterres said, for new public-private partnerships and for high-value jobs based on renewable technologies. 
There are opportunities in all sectors, he added, from education to healthcare to finance and other services.  
The inaugural Global Africa Business Initiative aims to transform these opportunities into ambitious business practices that benefit people. Mr. Guterres reiterated the UN’s support to create conditions for business success in Africa and around the world.                          

KYRGYZSTAN/TAJIKISTAN
Over the weekend, we issued a statement expressing the Secretary-General’s great concern at the escalation of violence along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.  
He called on the leadership of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan to engage in dialogue for a lasting ceasefire. Both sides, he said, should take full advantage of the existing mechanisms on the ground to defuse tensions. 

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Finally, just in time for the General Assembly, we have five new Member States inscribed on our paid-in-full list, and those are Ghana, Iraq, Oman, Paraguay, and the United Republic of Tanzania. They sent us the checks, we cashed them, and we thank them!